Aaron Watson wanted to offer up something extra special and personal to his fans to celebrate his 20 years of making music, so he set out to chronicle that journey with a set of self-penned songs that touch on every era of his life. The new 20-song collection, Red Bandana, is chock full of the places, faces, and nostalgic moments and feelings that inspire the Texas cowboy, and he opens up a vein musically and gives fans quite a ride on the new project, which releases today (June 21).
The self-professed sentimentalist and hopeless romantic sat down each morning on his ranch and painstakingly crafted the new collection of songs, then upped the memory ante on them by adding sonic touches from his past in their production, such as the opening track’s haunting wind chimes or the actual train that passes by his house each day. The touches give them a feeling of the comforting familiarity of home and makes them even more personal for Watson, who poured his heart into the entire endeavor.
“I’m very sentimental and nostalgic and emotional – I watch a movie and I tear up and my kids are laughing at me,” Watson tells MusicRow. “But I wanted to give fans a more mature album than anything I’ve ever put out this time and give them something that’s different but still my brand of music. The train in the song ‘Trying Like The Devil’ – that’s the train that passes right by my ranch, so I hear that train every day…I hear it in the middle of the night laying in bed. The wind chimes on the album’s leadoff song, ‘Ghost Of Guy Clark,’ were the chimes hanging outside on my grandmother’s back porch when I was a little kid growing up. You’re hearing the AM radio fuzz from my dad’s old radio he had wired to his cleaning cart when he was a custodian when I was growing up cleaning toilets with my dad. That’s the radio I was listening to a million hours of music on. And I just wanted there to be that feeling of home on the album, but at the same time I didn’t want this to be a record that sounds like something back in the day. This record sounds like nothing anyone’s ever heard.”
To help achieve that, Watson enlisted the help of rising producer Jordan Lehning to offer up a fresh twist on the followup to his successful previous projects, including The Underdog, (which was the first independent album to reach the top of the Billboard Country chart), and his last album Vaquero. He sought out Lehning, who worked on Rodney Crowell’s recent album, to help him mix things up a bit and found the two had an instant rapport in the studio.
“Obviously Jordan’s dad and his brother are both incredible producers, and he caught my ear when he did Rodney’s last album. I met with him and we just vibed and he has a little bit of that hipster edge to him, and I think he brought to the table some tools that helped make me a better artist and we enjoyed working together. I think he was shocked, like why would this West Texas cowboy want to work with me — I don’t even think the guy owns a pair of boots. But we bring different things to the table, and it really works. And he was just passionate about my music. And I needed somebody who was hungry like me. And Jordan is hungry. And being in his studio and singing on the last microphone that Ray Price sang on…him saying things like, ‘that guitar hanging right there, that was the guitar that Waylon Jennings played on Dreaming my Dreams With You when he recorded with my dad’ was just so great. So it just fit me.”
Watson also found some extra inspiration for the new record in an unlikely place: a Paul McCartney concert in the Midwest. He piled his family in the bus and trekked to see the Beatle perform, and was struck with how key a diverse playlist can be in capturing audiences.
“I put songs like ‘Blood Brothers’ and ‘Old Friend’ and ‘Live Or Die Trying’ that are very cutting edge on this album, but then I also have songs like ‘Riding With Red’ and ‘Red Bandana’ too. It’s one of those things I realize the importance of diversity, and when I saw Paul McCartney in Omaha NE awhile back, I took my whole family and we jumped in the tour bus and went to see him play. And one minute he’s playing ‘Blackbird.’ which I think everyone can acknowledge that’s one of the greatest singer/songwriter songs of all time. And then a few songs later, Paul plays ‘Baby You Can Drive My Car Beep Beep Beep Beep Yeah.’ And I loved both songs. So when you’ve got 20 songs on an album, you can’t have monotony — you’ve got to have cinematic moments, feelings, happy, sad, fast, slow, you’ve got to take the listener on a ride.”
