Dale Watson

Dale Watson, born Kenneth Dale Watson on October 7, 1962, in Birmingham, Alabama, has dedicated over four decades to country music as a singer and songwriter. His family relocated to Wilmington, North Carolina, and then to Pasadena, Texas, in 1977. Influenced by his father and brother Jim, Watson began writing songs at age 12, making his first recording two years later. He became an emancipated minor to pursue music, attending school by day and performing in Houston clubs with his brother’s band, The Classic Country Band, by night.

Watson’s career progressed with a move to Los Angeles in 1988, where he joined the house band at The Palomino Club. He released singles “One Tear at a Time” (1990) and “You Pour It On and I Pour It Down” (1991) with Curb Records. After a period in Nashville writing for Gary Morris’s publishing company, he relocated to Austin, Texas, forming The Lone Stars. His debut album, “Cheatin’ Heart Attack” (1995) on Hightone, garnered critical acclaim for its traditional country sound and included the song “Nashville Rash,” a commentary on mainstream country music. Subsequent albums like “Blessed Or Damned” (1996) and “I Hate These Songs” (1997) affirmed his commitment to classic country. He expanded into the truck-driving song subgenre with “The Truckin’ Sessions” (1998) on Koch, obtaining a commercial driver’s license around this time and often driving his band’s tour bus.

His career includes television appearances on David Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel, and Austin City Limits. Watson also established Wat-sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, featuring the original 1937 board from Sun Studio, demonstrating his commitment to authentic sound production. In 2013, he released “El Rancho Azul,” which solidified his signature song “I Lie When I Drink” and helped launch Ameripolitan Music. He later acquired and operated two honky-tonk venues in Texas, “The Little Longhorn Saloon” and “The Big T Roadhouse,” noted for their “Chicken $#!+ Bingo” events, and reopened ‘Hernando’s Hide-A-Way’ in Memphis in 2019.