Artist Feature: Willie Watson
Seasoned singer-songwriter Willie Watson (formerly of Old Crow Medicine Show) explores “Real Love” with a video for the new single off his forthcoming self-titled debut album.
Willie Watson. Photo credit: Hayden Shiebler.
The name Willie Watson may not immediately stick out when you hear it, but the longtime troubadour has spent over 20 years making a mark. As a self-described eccentric and founding member of Old Crow Medicine Show (while still in high school), he’s collaborated with Gillian Welch, Dave Rawlings, John Prine, John C. Reilly, and even appeared as “The Kid” in the Coen Brothers film The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. Needless to say, Willie has lived a full life leading up to the release of his first album of original material on September 13th.
Now he’s primed to embark on a major North American tour covering 44 cities, including a special October 6th show at the Dakota in Minneapolis. In anticipation of the self-titled new album, Willie released his first single “Real Love” with an accompanying music video that showcases him and his wife dancing through the important places in their relationship.
“Real Love” shares a universal message of the wreckage that can come from falling for someone and having it not work out. Willie’s voice wavers with fragility but resolution as he expresses the pain that lingers when it’s over, then turns celebratory with the realization of having found a forever solution to loneliness. Part Cat Stevens, part Justin Townes Earle, Willie’s charismatic vocals make the nearly 6-minute song feel shorter.
The enchanting video features Willie playing guitar, grizzled and alone, in a variety of locations from a garage to a billiard parlor. These lonely moments are interspersed with charming clips of him dancing with his wife, sometimes in the same locations, sometimes in an open field or the yard of a home. “Real Love” is a resolution to pain and how a significant other can heal past wounds (“You gave me the best / and I forgot about all the rest”).
“‘Real Love’ is a love song I wrote for my wife,” Willie explains. “It kinda turned out to be the story of my life and it’s clear now that she’s standing in the center of everything. We’d been looking for each other for a long time, and now we can’t even remember all the struggle it took to get here.”
Willie Watson album artwork.
Throughout the wealth of his experiences—from dropping out of high school in upstate New York to feeling somewhat constrained in the role of old-fashioned folkie with Old Crow Medicine Show to being bound for Los Angeles with a marriage and fatherhood—Willie has battled with his own self-diminishment. He shares that every memory, good or bad, is surrounded by a shroud of sadness.
The nine songs on Willie Watson pull in these life moments, contending with pains of the past and suggesting a more optimistic future. “This record is me beating the devil, or the story of what finally did it anyway,” he says. “I didn’t make any specific pact or anything but I know we’ve been tangled up most of my life. Now that he’s gone I can love myself again.”
No longer the old-fashioned folkie, Willie Watson is ready to be a standout name in your modern playlist. Although he’s carried the weight of past difficulties and affliction, his new album looks to be an instrument that can help anyone begin to free themselves of their own personal demons. If “Real Love” is any indication, then Willie’s keen sense of songwriting should be a great discovery to a much wider audience come September 13th.
Tickets are on sale now for his show on October 6th at the Dakota.
Watch “Real Love”
Willie Watson 2024 Tour Dates
6/28–6/29 Etna, CA - The Trails End Music Festival
07/18 Exeter, NH - The Word Barn
07/19 Portland, ME - State Theater *
07/20 Trumansberg, NY - Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival
07/23 Saratoga Springs, NY - Caffe Lena
07/25 Burlington, VT - Nectar's
07/26 Hiram, ME - Ossipee Valley Music Festival
08/22 Salt Spring Island, BC - Pitchfork Social
08/23 Victoria, BC - The Orillia Street Music Hall
09/21 Lyons, CO - Planet Bluegrass
09/25 Knoxville, TN - Bijou Theater
09/28 Lexington, KY - The Burl
09/29 Ann Arbor, MI - The Ark
10/01 Indianapolis, IN - HI-Fi Annex
10/02 Evanston, IL - SPACE
10/04 Stoughton, WI - Stoughton Opera House
10/05 Green Lake, WI - Thrasher Opera House
10/06 Minneapolis, MN - Dakota
10/30 Los Angeles, CA - Pico Union Project
11/01 Felton, CA - Felton Music Hall
11/02 Petaluma, CA - Mystic Theater & Music Hall
11/03 Berkeley, CA - Freight & Salvage
11/06 Seattle, WA - Tractor Tavern
11/07 Bellingham, WA - Wild Buffalo
11/08 Portland, OR - Mississippi Studios
11/09 Vancouver, BC - Biltmore Cabaret
11/11 Missoula, MT - Top Hat Lounge
11/12 Bozeman, MT - The Rialto
11/15 Fort Collins, CO - The Coast
11/16 Denver, CO - Globe Hall
11/19 Kansas City, MO - Knuckleheads
11/20 St Louis, MO - The Pageant *
11/21 Des Moines, IA - Val Air Ballroom West *
11/22 Milwaukee, WI - Riverside Theater *
11/23 Iowa City, IA - Hancher Auditorium *
12/03 Nashville, TN - Basement East
12/04 Asheville, NC - The Grey Eagle Music Hall
12/06 Washington DC - Union Stage
12/07 Charlottesville, Va - The Southern
12/08 Ardmore, PA - Ardmore Music Hall
12/10 Boston, MA - The Sinclair
12/12 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
12/13 Woodstock, NY - Levon Helm Studios
12/14 Ithaca, NY - Hangar Theatre
* supporting Old Crow Medicine Show
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tom Smouse. Photo credit: Chris Taylor.
Tom Smouse is an innovative collaborator with 20 years of experience in the Minnesota music industry. As a professional photographer, podcaster, and music journalist, sharing stories from the community remains his core passion. When not at a show you can find him at a record store.