It was just such a ride that inspired one of the tracks on the new project, “Riding With Red,” a song penned in tribute to Watson’s friend and mentor, cowboy poet Red Steagall, along with a few other men who had a profound influence on Watson’s life. Watson came up with the tune following a ride through the mountains with Steagall.
“I went on a vacation in Montana with Red and Reba, and Reba babysat my kids while I went on a horseback ride with Red through the mountains. And we just sat there just me and Red riding right next to each other, and he was passing down all kinds of knowledge and advice on life, and it was the most amazing thing. And when we got back I looked at my wife and she said how was it, and I said ‘I had the most amazing time riding with Red.’ I called him later and told him I wrote you a song but in the song you’re dead…I just wanted to say sorry about that. And he said, It’s alright partner…it makes for a better song me being dead and all.’ But that song is not just for Red, it’s about my granddaddy, my pawpaw, my John Pop and an old man named Mr. Pete — these four old men who have been in my life and had such a profound influence on me, the song is for them and for Red.”
Watson pays tribute to another one of his heroes on the opener, “Ghost Of Guy Clark.” Hauntingly eerie wind chimes set the tone for the dream sequence song where Watson receives writing advice from the late legend. “I wanted to make a statement with the first song, it’s the manifesto. And there are a few artists who are just adored by both Nashville and Texas, guys like George Strait, and then guys like Guy Clark… and he is just my hero. When I grow up I want to be just like him. When people say what do I have envisioned for my career, I see me as an old man sitting on my stool playing my songs. So the first song is a manifesto, I mean who puts out an album after having Top 40 radio success that the first song doesn’t even have a chorus? And the second song is an instrumental that I wrote, “El Comienzo Del Viaje.”
Other songs get a bit more autobiographical, like the inspiring message of never giving up in “Dark Horse.” For an indie artist who has enjoyed big success, Watson still occasionally feels as though he’s knocking on the door of the industry at times, trying to get a ticket in.
“Without a doubt, you would think honestly if there’s an indie artist who put out a number one album and sold half a millions tickets touring, that the gates of country music would open for him…but it’s not that way. We have so many obstacles because I’ve chosen to be independent, but I’ve chosen it for the love. Our Real Good Time charted Top 10 on Billboard, no one wanted anything to do with us, Underdog charted No 1, no one wanted anything to do with us, Vaquero sold more copies than the Underdog and had mainstream radio success, a Top 10. We’ve had so many obstacles, and ‘Dark Horse’ is that message to my children and all the fans out there who are working hard to chase their dream. To not let discouragement be something that makes you give up on yourself — you take that discouragement, and turn it into fuel for your fire.”
He uplifts the loved ones who suffered losses in the horrible Route 91 festival shooting in ’58,’ a song fans encouraged him to write. “I played the Route 91 festival the year before the tragedy and when it happened it turned into a big political mess and that made me sad, because people just lost the loves of their lives — sons, daughters, sisters, brothers, mothers, fathers, and the media was making it out to be some sort of political agenda. I wrote the song because I had a person who was severely injured at Route 91 and came to one of my shows months later and told me they loved my song ‘Bluebonnets,’ a song I wrote for my daughter who passed away 7 years ago.
“They told me I needed to write a tribute for the Route 91 victims and their families, and I wanted to write something that was simple and sincere and uplifting, and it’s only 58 seconds long and the last song on the record because they deserve to have the last song on the record. Because a year and a half later we’ve all moved on because that’s just the world, that’s just the way it is. But those people who lost loved ones they woke up this morning still feeling that heartache, so it’s important to let them know we still think about them and we’re still praying for them.”
There are nods to the ones he loves on the album as well, from “Heartstrings,” which came out of a songwriting lesson with his little girl, to “Country Song,” a love song for his parents, and even “Old Friend,” which he was moved to pen in tribute after Tom Petty died. The collection is eclectic, personal and heartfelt – a fitting thank you to his loyal fans who fuel his passion. The cowboy and family man knows he is often pegged as looking like the perfect husband and father, and in “Trying Like The Devil” he comes clean about the fact that his life is just as messy and imperfect as anybody’s.
