Richard G. Watson

The genius of Richard G. Watson is that at such a young age he already has the ability to effortlessly blur the lines between jazz, pop, R&B, musical theatre and opera. It is remarkable that one so young can deliver the silk-sheets-and-candlelight R&B of his two single releases Done and I’ll Be On My Own, the scatting acrobatics of his take on Frank Sinatra’s Fly Me To The Moon, and the R&B balladry of his covers of Grammy Nominated Kenny Lattimore (For You) and new R&B singer/songwriting artist Giveon (Vanish and Like I Want You). This Oakland native is looking to scoop up multiple Grammy’s sometime throughout his career, but for now his most memorable creation is I’ll Be on My Own. From singing in church as a child to performing with the Oakland Symphony Orchestra and even at the Fox Theatre Oakland and Off Broadway/Lincoln Center NYC venues, Watson was one of the most versatile vocalists of the coveted 5-time national award winning acapella group, Oakland School for the Arts Vocal Rush. Every young vocalist from beatboxers to opera singers and R&B crooners owe a little something to him. In addition, Watson has a long list of repertoire works that includes R&B’s Michael Jackson’s Man In The Mirror, Aretha Franklin’s Spirit In The Dark, Eric Benet’s Spend My Life and Musiq Soulchild’s Love, Nate King Cole’s I Wish You Love, along with If I Loved You from “Carousel”, Carefully Taught from “South Pacific”, Bennie’s Dispatch from “In The Heights”, and many other Broadway hit musical greats not to mention some jazz covers like Come Fly With Me (Frank Sinatra) and In A Sentimental Mood (Duke Ellington).
After training for 6 years with Oakland Youth Choir, Watson moved on to enroll at Oakland School for the Arts’ Vocal Music Department and rapidly landed a leading role in the All High School Musical RENT, afterwards becoming the first male vocalist of ENCORE, the OSA Advanced Middle School acapella choir and winning first place at the 2017 Bend Acapella High School Competitions in Oregon opening for Naturally 7, the nationally acclaimed professional acapella group. After performing with the high frequency, highly visible national award-winning Vocal Rush for 2 years, Watson has grown so rapidly as a songwriter/producer that he has now become a member of the nation’s premiere international high school boarding program to finish off his training at Idyllwild Arts Academy as a songwriting major before moving on to a post graduate program in singing/songwriting. You can find released songs on his YouTube channel and FaceBook page and all streaming platforms under his singer/songwriter name (Richi, Richi R1ch) and professional producer/composer name Richard G. Watson.