Willie Watson (musician)
| Willie Watson | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Background information | |
| Born |
September 23, 1979 United States |
| Genres | Bluegrass, folk |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instruments | Guitar, banjo, harmonica, vocals |
| Years active | 1996–present |
| Labels | Acony Records |
| Associated acts | Dave Rawlings, Gillian Welch, Old Crow Medicine Show |
| Website | http://www.williewatson.com/ |
| Notable instruments | |
| Larrivée guitar, five-string banjo | |
Willie Watson (born September 23, 1979) is a singer-songwriter, guitarist, and banjo player born in Watkins Glen, New York, who was a founding member of Old Crow Medicine Show. His debut solo album Folk Singer, Vol. I, was released in May 2014 and he appeared at the 2014 Newport Folk Festival. Raised in Upstate New York around Ithaca, he currently resides in Topanga, California.
Willie Watson grew up in Watkins Glen, New York (Schuyler County). He first met Ben Gould in high school and they began playing music together. Around Ithaca and next-door Tompkins County "a lot of old-time fiddle music" was being played, some of it by banjo player Richie Stearns and the group Donna The Buffalo. Watson was exposed to old-time music firsthand at a weekly old-time jam.
Both Watson and Gould dropped out of school and formed the band The Funnest Game, which like Richie Stearns' group The Horse Flies had "clawhammer banjo, electric guitar, drums." Their brand of electric/old-time was heavily influenced by the old-time music scene prominent in Tompkins and Schuyler County, New York, including The Horse Flies and The Highwoods Stringband. Performing locally, the young band earned the respect of local musicians and gained a following, appearing weekly at the Rongovian Embassy with Richie Stearns and annually at the Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival of Music and Dance in Trumansburg, New York.
Future bandmate Ketch Secor described it as a "young folksy kind of jam element acoustic band that was really popular in the southern tier region of New York State. ." Watson, he says, "was playing shows statewide by the time he was sixteen" with "this group that had some congas and some clawhammer banjo . ."
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