“We’re a very unforgiving society today…somebody makes a mistake, and we’re ready to make ’em walk the plank into the shark infested waters,” said Watson about the current Instagram and Twitter-fueled world. “And when you think about Johnny Cash, he was such a great man. I read one of his books about the Apostle Paul, and in the beginning of the book Johnny shares a lot of his struggles. And had there been Twitter and Instagram back then, gosh, some of the mistakes he made — but guess what, he’s just a man, he’s not perfect. And you know what else I love Johnny Cash and I love Billy Graham, but I relate a lot more to Johnny because of the struggles he had. And the reason I look up to Johnny Cash so much is he needed Jesus because of his many imperfections, and that’s me. People think that well, he’s a Christian he’s got it all together. No, I need Jesus because I’m more messed up than most.
“And ‘Trying Like The Devil’ it’s just… I don’t go into the details too much because some things are just my business, but that’s me baring my heart and soul and saying you know what sometimes I’m not the man I should be — I fail as a father, a husband, I let people down, but you know when I get down I’m gonna pick myself back up and brush myself off because I know that God’s love is bigger than any mistake I could ever make. And that’s what that song is about. I want people if they battle with addiction, or depression, or any type of struggle whatever it may be, I want them to hear that song and say hey I got this, I’m gonna push through this, I’m gonna keep moving forward. And the line in there “So beware of broken glass should you stare into the window of my soul and judge me not, I only bare it all so you know that you are not alone.” And that’s the thing — if I can share my heart, and share my imperfections, and help somebody get through some of their struggles I feel like that’s my duty as a songwriter and an artist is to make music with meaning.”
Combs Soars To No. 2 On The MusicRow Top Songwriter Chart
/by LB CantrellChart-wrangler Luke Combs flies from No. 34 to No. 2 on the MusicRow Top Songwriter Chart this week, with all five tunes from his new EP The Prequel propelling him, including “Beer Never Broke My Heart,” “Even Though I’m Leaving,” “Lovin’ On You,” “Moon Over Mexico” and “Refrigerator Door.” Combs’ co-writers Jonathan Singleton (No. 13), Randy Montana (No. 31), and Ray Fulcher (No. 32) fall in line beneath him.
Michael Hardy stays on top at No. 1 this week for the second week, and Ashley Gorley takes the No. 3 slot. Blanco Brown leaps to the No. 12 slot fueled by his charting single, “The Git Up.”
The weekly MusicRow Top Songwriter Chart, published every week, uses algorithms based upon song activity garnered from airplay, digital downloaded track sales and streams. This unique and exclusive addition to the MusicRow portfolio is the only songwriter chart of its kind.
Click here to view the full MusicRow Top Songwriter Chart.
Morris Higham Management Inks Publishing Joint Venture, Signs Chase Wright
/by Jessica NicholsonPictured (L-R): Evyn Mustoe-ASCAP, Clint Higham-Morris Higham Management/Toby and Molly Music, Jeff Biederman-Manatt, Chase Wright, Robert Filhart-Morris Higham Management/Toby and Molly Music, TD Ruth-Serling Rooks Hunter McKoy Worob & Averill LLP, Jesse Willoughby-Kobalt. Photo: Basak Kizilisik
Morris Higham Management is adding publishing to its list of client services, which already include music management, booking and production. Through a joint venture among MHM President Clint Higham, Kobalt Music and recent addition to MHM, publishing industry veteran and manager Robert Filhart, newly established Toby and Molly Music, LLC creates unique opportunities for writer/artist-friendly deals. The venture’s first signee is 22-year-old songwriter Chase Wright.
“It’s challenging for new artists to focus on their art when the stress of commerce and business occupies their days,” Higham says. “Logically it was the next step in the full-service model we offer our clients, intended so they have the freedom to focus on the music. We all benefit when that happens.”
Filhart first introduced Wright to MHM for management following months of development during his previous tenure at ASCAP.
