Joanna Singer-songwriter, poet, actor and multi-instrumentalist Willie Watson has released a new single titled ‘Slim and The Devil’.
The song is a wits-sharp adaptation of the Sterling A. Brown poem, ‘Slim Greer in Hell.’ The story of a Faustian bargain made with St. Peter at the pearly gates in exchange for one more earthly adventure, it’s a sly contemplation of the meaningless deals we make to endure when we all know what’s inevitable.
The track follows Watson’s recent announcement of his first-ever solo album of original material – over 20 years into his career. The former founding member of Old Crow Medicine Show has been a part of numerous musical projects, soundtracks, and films and is now set to release Willie Watson on September 13th via Little Operation Records and More (Thirty Tigers).
Willie Watson on ‘Slim and The Devil’: “I was disgusted by the imagery of white nationalists taking over the streets of Charlottesville. I pulled a book of poems off the shelf called ‘The Black Poets’ and the first page I opened was Sterling Brown’s poem ‘Slim Greer In Hell’. The story is second to the honour aimed at the poet himself because history has told me that all the people in his position have been robbed by white folk artists and completely cast aside.”
Willie Watson has spent most of his musical career as a favorite of musicians in the know. As an inspiring and eccentric character, a remarkable player, and a human who looks at the world differently, Watson attracted a who’s who of collaborators throughout his career including Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, John Prine, John C. Reilly, Sara and Sean Watkins and so many more. Watson has always battled his own self-diminishment and only now has decided to allow a body of work of his own to be released into the world.
“After 30 years of playing music professionally – this is my debut album. This record is me beating the devil, or the story of what finally did it anyway. I didn’t make any specific pact or anything but I know we’ve been tangled up most of my life. Now that he’s gone I can love myself again,” says Watson of the record.
Willie Watson was born and raised in upstate New York where he started the earliest iterations of his musical life while still in high school. As a teenager, Watson and Ketch Secor co-founded Old Crow Medicine Show – a group of remarkable players obsessed with early American traditional music. He remained in the band as one of its main creative forces until he departed in 2011. Watson appeared in Joel and Ethan Cohen’s The Ballad of Buster Scruggs in the role of The Kid and also as a part of the soundtrack, performing with Tim Blake Nelson on the Oscar-nominated When A Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings. He also appears on the soundtracks for the Coen Brothers Hail, Caesar! and Live By Night. Watson previously released two albums of covers, Folk Singer Vol.1 and Folksinger Vol 2.
Watson will head out on a major North American tour kicking off in June and wrapping up in December. Highlights include the Tractor Tavern in Seattle on November 6th, the Basement East in Nashville on December 3rd, and The Bowery Ballroom in New York City on December 12th.
TOUR DATES:
Aug 22 – Salt Spring Island, BC – Pitchfork Social
Aug 23 – Victoria, BC – The Orillia Street Music Hall
Sept 21 – Lyons, CO – Planet Bluegrass
Sept 25 – Knoxville, TN – Bijou Theater =
Sept 27 – Raleigh, NC – IBMA World of Bluegrass
Sept 28 – Lexington, KY – The Burl =
Sept 29 – Ann Arbor, MI – The Ark =
Oct 1 – Indianapolis, IN – HI-Fi Annex =
Oct 2 – Evanston, IL – SPACE =
Oct 4 – Stoughton, WI – Stoughton Opera House =
Oct 5 – Green Lake, WI – Thrasher Opera House =
Oct 6 – Minneapolis, MN – Dakota =
Oct 30 – Los Angeles, CA – Pico Union Project ^
Nov 1 – Felton, CA – Felton Music Hall
Nov 2 – Petaluma, CA – Mystic Theater & Music Hall
Nov 3 – Berkeley, CA – Freight & Salvage ^
Nov 4 – Ferndale, CA – The Old Steeple
Nov 6 – Seattle, WA – Tractor Tavern +
Nov 7 – Bellingham, WA – Wild Buffalo +
Nov 8 – Portland, OR – Mississippi Studios +
Nov 9 – Vancouver, BC – Biltmore Cabaret +
Nov 11 – Missoula, MT – Top Hat Lounge +
Nov 12 – Bozeman, MT – The Rialto +
Nov 15 – Fort Collins, CO – The Coast +
Nov 16 – Denver, CO – Globe Hall +
Nov 19 – Kansas City, MO – Knuckleheads
Nov 20 – St Louis, MO – The Pageant *
Nov 21 – Des Moines, IA – Val Air Ballroom West *
Nov 22 – Milwaukee, WI – Riverside Theater *
Nov 23 – Iowa City, IA – Hancher Auditorium *
Dec 3 – Nashville, TN – Basement East +
Dec 4 – Asheville, NC – The Grey Eagle Music Hall +
Dec 6 – Washington DC – Union Stage +
Dec 7 – Charlottesville, Va – The Southern +
Dec 8 – Ardmore, PA – Ardmore Music Hall +
Dec 10 – Boston, MA – The Sinclair +
Dec 12 – New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom +
Dec 13 – Woodstock, NY – Levon Helm Studios +
Dec 14 – Ithaca, NY – Hangar Theatre +
supporting Old Crow Medicine Show
= with special guest Jack Van Cleaf
^ with special guest Margo Cilker
with special guest Viv & Riley.
