Willie Watson (Old Crow Medicine Show) Shares Final Single Ahead of Debut Album

the singer-songwriter, poet, actor and multi-instrumentalist Willie Watson has released a new single titled “Already Gone.” The song features Benmont Tench of The Heartbreakers on keys and a music video directed by Joseph Wasilewski. The single appears on Watson’s first-ever solo album of original material - over 20 years into his career, coming finally this Friday. The collection of songs is honest and potent, an unadorned reflection of Watson’s life, his mistakes, his traumas, and his gratitude to still be here, to still be alive, and to still be loved. It's the type of record that can’t come early in one’s career, and was won after a life of hard battles and difficult lessons. The former founding member of Old Crow Medicine Show has been a part of numerous musical projects, soundtracks, and films. Willie Watson is out on Friday, September 13th via Little Operation Records (Thirty Tigers). 

"The song seems to be a centerpoint of this whole record. It’s a guy just trying to look at himself in the mirror and it’s hard. I’ve tried not to look too close but if I can stop tearing myself apart inside for two seconds, get a little closer and just look.. sometimes I hear a gentler voice," Watson says. "As for the video… you caught me at the right moment. Those big camera lenses are just mirrors if you get close up."

Willie Watson has spent most of his musical career as a favorite of musicians in the know. As an inspiring and eccentric character, a remarkable player, and a human who looks at the world differently, Watson attracted a who’s who of collaborators throughout his career including Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, John Prine, John C. Reilly, Sara and Sean Watkins and so many more. Watson has always battled his own self-diminishment and only now has decided to allow a body of work of his own to be released into the world. “After 30 years of playing music professionally - this is my debut album. This record is me beating the devil, or the story of what finally did it anyway. 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,” says Watson of the record.

Watson recorded the album in Los Angeles with producers Gabe Witcher (Punch Brothers) and Kenneth Pattengale (Milk Carton Kids) and with a crack band of players including Paul Kowert on bass (Punch Brothers), Dylan Day on guitar (Jenny Lewis, Nick Hakim), Benmont Tench on keys (The Heartbreakers), Jason Boesel on drums (Bright Eyes, Jenny Lewis), and new massive talent Sami Braman on fiddle. “Slim and The Devil” follows the album’s first single “Real Love” and its stunning companion music video. The collection of songs is honest and potent, an unadorned reflection of Watson’s life, his mistakes, his traumas, and his gratitude to still be here, to still be alive, and to still be loved. It's the type of record that can’t come early in one’s career, and was won after a life of hard battles and difficult lessons.

Willie Watson was born and raised in upstate New York where he started the earliest iterations of his musical life while still in high school. As a teenager, Watson and Ketch Secor co-founded Old Crow Medicine Show - a group of remarkable players obsessed with early American traditional music. He remained in the band as one of its main creative forces until he departed in 2011. Watson appeared in Joel and Ethan Cohen’s The Ballad of Buster Scruggs in the role of The Kid and also as a part of the soundtrack, performing with Tim Blake Nelson on the Oscar-nominated “When A Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings.” He also appears on the soundtracks for the Coen Brothers Hail, Caesar! and Live By Night. Watson previously released two albums of covers, Folk Singer Vol.1 and Folksinger Vol 2.

Watson will head to Nashville, TN to appear at Americana Fest next week. Following the event, he’ll head out on a major North American tour kicking off next month and wrapping up in December. Highlights include the Tractor Tavern in Seattle on November 6th, the Basement East in Nashville on December 3rd, and The Bowery Ballroom in New York City on December 12th. A full list of tour dates is below. Tickets are on sale now and you can find them here. 

TOUR DATES:

Sept 19 - Nashville, TN - Americana Fest 

Sept 21 - Lyons, CO - Planet Bluegrass 

Sept 25 - Knoxville, TN - Bijou Theater = 

Sept 27 - Raleigh, NC - IBMA World of Bluegrass

Sept 28 - Lexington, KY - The Burl =

Sept 29 - Ann Arbor, MI - The Ark = 

Oct 1 - Indianapolis, IN - HI-Fi Annex =

Oct 2 - Evanston, IL - SPACE =

Oct 4 - Stoughton, WI - Stoughton Opera House = 

Oct 5 - Green Lake, WI - Thrasher Opera House =

Oct 6 - Minneapolis, MN - Dakota  =

Oct 30 - Los Angeles, CA - Pico Union Project ^

Nov 1 - Felton, CA - Felton Music Hall  

Nov 2 - Petaluma, CA - Mystic Theater & Music Hall 

Nov 3 - Berkeley, CA - Freight & Salvage ^ 

Nov 4 - Ferndale, CA - The Old Steeple 

Nov 6 - Seattle, WA - Tractor Tavern +  

Nov 7 - Bellingham, WA - Wild Buffalo +  

Nov 8 - Portland, OR - Mississippi Studios +

Nov 9 - Vancouver, BC - Biltmore Cabaret + 

Nov 11 - Missoula, MT - Top Hat Lounge + 

Nov 12 - Bozeman, MT - The Rialto + 

Nov 15 - Fort Collins, CO - The Coast + 

Nov 16 - Denver, CO - Globe Hall +  

Nov 19 - Kansas City, MO - Knuckleheads

Nov 20 - St Louis, MO  - The Pageant *  

Nov 21 - Des Moines, IA - Val Air Ballroom West *

Nov 22 - Milwaukee, WI - Riverside Theater *

Nov 23 - Iowa City, IA - Hancher Auditorium  *

Dec 3 - Nashville, TN - Basement East + 

Dec 4 - Asheville, NC - The Grey Eagle Music Hall + 

Dec 6 - Washington DC - Union Stage +  

Dec 7 - Charlottesville, Va - The Southern +

Dec 8 - Ardmore, PA - Ardmore Music Hall + 

Dec 10 - Boston, MA - The Sinclair +  

Dec 12 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom + 

Dec 13 - Woodstock, NY - Levon Helm Studios +  

Dec 14 -  Ithaca, NY - Hangar Theatre + 

* supporting Old Crow Medicine Show 

= with special guest Jack Van Cleaf

^ with special guest Margo Cilker

+ with special guest Viv & Riley

Photo credit: Hayden Shiebler

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