Texan in town to perform
TEXAN honky tonk performer DALE WATSON and his LONE STARS will perform on Tuesday, March 21, at Maitland's Grand Junction Hotel.
Watson is a country music purist, whose style has been shaped by honky tonk legends such as BUCK OWENS and MERLE HAGGARD, and crafted in beer-joint bands and on the lonesome road.
'My music isn't old country music,' Watson said.
'It's new music done in the old-fashioned way, without regard to radio only for real life-themes, instrumental solos as authentically roadhouse as sweat-stained shirts and a neon tan.'
His latest CD PEOPLE I'VE KNOWN, PLACES I'VE SEEN is a shining platter of portraits depicting exactly what the title suggests.
What the title doesn't sum up however, is the integrity of Watson's tunes. Watson pays homage to traditional country without being afraid to stamp his own brand on them.
Titles such as LOUIE LEE'S LIQUOR LOUNGE, HEY DON (SUPPORT MY FAVOURITE BEERTENDER) and ROADTRAIN (based on an Australian road train rig) are standouts, and worth the price of admission alone.
Players (including Australian lap steel player NICK SUMMERS) are SCOTT MATTHEWS on drums and BILLY DONAGHUE on bass.
Meanwhile, Watson will knock you out with his economical lead guitar work and inimitable vocal style which rumbles and purrs as smoothly as a '54 Chevy.
Watson was recently the subject of an ABC documentary about country music, which depicted the Texan as the antithesis of the manufactured Nashville country.
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