Q&A: The Honky Tonk Kid, Aaron Watson, Is All About The Old School

Aaron Watson’s latest album, Angels & Outlaws was released yesterday, April 1, and I had the opportunity to have him answer a few questions for the readers here at The 9513. Read on to find out what his favorite songs are on the new album, who he’d like to record with in the future, and what he thinks of Miranda Lambert, then go pick up a copy of Angels & Outlaws and support good country music.

To kick this off, I just wanted to let you know that the last person I interviewed actually makes an appearance on Angels & Outlaws. Do you think you can be as interesting as Billy Joe Shaver?

Lets see, Billy Joe has written songs for Waylon, Elvis, Kris Kristofferson, Willie and Johnny Cash…just to name a few. Not to mention, they actually made a movie or a documentary about his life. So I’d say I will absolutely not be as interesting as Billy Joe Shaver….those boots are way too big to fill. After all he is the “Honky Tonk Hero”, I’m just the “Honky Tonk Kid”!

Why did you decide to include the reading of Philippians 3:12-14 by Billy Joe Shaver and “Barbed Wire Halo” from your last album?

This song has had a very positive impact on people at our live shows and I wanted it to be part of our major release. Philippians 3:12-14 really pairs up well with “Barbed Wire Halo”. The old man in the song despite a hard life, stays focused on “the goal”. I’m always trying to do things that make Jesus smile both in my music and in my life!

I think it’s a great song, as all my friends and family can probably attest. Which song on the new album would you consider to be your favorite?

It’s a toss up between “Angels & Outlaws,” “Breaker Breaker One Nine,” and “Love Makin’ Song”. They all kind of have that old school thing going on which is what we are all about.

The song by John Mayer, “Heart of Life,” has a slightly different sound to it, but there’s enough variety on the album that it doesn’t feel out of place. With all of the talented people you work with and the songs you write yourself, I’m sure you had a lot of worthy material to choose from, so what compelled you to choose that particular song?

I’m a big fan of Mayer. “The Heart of Life” has a great melody and a great message. The first time I heard it I thought, “this could be a country song”. Of course, we’d have to replace the rock guitar with twin fiddles and steel. I try to find a few songs for every album that are totally different from my cup of tea….it’s helps to add some diversity. I hope that Mr. Mayer would enjoy our version of his song.

Do you think including one of his songs might open you up to a new audience?

I don’t know, I sure hope so. That’s always the goal to increase your exposure and your audience. I guess my biggest concern was that we wanted to do the song justice so that we didn’t sour any of Mayer’s fans

What’s the dynamic like between you and your producer, Ray Benson? Does he contribute a lot to the end result of your albums?

Ray is a Grammy award winning producer and artist. His experience and knowledge is far beyond my comprehension. I bring him songs and ideas and he really takes them to a bigger and better place. He has really taken me under his wing and I’m proud to call him my friend.

You seem to be willing to try unconventional methods to get your music out there, from giving away an album’s worth of music on your website to telling people at your shows to burn a copy of your CD for their friends. Do you think artists are going to have to be more creative to get noticed?

It’s competitive market, especially for an independent artist. I own all my records (8 if you count the first cruddy one that’s now out of print, we call it “The Black & White album”) so it doesn’t hurt me to give new fans a free taste. A lot of folks buy four or five albums after they download the free songs. Giving away 15 songs is just like giving away a free appetizer. Hopefully, if the appetizer is good enough then they will wanna buy the steak dinner and dessert. We feel like we have a lot to offer and country fans all over the country would dig our stuff and we just have to be more creative in getting our name out to them since we don’t have the support of a lot of mainstream radio or a major label. So hopefully when they download the music, they will dig into it and buy a record or two because we’ve put 3 songs per record up there…or at least come out to a show. We’re starting to tour nationally and in a lot of new markets, so this is one of our gameplans to attract new fans and once they get the music, we can market our show to them and also see who is downloading it where.

That’s interesting. I was wondering if you had any plans to try to go national in the future. Miranda Lambert has had a lot of success without the support of radio, although she does have the advantage of being on a larger label, but it shows that there is a market outside of radio. Do you pay attention to the things other artists are doing and try to copy their ideas if you think it will work for you?

First of all, she’s a lot better looking than me. While I think you can always learn from outside people and others having success in the music business, really regardless of the genre that they are in, I just try and stay focused on my organization and what we’re working hard to do. If we can pick up some pointers or a good idea along the way, that’s great. If the good Lord wants us to go big time, then we’ll go big time. I just feel very blessed everyday with all that we’ve been able to achieve on an independent level, the amount of fans that we have and that it’s continuing to grow

Is there any truth to the rumors that Nashville was courting you around the time you were preparing to release your first or second album?

I don’t know about any courting but we’ve had several meetings here and there. We’ve got a lot of good friends in Nashville. There’s a lot of good music coming out of Nashville. But I like the freedom of being an independent artist, I control my schedule…always at church on Sunday morning and on the first tee box around 1 …sometimes 2 depending on how long it takes me to put my boys down for their naps. And besides all that, I’m a Texas boy and I’m not that big of Titan fan.

I know working with Willie early in your career was a big thrill for you. Is there anyone you’d like to record with in the future?

MERLE, as in the HAG!

Excellent choice. You’ve done a song with Willie (”The Honky Tonk Kid”) and a tribute to Waylon (”Except for Jessie”), as well as the cover of Waylon’s “Tulsa” on this album, so how about the other two Highwaymen? Any plans to cover any of their material?

I actually wrote “Angels & Outlaws” with June Carter and Johnny Cash in mind. I just changed the names and places but it’s based on them

You’re going on tour with Jason Boland in a couple of weeks. Do you think there’s a lot of overlap in y’alls fans? And being that you two share similar headlining status in Texas, how do you decide who opens the show?

We’re going to farkle for it…or just flip a coin. Honestly, we just let our managements sort it out but we wanted it to be 50/50. We’re each getting the same stage time so all around, it’s just going to be a great night of great country music.

What’s your favorite song by Jason?

“If You Want To Hear A Love Song”

Well I guess I’ll wrap this up and let you get back to promoting your album. Thanks for taking the time to answer these questions for us at The 9513. I want to congratulate you for the success you’ve had so far and hope that it continues for you. I also wanted to let you know that you have some of the easiest people to work with–and friendliest as well–working for you in your corner. Mallory, who set up this Q&A, and Gino, who gave us a few albums when we were first getting started, have been a real pleasure to deal with any time I’ve had any inquiries.

Thank you guys for everything you do and getting our name out there.