![\"dale-watson-Issue-No42\"](\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/dale-watson-Issue-No42.jpg\")
<\/b><\/h1>\n<\/b><\/h1>\nMaverick Dale Watson Freely acknowledges his music isn\u2019t for everybody\u2014and he\u2019s perfectly fine with that. \u201cI don\u2019t think we appeal to the audience that likes current country music,\u201d he says. \u201cThat\u2019s just not our audience. Merle Haggard was once asked how he felt about his music not being played on the radio, and he said, \u2018I\u2019m glad they don\u2019t play my music with all that other crap.\u2019 I used to carry that quote around in my wallet to remind me I\u2019m not alone.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Texas native is hardly alone\u2014his fierce independence has won him countless fans and critical acclaim over the course of 20 years, 24 albums and a dozen different record labels. Watson\u2019s latest album, Call Me Insane<\/i>, includes 13 original tunes that find a common bond in what Watson has coined Ameripolitan\u2014a genre that encompasses honky-tonk, Western swing, rockabilly and outlaw influences.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have all four of those elements in my music,\u201d says Watson. \u201cThere are some bands that have one or maybe two. But we\u2019re focusing on those four because those are the most ignored these days.\u201d<\/p>\n
To helm the project, Watson tapped noted session veteran Lloyd Maines. \u201cHe\u2019s the best record producer in Texas, and a joy to work with. He brings out the best in you,\u201d says Watson. \u201cI gave him 30 songs to choose from, and the ones he picked were totally different from what I would have selected. But I didn\u2019t give it a second thought. I gave him carte blanche. I wanted him to be happy and excited about the record.\u201d<\/p>\n
The process was not only creative, but educational. \u201cYou always learn something when you\u2019re recording, but with Lloyd I learned a lot,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019ve produced most of my albums, but Lloyd taught me diplomacy. He never uses a harsh word, but if he doesn\u2019t like something, he can convince you that you don\u2019t like it. He\u2019s a gentle giant. Musically, he taught me the importance of tuning and how to use reverb\u2014plus, the stuff you can get away with and the stuff you can\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
As one of four boys growing up in a poor but musically rich family in Pasadena, Texas, Watson began writing songs at 12. A few years later he was sneaking into local honky-tonks to see his brother\u2019s band. Watson got his first taste of performing when the band\u2019s singer unexpectedly walked off stage mid-set, and he was instantly drafted as a substitute. At 26, Watson moved to L.A. and landed a gig in the house band for the famed Palomino Club before relocating again to Nashville to write for a publishing company. Even his first album, 1995\u2019s Cheatin\u2019 Heart Attack<\/i>\u2014which included the industry dig, \u201cNashville Rash\u201d\u2014couldn\u2019t hide his disdain for commercial country music, and he later moved to Austin where he found the creative freedom he craved.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always been inspired by my surroundings and what\u2019s happening to me,\u201d says Watson, 52. \u201cLife is always throwing something new at you. That\u2019s why real country music never got old, because it was always talking about things that were going on at the time. It\u2019s always fresh.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like to quote John Lennon,\u201d he continues. \u201cHe claimed that originality is really one\u2019s inability to imitate their influences. I definitely draw heavily on my influences. I remember a critic once called an album of mine \u2018derivative.\u2019 Afterward, someone asked if that made me mad. I said, \u2018No, I\u2019ve derived everything I\u2019ve ever done from my influences.\u2019 Whether the guy meant it as a bad thing, to me it was just a fact. I stay close to the roots. My inability to re-create the type of songs that influenced me is my originality. I\u2019m true to the limitations of my abilities.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2013Lee Zimmerman<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
DALE WATSON Stubbornly authentic, the country outlaw remains true to his roots Maverick Dale Watson Freely acknowledges his music isn\u2019t for everybody\u2014and he\u2019s perfectly fine with that. \u201cI don\u2019t think we appeal to the audience that likes current country music,\u201d he says. \u201cThat\u2019s just not our audience. Merle Haggard was once asked how he felt […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18],"tags":[6428,7696],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15147"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15147"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15147\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15149,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15147\/revisions\/15149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}