“Chase’s voice paired with his work ethic and drive for entertaining really stuck out to me when we were first introduced to him over a year ago. This new publishing venture further enhances the artist/management experience while providing added value to their creative services needs.” Filhart says. “The names ‘Toby and Molly’ are to honor my father’s legacy as they were the first team of draft horses we had on our farm in Michigan. It represents a work ethic we should all strive to achieve in life.”
Known for creating unique models to further develop and benefit their roster, MHM’s Dale Morris and Higham recently partnered with Paradigm Talent Agency to expand the services previously included under their sister company, Dale Morris & Associates. For decades, MHM has guided the careers of iconic artists including trailblazers Alabama and eight-time Entertainer of the Year Kenny Chesney, to recent successes of clients ranging from reigning ACM/CMA Group of the Year Old Dominion, as well as Michael Ray, Brantley Gilbert, Carly Pearce, and more.
Los Angeles-based attorney Jeff Biederman of Manatt’s law firm brought Kobalt into the partnership and oversees legal for Toby and Molly Music, LLC. Kobalt will oversee all administration services for the publishing company.
Skillet, Alter Bridge Announce Co-Headlining Tour
/by Jessica NicholsonAlter Bridge and Skillet have announced that they will embark on a co-headlining tour this fall. The Victorious Sky Tour begins on Sept. 22 in Baltimore and runs through Oct. 25 in Orlando. Dirty Honey will also appear.
Multi-platinum and twice Grammy-nominated supergroup Skillet were recently welcomed into Pandora’s Billionaires club, earning over 2 billion streams. They will release their tenth album, Victorious, on Atlantic Records on Aug. 2.
Pre-sale tickets are available now through June 27, while regular tickets go on sale on Friday, June 28. For a full list of tour dates, visit alterbridge.com.
Leadership Music Celebrates 30 Years At Anniversary Bash
/by Lorie HollabaughLeadership Music 30th anniversary celebration. Photo: Moments by Moser Photography
Leadership Music celebrated its 30th birthday in a big way last Thursday night (June 20) with more than 500 music industry execs and their guests from around the country gathering at Nashville’s War Memorial Auditorium to celebrate the occasion.
Leadership Music alumni from the past 30 years attended the event, which began with acknowledgments of the organization’s Founding Council, past presidents and executive directors, and a video montage of highlights of the past three decades set to a special rewrite of Phil Vassar’s song “My Next 30 Years,” performed by Vassar.
The evening’s keynote featured SiriusXM CEO Jim Meyer interviewed by Billboard magazine’s Melinda Newman. Meyer fielded questions about the future of digital music and the ever-changing landscape of issues affecting royalties paid to artists and songwriters. Afterward, War Memorial was transformed into a Vegas-style casino with poker and craps tables and roulette wheels, and attendees gambled with play money for a chance to win prizes.
“Last night hundreds of Leadership Music alumni from three decades celebrated, reminisced, and revisited all that is extraordinary about our first 30 years,” Executive Director Debbie Linn said. “A total of 920 days of meetings, phone calls and sweat equity from an amazing committee, led by co-chairs Linda Bloss-Baum and Neal Spielberg, went into planning an event worthy of a landmark anniversary. Members of our Founding Council were in attendance to be applauded and honored, as were the past presidents, facilitators and executive directors. Alumni from Montana to California to New York representing the very first class of 1990 and beyond partied alongside the incoming Class of 2020. We couldn’t be more pleased, humbled and gratified with the amazing turnout. It was definitely a one-of-a-kind moment. We can’t wait to see what’s up ahead as we begin our next 30 years.”
Founded in 1989 by 12 of the music industry’s top executives, Nashville-based Leadership Music is a non-profit educational organization providing programs designed to further communications and understanding among facets of the entertainment industry and to assist established leaders in their roles as decision makers. Leadership Music is designed to promote teamwork, camaraderie and dialogue among industry leaders, expand the talent pool of leadership in the community, and expose class participants to varying points of view and philosophies.
