Musician Paul “Watty” Watson died last week on Nov. 20 after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. He was 72. A revered figure in Richmond music, Watson was an influential musician who sang and played coronet, guitar, banjo, mandolin; Style Weekly covered his work a bunch over the years.

Watson was born in Monkey’s Eyebrow, Kentucky, and an original founding member of the groundbreaking 1980s Richmond band Orthotonics, as well as playing with Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse fame, Griefbirds, Ululating Mummies, David Lowery (Cracker), House of Freaks, Patrick Phelan, FSK, One Ring Zero, Tulsa Drone, And the Wiremen, and many other nationally known musicians including Fred Frith, Michael Hurley, Vic Chesnutt, Half Japanese, Dexter Romweber, Albert King, Charlie Byrd and others. Here’s a link to a solo album, “My Secret Effect,” that Watson released in 2014.

We put out a call for friends and former bandmates to send their memories and will be adding them to this memoriam as they come in.

George M. Lowe

My dear friend, Paul Watson, was the consummate musical artist, continually honing his craft, and he embodied the Richmond music scene. I recall seeing an article that referred to him as “ubiquitous” in RVA, and it was certainly true. The list of notable Richmond bands he graced with his gifts is enormous, though he wasn’t just a “Richmond musician,” as evidenced by his successes in New York and Europe.

His focus and dedication were amazing to me. In the ‘90s, he lived extremely frugally so he could devote himself completely to advancing as an artist, without the distraction of steady employment. I watched in awe as he transformed himself musically during that period, setting a lofty example for me and everyone else who knew him.

When I was at my lowest in the mid ‘90s, a complete mess after the tragic death of my wife, it was Paul who rescued me by convincing me to join the Ululating Mummies, my first experience as a band member, and something I absolutely would never have done otherwise. It proved to be, as he knew it would, exactly what I needed, giving me a much needed something to look forward to and forever changing the trajectory of my life. When I needed to expand my role in the band to include playing the guitar, it was Paul who sold me his favorite instrument, at one-third of its value no less, as that’s what I could afford to pay. I still cherish and perform with it today.

It was Paul who encouraged me to finally step out and form my own band, Afro-Zen Allstars, which ten years on is achieving its greatest success. I owe that, and so much else, to Paul. He quite literally saved me and never stopped looking out for me, and the example he set will never leave me, especially the grace with which he navigated more than two hellish decades of Parkinson’s without losing his positivity or good humor. Doubting my own ability to do likewise made that a humbling thing to behold.

His calling didn’t make for an easy life, but he did live exactly as he chose to.

He told me recently, “People feel sorry for me because of the Parkinson’s but, in my life, I’ve been able to do everything I’ve ever wanted to. That’s as good as it gets, isn’t it?”

Indeed, it is. I will be eternally grateful for Paul and his friendship and can’t begin to express how much I’ll miss him. Long live Watty …

Rebby Sharp

Working together with so many interesting folks in Richmond Artists’ Workshop (’70s) led to combining Idio Savant (then a trio), Phil Trumbo and myself to form Orthotonics. From Paul I learned guitar basics: harmonic tuning, setting intonation, how to string it, having proper equipment AND “don’t call ‘rehearsal’ ‘practice’.” He emphasized acquiring skills so I could have longevity beyond the initial novelty of the band. His dedication and rigor served him and so many others till he left this world.

Thank you, Paul.

Matt Linkous

My brother Mark met Paul around 1990. They shared a mutual appreciation of music, literature, and motorcycles. They made records, toured, and most importantly, they were good friends. They often hung out at the old Main Street Grill eating bean pacos, sipping coffee, and listening to old timey music like Clarence Ashley and Roscoe Holcomb.

Paul was an extremely talented multi-instrumentalist who played a key role in the original Sparklehorse lineup. Paul contributed so much to Richmond’s music scene and helped built its reputation as a city known for its unique music. –Matt Linkous (brother of Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse)

Correction: An earlier version of this story had the wrong date for his death, a family member noted he died at 2 a.m. on Nov. 20.