Willie Watson’s anticipated new solo album, Folksinger Vol. 2, will be released September 15 on Acony Records and is now available for pre-order here.
In advance of the release, the album’s lead track, “Samson And Delilah,” which features special guest vocals from The Fairfield Four, is premiering today at Rolling Stone. Of the song Rolling Stone praises, “Joining the ranks of the Grateful Dead, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan and many others over a nearly 100-year-span, modern folk interpreter Willie Watson unleashes a soul-stirring version of ‘Samson and Delilah’…” Listen to the song here.
Produced by David Rawlings and recorded on analog tape at Woodland Sound Studios in Nashville, TN, the album features eleven songs unearthed from the canon of American folk music including songs popularized by Leadbelly, Reverend Gary Davis, Furry Lewis and Bascom Lamar Lunsford. In addition to The Fairfield Four on three tracks, the album features Gillian Welch, Old Crow Medicine Show’s Morgan Jahnig and Punch Brothers’ Paul Kowert.
“I’m not trying to prove any point here,” Watson comments, “and I’m not trying to be a purist. There’s so much beauty in this old music, and it affects me on a deep level. It moves me and inspires me. I heard Leadbelly singing with the Golden Gate Quartet and it sounded fantastic, and I thought, ‘I want to do that.’ I heard the Grateful Dead doing their version of ‘On the Road Again,’ and it sounded like a dance party in 1926, and I wanted to do that, too. That’s the whole reason I ever played music in the first place—because it looked and sounded like it was going to be a lot of fun.”
In celebration of the album, Watson will embark on an extensive fall headline tour, including stops at Seattle’s Fremont Abbey Arts Center, Portland’s Doug Fir Lounge, Berkeley’s Freight & Salvage, L.A.’s Largo at the Coronet, Chicago’s Old Town School of Folk Music, DC’s Songbyrd and Philadelphia’s Boot & Saddle as well as two co-headline shows with Colter Wall at NYC’s Rough Trade and Mercury Lounge. Tickets go on-sale Friday, July 21. See below for complete details.
The new album arrives three years after Folk Singer Vol. 1—Watson’s first release since parting ways with Old Crow Medicine Show in 2011. Released to widespread acclaim, Rolling Stone named the album one of “26 Albums of 2014 You Probably Didn't But Really Should Hear” asserting, “Watson’s voice carries the weight of generations past, but on Folk Singer, it’s still appropriate for the one we live in, right now.”
Based in Los Angeles, Watson is a member of the Dave Rawlings Machine and will soon make his acting debut in the Coen Brother’s latest project, “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs.”
WILLIE WATSON CONFIRMED TOUR DATES
August 13—Alta, WY—Targhee Bluegrass Festival
August 14—Bozeman, MT—Live from the Divide
September 12-17—Nashville, TN—AmericanaFest
September 15—Seattle, WA—Fremont Abbey Arts Center*
September 16—Bellingham, WA—The Green Frog*
September 17—Portland, OR—Doug Fir Lounge*
September 18—Eugene, OR—HiFi Music Lounge*
September 20—Ashland, OR—Brickroom*
September 21—Sacramento, CA—Harlow’s*
September 22—Santa Cruz, CA—Don Quixote’s
September 23—Johnsville, CA—Lost Sierra Hoedown*
September 24—Mill Valley, CA—Sweetwater Music Hall*
September 26—Berkeley, CA—Freight & Salvage*
September 27—San Luis Obispo, CA—SLO Brewing Company*
September 28—Los Angeles, CA—Largo at the Coronet*
September 29—Pioneertown, CA—Pappy & Harriet's*
October 13—Louisville, KY—Galaxie Outer Space†
October 14—Ann Arbor, MI—The Ark†
October 15—Bloomington, IN—The Bluebird†
October 17—Newport, KY—Southgate House Revival Room†
October 18—Chicago, IL—Old Town School of Folk Music†
October 19—Cleveland, OH—Music Box Supper Club†
October 20—Lexington, KY—The Burl†
October 21—Columbus, OH—The Basement†
October 23—Washington, DC—Songbyrd†
October 25—Brooklyn, NY—Rough Trade‡
October 26—New York, NY—Mercury Lounge‡
October 27—Hudson, NY—Club Helsinki†
October 28—Ithaca, NY—The Haunt†
October 30—Philadelphia, PA—Boot & Saddle†
November 1—Allston, MA—Great Scott#
November 2—Burlington, VT—Higher Ground Showcase Lounge#
November 3—Portsmouth, NH—The Music Hall Loft#
November 4—Rockland, ME—The Historic Strand Theatre#
November 5—Holyoke, MA—Gateway City Arts#
*with support from Bedouine
†with support from Suzanne Santo of HoneyHoney
‡co-headline with Colter Wall
#with support from My Bubba