Leadership Music 30th anniversary party. Photo: Moments by Moser Photography
Leadership Music 30th anniversary celebration. Photo: Ed Rode
Leadership Music 30th anniversary party. Photo: Moments by Moser Photography
Leadership Music 30th anniversary party. Photo: Moments by Moser Photography
Leadership Music 30th anniversary celebration, class of 2003. Photo: Ed Rode
Leadership Music 30th anniversary celebration. Photo: Ed Rode
Leadership Music 30th anniversary celebration. Photo: Moments by Moser Photography
Leadership Music Class of 2016. Photo: Ed Rode
Leadership Music Class of 2009. Photo: Ed Rode
RCA Inspiration Highlights Classic Performances With New Digital Series
/by Jessica NicholsonThe Video Heritage Series, available on RCA Inspiration’s YouTube channel, highlights classic gospel and inspirational performances. Verity Presents V.H.S. commenced with the full-length concert from 14-time Grammy winner Kirk Franklin’s 1993 debut album, Kirk Franklin & The Family. More classic performances will be uploaded regularly.
Damon Williams, RCAI & Verity’s Vice President of Marketing says, “As we continue to celebrate Black Music Month, RCA Inspiration is excited to launch this video series featuring classic performance concert footage from our current and catalog roster of artists. We are digging deep in the crates and have resurrected iconic, vintage video content from Fred Hammond, Hezekiah Walker, Yolanda Adams, Richard Smallwood, Donnie McClurkin, Vanessa Bell Armstrong, John P. Kee, and many others. The debut recording from Kirk Franklin is a perfectly nostalgic way to start things off, yet is only a sample of what’s to come!”
Country Music Hall Of Fame Receives Grant To Create Music Row Experience Project App
/by Lorie HollabaughThis initiative, called the Music Row Experience Project, focuses on digitizing the museum’s Music Row-related archival materials and making the materials accessible through an app and web-based experience. The app will allow users to interact with the museum’s ever-growing digital archive through a gaming interface, while also exploring places of interest and important eras related to Nashville’s Music Row. The museum selected Music Row—which the National Trust for Historic Preservation designated a national treasure in 2015 and named one of its most endangered historic places in 2019—as the subject of this project because of the district’s cultural and historical significance as the center of country music recording, production and creativity since the mid-1950s.
Through the project, the museum will create a free, publicly accessible, interactive experience that will encourage users to explore the people, music and stories associated with Music Row. In addition, this project provides broad digital access to the museum’s collection and reduces geographic and economic barriers for audiences all over the world to access the museum’s collection.
Project work began June 1 and will be completed in May 2021. At the end of the project, an additional 4,850 items in the museum’s collection, including 600 audio recordings, 250 films and videos and 4,000 photographs, will be digitized and catalogued.
“The goal of our digitization efforts is to connect people with country music’s rich history,” said museum CEO Kyle Young. “At the culmination of the Music Row Experience Project, not only will more people understand the role Music Row has played in the country music story, but other educational institutions will be able to use this application as a model to create their own innovative access and interactive strategies for their own digital collections.”
John Prine Celebrated With NYC Event
/by Jessica NicholsonPictured: Keith Sykes, Bonnie Raitt and John Prine. Photo: Kevin Scanlon.
Last week, Downtown Music Publishing celebrated the musical legacy of John Prine with a showcase at PUBLIC Arts benefiting 826NYC, the New York chapter of the largest non-profit youth writing network in the country. Held on the eve of Prine’s induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the night featured an all-star lineup of performers including Antibalas, Sara Bareilles, Stephen Colbert, John Dickerson, Norah Jones, Natalie Merchant, Nathaniel Rateliff, and The War and Treaty, each doing a special acoustic interpretation of their favorite John Prine song.
The man of the hour capped off the night with his own performance of his classic song “Paradise,” with longtime friends and collaborators Bonnie Raitt and Keith Sykes joining him on stage.
The War and Treaty Perform. Photo: Kevin Scanlon.
John Prine performs. Photo: Kevin Scanlon.
