Dale Watson






























































Dale Watson
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"Dale Watson isn't one to uphold the music industry's status quo. He's moving forward on his own terms and true to his own convictions. Even with frequent proclamations declaring him one of country music's last authentic voices (like that in Crazy Again--a recent documentary on Watson's life--when a fan declares, "son, you play country like country was when country was country"), Watson is done with the "C" word and what it's come to represent in modern times. So much so that he's created his own genre, simply called Ameripolitan. In a recent posting on his website (www.dalewatson.com), Dale explains it like this: "I've been trying to come up with a name the best describes this music that me and folks similar do. When folks ask, I hesitate, down right embarrassed really, to say country. I didn't used to be that way, but with the change in country, the term doesn't mean the same as it used to. If you say traditional, or old, or western swing most folks think 'retro' and dismiss it without hearing it. I wanted a name that didn't say country anything and didn't give anyone a preconceived idea. I came up with Ameripolitan. I even put it in Wikipedia defined as: Original music with 'prominent' roots influence." And so it goes with Dale Watson, the kind of unparalleled iconoclast that's far too rare in music today. To that end, Dale Watson is heading into 2007 with a full head of steam. His latest album, From The Cradle To The Grave, hits stores on April 24th through a new deal with the critically-acclaimed and musically diverse independent record label, HYENA Records. The story behind the recording is as mythic as any in Watson's already deep and fascinating discography. Having taken six months off in January 2006 to relocate his family to Baltimore, Watson was preparing his return to music when old friend Johnny Knoxville offered up his cabin in the Tennessee mountains for the band to reconvene and rehearse. However, this wasn't just any mountain home. The cabin Johnny Knoxville was offering just so happened to be previously owned by the one and only Johnny Cash. Watson, of course, jumped at the opportunity. It was also suggested by Knoxville that Dale record a new album while on his visit. The idea was at first dismissed due to the logistics of getting recording equipment up to the cabin. That problem would be quickly solved though when Charlie Boswell, head of the digital media and entertainment unit at Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD), offered to send a complete recording facility. The next hurdle would be songs. Dale hadn't been writing and therefore wasn't prepared with an album's worth of new material. "I got up there and basically wrote ten songs in three days," remembers Watson. "At first I was adamant about not writing anything even remotely reminiscent to Johnny Cash as I figured I'd be instantly dismissed for trying to cop his vibe, but his presence was so strong up there that I decided why fight it, let the chips fall where they may and go with the feeling." From The Cradle To The Grave is alive indeed with the spirit of Johnny Cash. While he’s always been a hero to Dale Watson, Cash's influence was but a subtle element in his previous songwriting. Here, however, Cash is present from the opening shuffle of "Justice For All" to the closing fade on "Runaway Train," in which he’s directly acknowledged. Lyrically, as well, Watson's empathy for everyday people and their struggles is squarely in line with the Cash tradition. On the aforementioned "Justice For All," which will be the album's first single, Watson confronts the ageless moral conflict between revenge and forgiveness. He sings: "An eye for an eye would leave the whole world blind, forgiveness is the way, but I can't forgive his crime, and if I had the chance in truth I'd have to say, I'd gun that bastard down with a smile on my face." "I wrote 'Justice For All' after hearing the story of a guy who kidnapped and murdered a little girl," explains Watson. "I have daughters, so I could put myself in the shoes of the girl's father and feel his need for justice and revenge." It's not the only time death rears its head on From The Cradle To The Grave. On the title track, Watson reflects on his cousin's suicide, a subject he also struggled with directly in his own life and which was well documented in the Crazy Again documentary. Ultimately though, Dale finds light in the darkness and insight in the pain. On "Yellow Mama," Watson writes from the perspective of a man sentenced to death in the infamous Alabama electric chair named after its bright yellow paint job. Despite the weight of those three songs, perhaps the album's most haunting track is "Tomorrow Never Comes." Beginning with the open-ended lyric, "The world could end tomorrow, the world could end today, time is only borrowed, a debt we'll have to pay," Watson is oblique and wary, while his band matches the song's intensity with juxtaposed minor chord flourishes of pedal steel, fiddle and acoustic guitar. No Dale Watson album would be complete without songs of lovers scorned, redeemed and scorned again. From The Cradle To The Grave has its share of these gems. "It's Not Over Now" grapples with coming of age and past regrets, while "You Always Get What You Always Got" could be the same protagonist from the former song only this time sending hard-earned wisdom to those following in his footsteps: "You’re burning the candle at both ends son, when you gonna learn that the fire is hot, if you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you always got." "Time Without You" might be the best example to define the newly acknowledged Ameripolitan sound. It’s pure Dale Watson. With a husky, but sweeping melody, classic Johnny Cash rolling train rhythm and a evocative combination of pedal steel and fiddle, Watson bares his soul in matters of the heart both timely and timeless. Like the majority of songs on the album, it clocks in at just under three minutes. A small point, but one that calls attention to the economy in Watson’s writing; not a note is wasted or a phrase overdone. He cuts straight to the chase, directly and succinctly. As has always been Dale Watson's style, he'll take to the road in 2007 spreading the good word about his new album, From The Cradle To The Grave, across the United States and Europe. Having been touched by the spirit of Johnny Cash in the legend's old cabin in the Tennessee mountains, Watson's delivered an album of richly inspired songs that document the Ameripolitan sound. But whatever genre it's called, there's no denying that Dale Watson is an American music original and his musical vision is only just beginning to be heard around the world.
