Interview: Aaron Watson

Country singer Aaron Watson broke records in the States last year when his album The Underdog became the first self-released album by a male solo artist to debut at #1 Billboard Top Country Chart. Having sold 26,000 copies in its first week, it was the icing on the cake for the Texas based singer/songwriter. With a series of UK shows to support the release later this month, we caught up with Aaron to find out how he was feeling about his success.

Hi Aaron, how are you doing?

Always a good day. I'm here and I'm talking, so it's a good day.

The Underdog has been a phenomenal success. Were you expecting the response?

That was our twelfth album and we've been doing this a long time. The previous three records were starting to show us signs that maybe we were building up to something like this. The record before it, Real Big Time, it charted at #9. From the moment that Real Big Time came out to the moment Underdog came out, our touring numbers had gone up. I think Real Big Time set the table for what The Underdog did. In all honesty the previous eleven records set the table for what The Underdog did. We had no idea that it was going to cause such a stir, cause such controversy within the music industry. It was so much fun. Victory is sweet, especially sweet when you've had so many people in the industry tell you that you don't have what it takes. That always feels good. Rather than go at them with your words, just prove them wrong with your actions. That's the best way.

2015 was a real year for the underdog in country music. Would you say that people are realising that music should be about talent and not image?

I believe that's true. I believe that at any time we could have gone and signed a record deal. They could've dressed me up in whatever they wanted me to wear and had me sing whatever the latest trendy type of song. Maybe I would have had a burst of stardom for a very short moment, but what we're building is a career. We're also building a business. For me music isn't an industry, it is the family business. It's how I provide for my children and my wife. It's also a passion for me. I love writing a song. My favourite thing is getting up early in the morning, before my wife and my kids wake up, going out on our back porch in the country and just sitting there with my guitar and working on my songs. That is just peace on earth for me.

I've always had this idea that if we just continue putting out a good product and if I just stay true to myself, I won't make the headlines like the mainstream pop country acts, but over time I will continue to grow and build my career. Where a lot of those guys are building on sand, I feel like we're building a business on a solid rock. Something that is going to last over a lifetime. I want to be old man someday that hobbles on to stage with my guitar. I'll sit on a stool and sing songs that I wrote throughout my life. That's the goal.

How do you approach songwriting?

Ideas hit me all day long. I will be taking my kids to school and an idea will hit me. If an idea hits me, I'll jot it down and think about it through the day. I can write the music in my head while I'm writing songs. A lot of the time something just comes to me. It's just fun. It's kind of like a painter sitting down at a canvas. I love writing songs. I'm already working on another record and with this record I refuse to listen to mainstream radio. I in no way want to be influenced by the latest trend. I want to just write songs that come straight out of my heart and soul. I want this to be me.

Where do you find musical inspiration?

I got a new record player for Christmas. My wife got me an old record player. My Dad brought over all of his old vinyl records. I just sit there and listen to those old records. My Dad has records that go all the way back to the 1940s; Hank Williams, Frank Sinatra, Willie, Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard, Bing Crosby, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones. What so many of those artists have in common is the passion about the music they make. You can feel it. You can hear it. They aren't artists trying to be somebody else. They are making the music that God made them to make. That's what I'm trying to do.

Are you conscious that the music you release needs to fit a time period? Or are you aiming for the timeless?

At the same time I know I can't make a record that sounds like 1960 or 1970. It's very important that my record is progressive, refreshing and at the same time I am staying to what makes Aaron Watson. On every record I've had my standards. My guideline on every record is three questions; am I staying true to my faith in God, my family and my fans? Those are my three core values when it comes to my music. A lot of these fans have been on this train ride with me for fifteen years. I have to stay true to those people and they've been helping me provide for my family for over a decade.

You mentioned that you have been working on your next record. What can we expect?

This new record I am working on, I have looked back over the decade of my career and I have seen four different phases that country music has gone through. Ten years ago everyone was all about the music mafia scene with Big & Rich and Gretchen Wilson. Everyone thought that was the future of country music. Then one day it fizzled out. Right now it is all about Bro Country, but that will fizzle out too. When it comes to fashion and music, trends come and go. If you'll notice cowboys always stay relevant. I know by being true to myself that I may never win any major awards, but that's ok. I'm not in this to win awards, I'm in this to make music and a living for my family. I don't need to make millions of dollars, I just have to make enough to pay off my mortgage and my wife's credit card every month. It's staying realistic. It's me being no different that any other husband or father. I don't need a vacation home in Hawaii or Florida, I just need to take care of my family back home in Texas.

Do you know what? I've been able to take vacations with my family in Hawaii. We've been able to do some really really incredible things that I didn't get to do growing up. I get to do those thanks to my music and my fans. That's what drives me to be a better singer and songwriter. I want to continue giving my fans something they can believe in.

Your kids are now at an age where they must be aware of your career. Are you just Dad to them? Or do they see you as a famous singer too?

I think it's a little of both. I'm Dad and that's my job. I know that all three of them, they are 9, 8 and 6, and all of them have started to notice that any time we go anywhere random people stop me for pictures. They used to ask how that person knew my name. They'd ask all the time. One time we were at a store and a lady stopped me, she hugged me and started to cry. One of my songs was played at one of her family member's funerals. She was thanking me for that song and telling me how much it meant to her and her family. My boys' eyes were big, they wanted to know why she was crying and how she knew me. They didn't understand some of that back then, but now they kind of get it.

Do they have dreams of being involved in music too?

When I bring my kids out on the road, I ask them to help me. My middle son, he wrote a song that he told me he wrote for me to sing to the whole world so that we could make the family money. When we are on the road it doesn't matter, he will get up there and sing it. He's sung it in front of 10,000 people. When he gets up there and sings that song, he truly believes that he is helping us put food on the table. I love it. And he is because the crowd love it. My oldest boy, Jake, he loves to play the guitar. He gets up there with his little electric guitar and plays with me. Their little sister Jolee Kate was too shy. We played a Christmas show at a church. On the trip down there she told me she wanted to sing a song with me. So she did. She got up and sang Away In A Manger. I love that they understand it is how Daddy takes care of our world.

I took them to Disney World. We were there for a week. I said that their Daddy never got to go to Disney World when he was growing up. I told them they got to do all sorts of things that I never got to do. I said they need to understand that the reason we get to go is because of the fans taking care of their Daddy and his family. I want them to know how blessed we are. I want them be thankful and they are. My kids are so precious. God has blessed me with wonderful kids and a wonderful wife.

Lastly, are you excited to come to the UK?

I've been to the UK before. It was a short brief moment, catching flights. We've never spent any quality time there, so we are so excited. This is our fifth or sixth trip to Europe, but it's so important for us to keep putting Europe on our tour schedule. I love, love, love, love the appreciation for music over there. I really feel that in Europe the comments from fans show a greater appreciation for our music than over here. We get so much music that we take it for granted. I remember in France a guy who came over from the UK for a show. We sat talking for half an hour about music and he told me how he loves in one of my songs how the fiddle takes the first solo and the steel guitar takes the back half of the solo, then at the back end they come in and they play together. I was like, wow you are paying attention! I love that connection with fans as fans are the greatest music lovers. I think a lot of time the artist becomes jaded and it becomes a job, but it's the fans who continue to support the industry. Without the fans there are no artists.