Today we’d like to introduce you to Dale Watson.
Hi Dale, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
As a local musician, I started my career in the little honky tonks and barrooms you’d see all over Austin but were afraid to go inside. I’d play old standard honky tonk music ala, Merle Haggard, Ray Price, Bob Wills and George Jones along with my originals mixed in. Luckily, Austin in the 80s was the perfect storm for my kind of taste in music and the city gave me a wonderful career that has taken me all over the world. From the Grand Ol Opry to the David Lettermen Show to Austin City Limits. It’s been a ride.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The road was always rocky, as the money never was great in the beginning, but the town was much more affordable then. Austin was my battery recharge place that gave me a place to lick my wounds when the world was kicking me good. The road wasn’t smooth but it was fun.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m a self-employed musician, writer, Author, Actor and singer. I’m a recording artist that has been lucky enough to do my own songs my own way and have no one to blame for the outcome but myself and many to thank for any success. I’m known for being the rebel when it comes to bucking the mainstream music system, which has more than not, handed me my head on a platter. But it is my own beliefs and I’m proud to have stood up for them. I don’t believe a stand apart from others other than I am certainly not categorized with the mainstream. That, I think is what Austin has always been.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
What I like best about Austin is the core businesses. The ones that stood the storm and keep Austin, Austin. Broken Spoke, Continental Club, The Saxon, Matt’s El Rancho. Families that remind us of what Austin truly is at the heart of it. The only “dislike” I would say about Austin, is what every “oldtimer” like me would say, I miss the old small-town vibe. The city has grown very fast and it’s hurt some of its charm, but that said, the charm is growing on its edges as well. The Sagebrush, Armadillo Den, and Far Out Lounge are places that give the Old Austin Vibe.
Contact Info:
- Website: dalewatson.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedalewatson/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theDaleWatson
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/thedalewatson
Image Credits
Pictured singing with wife Celine Lee. Pictured with Steel Guitarist Don Pawlak