Date Venue City State Note
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01/13/2011 - Dale Watson Is Countrier Than Thou - Read More
09/17/2010 - Dale Watson definitely has soul - Read More
01/22/2010 - Still a honky-tonk man - Read More
01/15/2010 - Dale Watson at Knuckleheads - Read More
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No Blogs Available
04/01/2007 - Dale Watson Q&A - Read More
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Average Rating : 4.9              Total Reviews: 35


Dale Watson  08/12/2009            
Vinny The Shark
Challis, Idaho this past Saturday was Vinny's first time seeing Dale Watson and his band play. Very impressive. Great sound. A very pleasant surprise for the entire weekend. Going to have to check out some future shows in the Texas/Oklahoma area. Thanks for a good time at Braun Brothers Reunion.
Dale Watson  08/20/2008            
Mark from Bedford
Went to the Stagecoach Ballroom, this past weekend, to dance to the "REAL DEAL" and the Lonestars. As always the show was totally professional, the dance floor was hot and the longnecks were cold. Meet Barbra (Terry AWard Winner) and Jerry there, also Tony and Sandy from the WKK also showed up. We all did our part to keep the dance floor full. If you are reading this and don't dance, you are missing out!! Go find a good club band and get up, and burn up the boot leather. Look for Dale Watson at a club near you, GO, you will not be dissapointed.
Dale Watson  05/11/2007            
The stand
Woa! I respect the hell out of you. For that alone I won't buy this. I'll wait for your next "proper" release of this disc, or what it was suppose to be. Thanks for the heads-up,
Dale Watson  04/26/2007            
Frank
The Little Darling CD was never finished ( we cut a lot of songs but never were given the chance to correct mistakes or overdub background vocals or anything else.) i.e. We were given one run through and that was it. They wouldn't allow any of my originals and that result is tandem to me doing Karaoke on Little Darling songs. A couple of the songs I begged not to have to sing as I really did not like them. In that regard it really was Nashville 1966. KOCH is releasing it under protest of me and Lloyd Green. They are basically unfinished roughs. We offered to go in for free and fix the record but they were done spending anything on it. I plan on the next record to be with Lloyd and the guys again but with me and Lloyd producing, and with a lot of my new originals. The next Hyena release will be the monumental record of legendary musicians meeting new originals thus being the record that the Little Darling Sessions failed to be. To those of you that choose to buy the record, please give a sympathetic ear to my vocals and the musicians playing. Many of these recordings were run throughs. It's is not the record we thought we were making. That said, it was a joy to work with these legendary pickers and look forward to recording the next record with them. Sincerely, Dale Watson
Dale Watson  04/25/2007            
Jackson Taylor Band
The best singer in Texas!!! Jackson Taylor
Dale Watson  11/19/2006            
Michael, Scotland, UK
Two days ago I was at my eigth Dale Watson gig (thank God he still tours Europe!). Dale is the absolute real deal - and it's a sad reflection on what passes for "country" radio thses days that he remains a figure unknown to the masses. His fans, though, love him. He is honest, sincere and the best singer/songwriter in country music today.
Dale Watson  10/12/2006            
Rossco
He said it himself, this is REAL country music. Something Nashville no longer knows anything about. Dale Watson has really latched on to the old-style heartfelt music. Every song he sings makes you feel that he's actually lived it. Dale Watson is the very definition of REAL country music. Highly recommended for anyone who's tired of hearing that same old VH1-style Nashville country.
Dale Watson  06/11/2006            
XM
Dale Watson is #4 this week on XM's X-Country Chart -- never a more deserving artist!
Dale Watson  11/29/2005            
AL J.
HAVE BEEN HEARING DALE ON XM RADIO A LOT AND LOVE IT. HIS STYLE OF MUSIC WILL LIVE ON FOREVER, EVEN IF THE NASHVILLE MUSIC IS GOING THE OTHER WAY. I MAY BE A LITTLE BIAS AS I PLAYED BASS WITH DALE A LITTLE BACK IN THE OLDER DAYS IN HOUSTON. KEEP IT UP DALE. LOVE IT.
Dale Watson  11/26/2005            
just wondering
any kin to Aaron Watson, the boy from Amarillo???
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