Willie Watson's 'Gallows Pole' Music Video Premieres at NPR Music
By: Caryn Robbins Sep. 26, 2017
Willie Watson's new music video for "Gallows Pole" is premiering today at NPR Music. Watch HERE. Of the music, NPR Music's Stephen Thompson praises, "It's a beautiful record, and 'Gallows Pole' encapsulates its raw, clear-eyed charms perfectly-both in the song and in its appropriately stark video."
"Gallows Pole" is from Watson's highly anticipated new solo album, Folksinger Vol. 2,which is out now on Acony Records (listen or purchase here).
In celebration of the album, Watson is currently in the midst of an extensive fall headline tour, including upcoming shows at L.A.'s Largo at the Coronet, Chicago's Old Town School of Folk Music, DC's Songbyrd and Philadelphia's Boot & Saddle as well as two co-headline shows with Colter Wall at NYC's Rough Trade and Mercury Lounge. Watson will continue the tour into 2018 with newly confirmed shows in Birmingham, Decatur, Charlotte, Asheville, Carrboro, Bristol, Chattanooga, Knoxville, Nashville, Austin, Houston, Santa Fe, Phoenix and San Diego. Tickets for the 2018 tour dates will go on-sale this Friday, September 29. See below for complete details.
Released to widespread critical acclaim, Folk Alley declares, "...the set of traditional folk tunes is as sparse and special as the other releases that come through Acony Records, beautifully fulfilling its torch-passing purpose" and goes on to praise, "In addition to being a time capsule for fans in the here and now, Folksinger Vol. 2 may well be an entry point to the past for some young, aspiring folkie." Additionally, Rolling Stone asserts,"Folksinger Vol. 2 is a spectacular amalgam of Southern gospel, Delta blues, railroad songs and the Appalachian tradition derived from Celtic fiddle tunes."
Produced by David Rawlings and recorded on analog tape at Woodland Sound Studios in Nashville, TN, the album features eleven songs unearthed from the canon of American folk music including songs popularized by Leadbelly, Reverend Gary Davis, Furry Lewis and Bascom Lamar Lunsford. Special guests include The Fairfield Four on three tracks as well as Gillian Welch, Old Crow Medicine Show's Morgan Jahnig and Punch Brothers'Paul Kowert.
"I'm not trying to prove any point here," Watson comments, "and I'm not trying to be a purist. There's so much beauty in this old music, and it affects me on a deep level. It moves me and inspires me. I heard Leadbelly singing with the Golden Gate Quartet and it sounded fantastic, and I thought, 'I want to do that.' I heard the Grateful Dead doing their version of 'On the Road Again,' and it sounded like a dance party in 1926, and I wanted to do that, too. That's the whole reason I ever played music in the first place-because it looked and sounded like it was going to be a lot of fun."
The new album arrives three years after Folksinger Vol. 1-Watson's first release since parting ways with Old Crow Medicine Show in 2011. Released to widespread acclaim,Rolling Stone named the album one of "26 Albums of 2014 You Probably Didn't But Really Should Hear" asserting, "Watson's voice carries the weight of generations past, but on Folk Singer, it's still appropriate for the one we live in, right now."
Based in Los Angeles, Watson is a member of the Dave Rawlings Machine and will soon make his acting debut in the Coen Brother's forthcoming Netflix series, "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs."
FOLKSINGER VOL. 2 TRACK LIST
1. Samson And Delilah (feat. The Fairfield Four)
2. Gallows Pole
3. When My Baby Left Me
4. Dry Bones
5. Walking Boss
6. On The Road Again (feat. The Fairfield Four)
7. The Cuckoo Bird
8. Always Lift Him Up And Never Knock Him Down
9. John Henry
10. Leavin' Blues
11. Take This Hammer (feat. The Fairfield Four)
WILLIE WATSON CONFIRMED TOUR DATES
September 26-Berkeley, CA-Freight & Salvage*
September 27-San Luis Obispo, CA-SLO Brewing Company*
September 28-Los Angeles, CA-Largo at the Coronet*
September 29-Pioneertown, CA-Pappy & Harriet's*
October 7-San Francisco, CA-Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival
October 13-Louisville, KY-Zanzabar†
October 14-Ann Arbor, MI-The Ark†
October 15-Bloomington, IN-The Bluebird†
October 17-Newport, KY-Southgate House Revival Room†
October 18-Chicago, IL-Old Town School of Folk Music†
October 19-Cleveland, OH-Music Box Supper Club†
October 20-Lexington, KY-The Burl†
October 21-Columbus, OH-The Basement†
October 23-Washington, DC-Songbyrd†
October 25-Brooklyn, NY-Rough Trade‡
October 26-New York, NY-Mercury Lounge‡ (SOLD OUT)
October 27-Hudson, NY-Club Helsinki†
October 28-Ithaca, NY-The Haunt†
October 30-Philadelphia, PA-Boot & Saddle†
November 1-Allston, MA-Great Scott§
November 2-Burlington, VT-Higher Ground Showcase Lounge§
November 3-Portsmouth, NH-The Music Hall Loft§
November 4-Rockland, ME-The Historic Strand Theatre§
November 5-Holyoke, MA-Gateway City Arts§
January 31-Birmingham, AL-Workplay (ON-SALE 9/29)
February 1-Decatur, GA-Eddie's Attic (ON-SALE 9/29)
February 2-Charlotte, NC-Neighborhood Theatre (ON-SALE 9/29)
February 3-Asheville, NC-The Grey Eagle (ON-SALE 9/29)
February 6-Athens, GA-The Foundry (ON-SALE 9/29)
February 7-Carrboro, NC-Cat's Cradle - Back Room (ON-SALE 9/29)
February 8-Bristol, VA-Birthplace of Country Music Museum (ON-SALE 9/29)
February 9-Chattanooga, TN-Barking Legs Theater (ON-SALE 9/29)
February 10-Knoxville, TN-Barley's Tap Room (ON-SALE 9/29)
February 11-Nashville, TN-3rd & Lindsley (ON-SALE 9/29)
February 14-Austin, TX-Cactus Café (ON-SALE 9/29)
February 15-Houston, TX-Mucky Duck (ON-SALE 9/29)
February 18-Santa Fe, NM-Meow Wolf (ON-SALE 9/29)
February 20-Phoenix, AZ-Valley Bar (ON-SALE 9/29)
February 22-San Diego, CA-Casbah (ON-SALE 9/29)
*with support from Bedouine
†with support from Suzanne Santo of HoneyHoney
‡co-headline with Colter Wall
§with support from Lucette
photo credit: Meredith Munn
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