Dale Watson: “Down Down Down Down Down”
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Dale Watson has become an Austin institution by repeatedly headlining Austin institutions. He’s a regular at honky-tonk landmarks like the Broken Spoke or Ginny’s Little Longhorn Saloon, and there’s a good reason why. For over two decades, Watson has taken an outsider’s approach to country music, hewing closer to his heroes Johnny Cash and Lefty Frizzell.
Born in Alabama, Watson grew up in Pasadena, Texas before attempting music careers in Nashville and Los Angeles, but it was Austin’s outlaw spirit that brought him back to the Lone Star State. He’s gathered a sizable local following, not to mention a number of international fans as well. He’s won country music awards in Britain, the Netherlands, and Spain, and Watson tours Europe annually.
But on his latest album, Watson traveled to Memphis to record at the legendary Sun Studios, the place that Presley, Cash, and Orbison built. The result is The Sun Sessions, an album recorded with “the Texas Two,” a bass/drums combo that hearkens back to Cash’s Tennessee Three.
Watson and the Texas Two recently stopped by KUT’s Studio 1A for a live performance. From that session, here’s “Down Down Down Down Down,” a sad-but-upbeat country song that recaptures that Sun Studios glory.
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