Whasis? Doc Watson - isn’t he a [gasp] "folk singer?" Well, yes and no - calling this singer/guitarist par excellence a "folk" musician is as appropriate as calling Ray Charles a blind guy what plays the piano or Bing Crosby is old guy who made those "Road" pictures with Bob Hope. Watson, like Charles, is from an older generation where musical "boundaries" weren’t quite set in stone - I mean, in the 40s and 50s, black and white singers would cover (and have hits with) each other’s material on a routine basis, and gospel music was a much bigger influence. Doc Watson, like all great American musical artists, heard, absorbed and put his own spin on virtually everything that reached his ears, regardless of style or genre. This live set is mostly blues and gospel of the Acoustic/Country/Pre-WWII strain: "Blues Walkin’ Round My Bed," Jimmie’s Mean Momma Blues" and Mance Lipscomb’s "Sugar Babe." Unlike some other white practitioners of the Blues, Watson and friends never try to sound "authentic" (i.e., like a black person from the Mississippi Delta or South Chicago) - they just do them in a natural and unassuming fashion, like a bunch o’ folks playing music for pleasure on a porch, only these fellows play with effortlessly amazing warmth and dexterity. Watson has an Old Man of the Mountain kind of voice: humble, no polish, sounding as lived-in as a favorite chair, with a pronounced gospel influence. His finger-picked guitar sound reflects the many shades of blues, bluegrass, ragtime (very much so) and Appalachian string bands, and beyond - he transforms the mythic-sounding Moody Blues hit "Nights In White Satin" into a forlorn elegy sung from a hilltop in Scotland or Montana or Iceland. Purists of any stripe need not apply, but the open-minded eclectics out there, especially the ones that like/love Mississippi John Hurt, Woody Guthrie, Rev. Gary Davis, Josh White and Ted Hawkins as well as SUPER-fine acoustic playing are urged to give this a shot. Besides, it’s good medicine, a tonic for these damn-stressful times.