Video Interview: Willie Watson on “Willie Watson”

Making old-time music relevant for a modern audience with new songs.

Willie Watson has had an impressive career as a singer-songwriter, guitarist, banjo player and sometimes actor, but more on that last one later. He was a founding member of Old Crow Medicine Show and a major songwriter in the band, as well as working with John Prine, Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings. He left Old Crow Medicine Show ostensibly to start his solo career, but rather than write new songs he more often than not played old-time songs for an appreciative audience, releasing two albums of folk songs for Gillian Welch and Dave Rawling’s Acony Records. Now, thirteen years after leaving Old Crow Medicine Show, he has finally released his first solo album proper, the eponymous “Willie Watson”, which includes new Willie Watson songs with a handful of covers. Americana UK’s Martin Johnson. caught up with Willie Watson at home in Los Angeles to discuss “Willie Watson” and his upcoming 2025 UK tour. He gives an insight into why it has taken him so long to release his first proper solo album and the inspiration behind some of his new songs, which include his wife and the Charlottesville riots of 2017. Doc Watson is a legendary figure in American roots music, and Willie Watson gives a first-hand account of how Old Crow Medicine Show met Doc Watson when they were jamming on a street corner in North Carolina. Finally, he very firmly pooh-poohs the idea that he is in any way an actor, despite appearing in a handful of films.