Attention, Nashville: There’s going to be an assault on the way coming out of Texas.
It’s going to take the form of a 40-song album—that’s right, 40—from Aaron Watson, who, in 2015, became the first independent artist to have an album top the Billboard Country Album chart.
“We’re planning an invasion of mainstream country music,” Watson said in a September interview, refusing to provide the details of the assault for strategic reasons. “They won’t even see us coming. We’re gonna attack mainstream country music by air, land and sea.”
In truth, Nashville probably will have its eyes and ears on the music that’s going to be coming from Watson, another foray in a 25-year effort that’s seen the Texan hit the top 10 of the country album chart five times, including 2015, when his album The Underdog went to No. 1. In all, he’s released nearly 20 albums, the most recent of which was 2023’s Cover Girl.
Asked how he has been able to have that level of success without signing with a major label, seemingly a necessity to plug into the country industry’s formula of radio play and live performance, often opening for more established artists, Watson explains: “I’ve been lucky. I’ve been blessed. I think we’ve always tried to put out the best product we could, the best songs, the best merch, put on, the best show that we can.”
But then he immediately acknowledged that he’s followed in the footsteps of country legends from the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s, who, famously, after their shows, stood outside venues, met and talked with fans for hours.
“We’ve also taken the time after every show,” Watson says. “You know, handshakes and hugs, they go a long way, that’s how you earn the respect and the support of lifelong fans … you give them your time, and you show them that you care and that you appreciate them. And that’s what we’ve been doing for a long time.”
The Amarillo native, who played junior college baseball in New Mexico before returning to the Lone Star State to study at Abilene Christian University, began learning guitar during college.
Raised by a country-music-loving father, Watson grew up listening to Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard and Waylon Jennings and he gradually built his career by, to paraphrase Ernest Tubb, walking across Texas.
So, is Watson as “Texas country” as he’s been tagged?
“You know, I don’t know,” Watson muses. “I grew up listening to Merle Haggard and Willie and Waylon and all that stuff. The Texas country music scene is what has given me a home. For the first, I don’t know, decade, I hardly left the state. We played shows and dance halls, honky tonks and rodeos right around Texas.
“Some people call it red dirt music. But you know, I’m a country artist that’s from Texas, and some of my stuff sounds like Texas and some of it, a lot of it’s just country music.”
One thing Watson is sure of is his live show, which has been honed through hundreds and hundreds of gigs over the last 25 years.
“We’ve got as much energy as any rock and roll band, but we don’t get up there and act like idiots, and we don’t get up there and cuss,” Watson asserts. “It’s a family show. It’s a show for everybody. If you want to have fun and get a little rowdy, you can. Or if you don’t, you don’t have to.
“We’re not all about the smoke and the lights. We love getting up there and it’s all about the music,” he says. “I feel like me and the band, we’re just getting better and better every day. And we should be, after all these years, but we’ve really been stepping it up a notch.”
And for now, those shows will be stalking horses for the coming assault on mainstream country, setting the stage for the new album, perhaps with some performances of new songs.
Aaron Watson plays at 8pm on Oct. 31 at Felton Music Hall, 6275 Highway 9, Felton. Tickets are $39.09 via Tixr.com
