Doc Watson, born Arthel Lane Watson in 1923 in North Carolina, was a flatpicking guitar pioneer whose fast, precise style on the guitar with a pick influenced nearly every later bluegrass and roots player. He was blind from infancy after an eye infection, but he learned guitar early and played on the streets of Boone for money. In 1960 the folklorist Ralph Rinzler recorded him in a session, and a 1961 Folkways album brought him to national attention. He toured the folk revival circuit, playing a wide repertoire that included blues, pop and country, and he later performed with his son Merle as a duo. His playing on the 1972 album Will the Circle Be Unbroken helped bring him wider fame.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.