Eric Paslay, Callista Clark Help Launch BMI’s Publisher Takeover Series
/by Jessica NicholsonPictured: Big Machine’s Alex Heddle, BMI’s Branden Bosler, Eric Paslay, PNC Bank’s Chelsea Peterson, BMI’s MaryAnn Keen, PNC Bank’s Mike Johnson and Big Machine’s Mike Molinar. Photo: Steve Lowry
BMI and PNC Bank have joined forces to present a new publisher-focused writer series. The first of installment of four Publisher Takeovers scheduled for the summer, Big Machine Music Publishing brought along Eric Paslay and Callista Clark to the recently updated BMI Creative Patio on Wednesday (June 19).
Pictured: BMI’s Leslie Roberts, Callista Clark and Big Machine’s Allison Jones. Photo: Steve Lowry
Pictured: Eric Paslay, BMI’s Jody Williams and Big Machine’s Mike Molinar. Photo: Steve Lowry
Kane Brown, Marshmello Release “One Thing Right” Collaboration
/by Jessica NicholsonPhoto Credit: Daniel Malikyar
Kane Brown has released his collaboration with producer Marshmello on their new single “One Thing Right.” The track was penned by Brown, Marshmello, Josh Hoge, Jesse Frasure and Matt McGinn and marks Marshmello’s first collaboration with a country artist. The two will perform the new collaboration on GMA’s Summer Concert Series on Aug. 30.
Brown and Marshmello first connected at the 2018 American Music Awards, where Brown picked up three awards, including Favorite Male Artist Country, Favorite Album-Country and Favorite Song-Country. Meanwhile Marshmello earned the Best Electronic Dance Artist honor.
“Marshmello had reached out to say congratulations while I was at the AMAs,” Brown said. “I sent him the song and he ended up being really passionate about it, and said he wanted to even make it a single, so we ended up working on it together. I am a huge Marshmello fan and think he is an incredible artist in his space, so I am thrilled to be able to get to collaborate with him on this. Its amazing seeing a song you wrote come to life like that,” added Brown.
Marshmello’s hit single “Happier” (with Bastille) has earned nearly one billion cumulative streams and has been certified double-platinum in the U.S. He is currently doing a two-year engagement at KAOS Dayclub and Nightclub at the Palms Casino Resort. Earlier this year he played “the first-ever in-game concert” inside of Fortnite.
Brown is the first artist to top all five Billboard Country charts and is one of onely five country acts with multiple 4x platinum hits (joining Luke Bryan, Florida Georgia Line, Sam Hunt and Taylor Swift).
Aaron Watson Commemorates Two Decades In Music With ‘Red Bandana’
/by Lorie HollabaughAaron Watson wanted to offer up something extra special and personal to his fans to celebrate his 20 years of making music, so he set out to chronicle that journey with a set of self-penned songs that touch on every era of his life. The new 20-song collection, Red Bandana, is chock full of the places, faces, and nostalgic moments and feelings that inspire the Texas cowboy, and he opens up a vein musically and gives fans quite a ride on the new project, which releases today (June 21).
The self-professed sentimentalist and hopeless romantic sat down each morning on his ranch and painstakingly crafted the new collection of songs, then upped the memory ante on them by adding sonic touches from his past in their production, such as the opening track’s haunting wind chimes or the actual train that passes by his house each day. The touches give them a feeling of the comforting familiarity of home and makes them even more personal for Watson, who poured his heart into the entire endeavor.
“I’m very sentimental and nostalgic and emotional – I watch a movie and I tear up and my kids are laughing at me,” Watson tells MusicRow. “But I wanted to give fans a more mature album than anything I’ve ever put out this time and give them something that’s different but still my brand of music. The train in the song ‘Trying Like The Devil’ – that’s the train that passes right by my ranch, so I hear that train every day…I hear it in the middle of the night laying in bed. The wind chimes on the album’s leadoff song, ‘Ghost Of Guy Clark,’ were the chimes hanging outside on my grandmother’s back porch when I was a little kid growing up. You’re hearing the AM radio fuzz from my dad’s old radio he had wired to his cleaning cart when he was a custodian when I was growing up cleaning toilets with my dad. That’s the radio I was listening to a million hours of music on. And I just wanted there to be that feeling of home on the album, but at the same time I didn’t want this to be a record that sounds like something back in the day. This record sounds like nothing anyone’s ever heard.”
