No Depression Sessions at Folk Alliance International 2024: Willie Watson

Watch founding member of Old Crow Medicine Show, singer-songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Willie Watson perform three songs from his forthcoming self-titled album in his No Depression Session at Folk Alliance International 2024. Joining Watson are longtime friend and collaborator Ben Gould on bass and Nashville-based fiddler Sami Braman.

Watson tells us that his previous two solo records, Folk Singer Vol. 1 and Folksinger Vol. 2, feature Watson almost exclusively playing solo acoustic. He decided to flesh out the arrangements a bit more on the forthcoming record, enlisting the help of drummer Jason Boesel and slide guitarist Dylan Day.

Between the second and third songs, we mostly compare and contrast the relative strengths of Kansas City institutions like Town Topic Hamburgers (slinging burgers since 1937!) and Local Pig, one of KC’s best butcher shops. Near the end of a loose chat about food, Willie drops this absolute gem of a fact about the forthcoming record:

“This is the first time in my life I’ve released a full album of songs that I wrote. When I split from Old Crow, I was really afraid to write songs, so fear held me back for 10 years. I got over that and just did it anyway, and it’s a big thing! It’s like my first record ever, honestly.”

Big congratulations are due to Willie Watson for breaking through fear and anxiety and doing the damn thing anyway, despite the roadblocks. Please enjoy Watson’s No Depression Session here, which wraps up our series from Folk Alliance 2024.

Set list:
“Slim & The Devil”
“Real Love”
“Already Gone”

This No Depression Session at Folk Alliance International 2024 is made possible by AEA Ribbon Mics. Find previous No Depression Sessions at Folk Alliance International 2024 here.