Willie Watson

It’s my birthday today and it’s been a lovely one. A bit of a lie-in, opening cards and presents, lunch at Lovelock’s, a leisurely wander around the shops to spend my birthday money (well, there’s no time like the present!), and another couple of stops for cups of tea, and burritos, before heading to Leaf on Bold Street, to see Willie Watson. Thanks to P for organising everything.

Willie was a founding member of the US old-timey string band, Old Crow Medicine Show, (here he is on guitar and high harmonies performing ‘Wagon Wheel’ with them back in 2011, the year he left the band https://youtu.be/9cw499FYAGE?si=fhQ-a_5vLujawRb4).

After going solo his repertoire largely consisted of traditional American folk songs of the type to be found on Harry Smith’s hugely influential 1952 release ‘An Anthology of American Folk Music’ - something which was also an influence on the youthful Bob Dylan. His immersion in what critic Greil Marcus dubbed ‘the old, weird America’ led him to a close working relationship with the great Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, and a part in the Coen Brothers 2018 film ‘The Ballad of Buster Scruggs’ singing their song ‘When A Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings’ https://youtu.be/lXna1a-806Q?si=lY6oFugz-ymcCyG- Then, last year, he put out an album featuring his own compositions for the first time - and it’s good stuff, featuring his ‘high, lonesome’ vocals, guitar, banjo and harmonica.

From it, here’s the beautiful ‘Real Love’ https://youtu.be/bp8EWznjrWA?si=1kV8U_AtO2m6c5JE the video for which features Willie, his wife Mindy, and the workshop/garage in which Willie works on his side-hustle - designing and hand-making a range of bespoke vintage-style garments https://williewatsonmfgco.com

He said he was jet-lagged tonight but he was still in fine vocal form and played very nimbly indeed! More pics in the Extras.

On a different note, today is Holocaust Memorial Day. This year, perhaps more than ever, we need to remember what happens when our so-called leaders promote hate, division, scapegoating, prejudice, and misinformation. But more than this, we need to commit to educating younger generations who may have no immediate family connection to people who lived, suffered and/or died in the holocaust or in WW2, and may be particularly susceptible to the promises of snake-oil vendors who have only their own interests at heart https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jan/26/uk-young-adults-unable-to-name-auschwitz-holocaust-education-disinformation?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other