To help achieve that, Watson enlisted the help of rising producer Jordan Lehning to offer up a fresh twist on the followup to his successful previous projects, including The Underdog, (which was the first independent album to reach the top of the Billboard Country chart), and his last album Vaquero. He sought out Lehning, who worked on Rodney Crowell’s recent album, to help him mix things up a bit and found the two had an instant rapport in the studio.
“Obviously Jordan’s dad and his brother are both incredible producers, and he caught my ear when he did Rodney’s last album. I met with him and we just vibed and he has a little bit of that hipster edge to him, and I think he brought to the table some tools that helped make me a better artist and we enjoyed working together. I think he was shocked, like why would this West Texas cowboy want to work with me — I don’t even think the guy owns a pair of boots. But we bring different things to the table, and it really works. And he was just passionate about my music. And I needed somebody who was hungry like me. And Jordan is hungry. And being in his studio and singing on the last microphone that Ray Price sang on…him saying things like, ‘that guitar hanging right there, that was the guitar that Waylon Jennings played on Dreaming my Dreams With You when he recorded with my dad’ was just so great. So it just fit me.”
Watson also found some extra inspiration for the new record in an unlikely place: a Paul McCartney concert in the Midwest. He piled his family in the bus and trekked to see the Beatle perform, and was struck with how key a diverse playlist can be in capturing audiences.
“I put songs like ‘Blood Brothers’ and ‘Old Friend’ and ‘Live Or Die Trying’ that are very cutting edge on this album, but then I also have songs like ‘Riding With Red’ and ‘Red Bandana’ too. It’s one of those things I realize the importance of diversity, and when I saw Paul McCartney in Omaha NE awhile back, I took my whole family and we jumped in the tour bus and went to see him play. And one minute he’s playing ‘Blackbird.’ which I think everyone can acknowledge that’s one of the greatest singer/songwriter songs of all time. And then a few songs later, Paul plays ‘Baby You Can Drive My Car Beep Beep Beep Beep Yeah.’ And I loved both songs. So when you’ve got 20 songs on an album, you can’t have monotony — you’ve got to have cinematic moments, feelings, happy, sad, fast, slow, you’ve got to take the listener on a ride.”
It was just such a ride that inspired one of the tracks on the new project, “Riding With Red,” a song penned in tribute to Watson’s friend and mentor, cowboy poet Red Steagall, along with a few other men who had a profound influence on Watson’s life. Watson came up with the tune following a ride through the mountains with Steagall.
“I went on a vacation in Montana with Red and Reba, and Reba babysat my kids while I went on a horseback ride with Red through the mountains. And we just sat there just me and Red riding right next to each other, and he was passing down all kinds of knowledge and advice on life, and it was the most amazing thing. And when we got back I looked at my wife and she said how was it, and I said ‘I had the most amazing time riding with Red.’ I called him later and told him I wrote you a song but in the song you’re dead…I just wanted to say sorry about that. And he said, It’s alright partner…it makes for a better song me being dead and all.’ But that song is not just for Red, it’s about my granddaddy, my pawpaw, my John Pop and an old man named Mr. Pete — these four old men who have been in my life and had such a profound influence on me, the song is for them and for Red.”
Watson pays tribute to another one of his heroes on the opener, “Ghost Of Guy Clark.” Hauntingly eerie wind chimes set the tone for the dream sequence song where Watson receives writing advice from the late legend. “I wanted to make a statement with the first song, it’s the manifesto. And there are a few artists who are just adored by both Nashville and Texas, guys like George Strait, and then guys like Guy Clark… and he is just my hero. When I grow up I want to be just like him. When people say what do I have envisioned for my career, I see me as an old man sitting on my stool playing my songs. So the first song is a manifesto, I mean who puts out an album after having Top 40 radio success that the first song doesn’t even have a chorus? And the second song is an instrumental that I wrote, “El Comienzo Del Viaje.”
