By Jeff Arnold

Above the small stage at Brighton Music Hall in Brighton, MA is a tiny greenroom. Curtained windows look out over the small venue which is packed with fans clad in cowboy boots and hats on this cold night. It is a strange sight in Massachusetts, where cowboy hats are sparsely worn in the summer let alone in late January.

A heavy soundproof door separates the greenroom from a small waiting area that is atop a steep, rickety staircase. Often times that door remains closed as the impending acts run through final meetings and warm-ups. On this night though, it is open and inside sits Aaron Watson. Relaxed on a sagging green couch with his customary Stetson hat tilted upward, the soft spoken Texan prepares for his January 21, 2016 show in front of a surprisingly dedicated New England following. He is discussing his then upcoming trip to Europe where he will headline a festival in Italy before receiving a gold record from Universal Belgium. In a few short moments he will walk down the short, steep staircase and take the stage 2,000 miles from home; 2,000 miles from where his journey to being country’s most successful underdog began. Watson’s rise as one of the biggest names in country music was anything but easy, yet those struggles are what drives the 39 year old to be the best in country music.

Before he graced stages from California to Massachusetts, Aaron Watson (born James Aaron Watson) was a boy growing up in Amarillo, Texas. Born in 1977 to gospel-loving parents, it was not music that was his first love, but baseball. After graduating from Randall High School, Watson pursued his baseball dreams at a junior college in New Mexico; however, it was not meant to be. Although at the time a devastating blow, the end of his baseball career signaled the beginning of his music career. After transferring to Abilene Christian University, a small christian school located 150 miles west of Fort Worth in Abilene, Texas, he began learning to play guitar. Although at first little more than a hobby, this began an ascent that would eventually carry him to the no. 1 spot on iTunes. That, however, was more than 15 years away.

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Nashville is the holy grail of country music. Regardless of regional success, there is a common notion that one can only get so far in country music without Nashville’s approval and support. Perhaps the best current example is Luke Combs. Despite doing the almost unthinkable in breaking into the Billboard Country Top 40 without the backing of Nashville label, he still has yet to gain any national recognition. He is, by his own admission, something of an outsider to the industry. He is big enough to sell out shows across the south, yet if he were to go to California or New England, he would have trouble booking a gig, let alone selling it out.

Going hand in hand with the necessity of Nashville recognition, is country radio’s role in the modern country industry. Country radio play is the catalyst in artists’ careers. Country purists, many of whom are extremely vocal (with no better example than SavingCountryMusic.com) love nothing more than to point to country radio as the problem with country music. Now, whether you agree or disagree about whether a “problem” truly exists, it is impossible to look past their logic.

If mainstream radio did not play bro-country, it most likely would have died out extremely quickly. Instead, Florida Georgia Line, who pioneered the sub-genre with their mega-hit, “Cruise” in 2012, is one of the most frequently played acts on the radio and have become arguably the biggest names in country music. They revolutionized the genre and, due to their success, inspired a whole generation of similar, line-blurring artists.

Gary Overton, Sony Music Nashville’s CEO, created a firestorm last year when he said that “if you’re not on country radio, you don’t exist.” Aaron Watson is one of those people that, in Overton’s mind, does not exist.

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Starting in Texas, Watson did what many upshot artists do in their formative years: play as many shows as possible. For Watson that meant going to dive bars and honky tonks all across the Lone Star state. Despite limited success at first, his time paying his dues in the dingier corners of Texas helped build a sound and attitude that, at the time, he thought could get him signed in Nashville. The issue for Watson though, was in that unique sound.

Aaron Watson does not fit the mold of modern country. Influenced by a combination of George Jones, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, and gospel music, Watson plays Texas country; a unique form that opts for fiddles and banjos over electronic drumbeats and blaring guitars. It is not played on country radio and is largely ignored by Nashville executives.  “Fence Post” a track on Watson’s most recent record, The Underdog, details his struggle in Music City.

“‘Son don’t get offended by what I’m about to say, ‘” Watson sings, referencing a fateful meeting with a record label executive. “‘I can see you have a passion for the songs you write and play/ But you lack what we all call commercial appeal/ And you just don’t have what it takes to make it here in Nashville,‘”

“Well my heart felt like a train wreck but I wore a smile on my face/ I said, ‘Thank you for your time sir,’ I put my guitar back in it’s case/ Our little conversation was like a revelation redirecting my dreams/ Cause God knows I’d never sell my soul to rock n’ roll or rap or wear those tight skinny jeans.“

This “revelation” was the turning point in Watson’s career. After rejection in Nashville, Watson returned to Texas where he continued to refine his unique sound. Although not an overwhelming vocalist, Watson’s innate ability to tell a story that walks the line between personal experience and universality is impressive.  Over time, his commitment paid off and in 2002 he released his third album, Shutupanddance. Achieving more success than its two predecessors, Aaron Watson and A Texas Cafe, it alerted many throughout the Texas country scene that there was a new name that could not be overlooked. For some, releasing a successful album would merit a well-deserved break. After initial rejection, he had proved that his unique formula of storytelling, fiddles, and steel guitars could still sell in a modern setting, yet for the then 29 year old, this only added to fuel to his ever-growing fire.