Other songs get a bit more autobiographical, like the inspiring message of never giving up in “Dark Horse.” For an indie artist who has enjoyed big success, Watson still occasionally feels as though he’s knocking on the door of the industry at times, trying to get a ticket in.
“Without a doubt, you would think honestly if there’s an indie artist who put out a number one album and sold half a millions tickets touring, that the gates of country music would open for him…but it’s not that way. We have so many obstacles because I’ve chosen to be independent, but I’ve chosen it for the love. Our Real Good Time charted Top 10 on Billboard, no one wanted anything to do with us, Underdog charted No 1, no one wanted anything to do with us, Vaquero sold more copies than the Underdog and had mainstream radio success, a Top 10. We’ve had so many obstacles, and ‘Dark Horse’ is that message to my children and all the fans out there who are working hard to chase their dream. To not let discouragement be something that makes you give up on yourself — you take that discouragement, and turn it into fuel for your fire.”
He uplifts the loved ones who suffered losses in the horrible Route 91 festival shooting in ’58,’ a song fans encouraged him to write. “I played the Route 91 festival the year before the tragedy and when it happened it turned into a big political mess and that made me sad, because people just lost the loves of their lives — sons, daughters, sisters, brothers, mothers, fathers, and the media was making it out to be some sort of political agenda. I wrote the song because I had a person who was severely injured at Route 91 and came to one of my shows months later and told me they loved my song ‘Bluebonnets,’ a song I wrote for my daughter who passed away 7 years ago.
“They told me I needed to write a tribute for the Route 91 victims and their families, and I wanted to write something that was simple and sincere and uplifting, and it’s only 58 seconds long and the last song on the record because they deserve to have the last song on the record. Because a year and a half later we’ve all moved on because that’s just the world, that’s just the way it is. But those people who lost loved ones they woke up this morning still feeling that heartache, so it’s important to let them know we still think about them and we’re still praying for them.”
There are nods to the ones he loves on the album as well, from “Heartstrings,” which came out of a songwriting lesson with his little girl, to “Country Song,” a love song for his parents, and even “Old Friend,” which he was moved to pen in tribute after Tom Petty died. The collection is eclectic, personal and heartfelt – a fitting thank you to his loyal fans who fuel his passion. The cowboy and family man knows he is often pegged as looking like the perfect husband and father, and in “Trying Like The Devil” he comes clean about the fact that his life is just as messy and imperfect as anybody’s.
“We’re a very unforgiving society today…somebody makes a mistake, and we’re ready to make ’em walk the plank into the shark infested waters,” said Watson about the current Instagram and Twitter-fueled world. “And when you think about Johnny Cash, he was such a great man. I read one of his books about the Apostle Paul, and in the beginning of the book Johnny shares a lot of his struggles. And had there been Twitter and Instagram back then, gosh, some of the mistakes he made — but guess what, he’s just a man, he’s not perfect. And you know what else I love Johnny Cash and I love Billy Graham, but I relate a lot more to Johnny because of the struggles he had. And the reason I look up to Johnny Cash so much is he needed Jesus because of his many imperfections, and that’s me. People think that well, he’s a Christian he’s got it all together. No, I need Jesus because I’m more messed up than most.
“And ‘Trying Like The Devil’ it’s just… I don’t go into the details too much because some things are just my business, but that’s me baring my heart and soul and saying you know what sometimes I’m not the man I should be — I fail as a father, a husband, I let people down, but you know when I get down I’m gonna pick myself back up and brush myself off because I know that God’s love is bigger than any mistake I could ever make. And that’s what that song is about. I want people if they battle with addiction, or depression, or any type of struggle whatever it may be, I want them to hear that song and say hey I got this, I’m gonna push through this, I’m gonna keep moving forward. And the line in there “So beware of broken glass should you stare into the window of my soul and judge me not, I only bare it all so you know that you are not alone.” And that’s the thing — if I can share my heart, and share my imperfections, and help somebody get through some of their struggles I feel like that’s my duty as a songwriter and an artist is to make music with meaning.”