By 2006 Watson had grown to be a prominent name in Texas country. His 2004 album, The Honky

Tonk Kid, was released to increased critical acclaim and featured production from Ray Benson and a guest appearance by country legend Willie Nelson. This record, which was the first to feature production from a nationally recognized talent, proved to be the needed push to get Watson to the next level. By 2006 his fourth album San Angelo hit no. 60 on Billboard’s Country Albums Chart and no. 50 on its Heatseekers Chart. By 2008 he had cracked the top 5 of the Heatseekers Chart and top 30 of the Country Albums Chart with Angels & Outlaws. Lastly, by 2010, his tenth studio album, The Road & The Rodeo, peaked at no. 25 on the Country Charts. With his star rising and prominence growing, Watson appeared to have finally arrived. From Nashville reject, to regional act, to national star, he had made it. Much like most of his music career however, Watson faced another obstacle in 2011, this time with a personal tragedy.

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If not for “Fence Post,” the most noteworthy song on Watson’s most recent album was “Bluebonnets (Julia’s Song).” Beautifully written and simply produced, the track was written to honor his late-daughter Julia Grace, who passed away in infancy in 2011.

Watson detailed the inspiration behind the song in a 2015 Taste of Country interview, stating,”Not long after losing Julia, we took some Easter pictures of our other three kids. We went to the cemetery where she’s buried, kind of up in the hills near the town of Buffalo Gap.”

“There were all these bluebonnet flowers and I’m staring at my three kids and they’re sitting in this field of bluebonnets and in the background I can see where we buried my daughter. It was a feeling I’ll never forget,” the singer continued, “Like ‘Wow, life is so fragile.'”

“We went back to the cemetery a few weeks later and the temperature had gotten hot enough that the bluebonnets had all died.”

For some artists, a tragedy of this magnitude would derail their success. Watson though, proved again why he is the quintessential comeback kid. A man of faith, Watson drew strength from Christianity throughout the ordeal.

“[After Julia Grace’s death] I found strength and peace through my lord and savior Jesus Christ,” Watson said while performing in Brighton. “Through that tragedy, I found who I was again.”

With resiliency and determination Watson released his eleventh studio album in 2012. Peaking inside the top 10 on the Country Albums Chart, the record also broke into the top 20 for Independent Albums. The latter of these two accomplishments signaled that his fan base was not just limited to country purists, but music fans in general. Very rarely do country artists make any successful cross-genre jump, so the fact that he did it unknowingly was shocking to say the least.

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Watson’s career hit a new peak came in last year’s release of his most recent studio album The Underdog. Appropriately named, Watson spoke about the process leading up to the release of the album in a 2015 interview.

“We’ve been promoting this record, and we’ve been going hardcore where maybe the major label artist has a lot of people posting pictures and posting comments. That’s me. That’s me this morning waking up seeing that my record is No. 2 on the iTunes country chart, taking a screen shot of that and posting and thanking God for blessing me.”

“From day one it was like, guess who came up with the album art cover? Me. Guess who wrote 12 out of the 14 songs? Me. I’m sitting there unwrapping CDs at 2 o’clock in the morning and signing them.”

Upon its February 17 release The Underdog made history as he became the first solo male artist to debut at no. 1 on the Billboard Country Album charts with a self-released and independently promoted and distributed album. For Watson, this was validation after years of hard work. In the wake of this Watson responded to Gary Overton’s aforementioned comments on country radio’s importance, stating, “My name is Aaron Watson. I’m not played on country radio. And I have the #1 record in country music this week. I do exist.”

The record can be viewed as a manifesto of sorts. There is a song for his wife (“That Look”), a song for his sons (“The Underdog”), and a song about his journey as a whole (“Fence Post”). Artists regularly strive to create albums that showcase every aspect of their being, yet almost every time they fail to do so. The Underdog is a rare exception. It is polished, original in sound, and contains well-written lyrics throughout. Even the most personal tracks, “Bluebonnets (Julia’s Song)” for example, find a way to combine a personal experience with relatability. From the top down, not only is it his best album but also his most important, Watson, however would disagree.

“It really is always about the next one,” he says, “Especially if you’re an independent artist, you’re only as good as your next record. That’s the truth. We live and die by putting out quality records.”

Although it may seem cliche, no one believes that notion more than Watson. Despite his polarizing sound and sometimes vindictive attitude towards Nashville, it is universally agreed upon that he is a workhorse and has earned everything he has received. If anyone deserved to title an album, The Underdog, it is Aaron Watson.

The real question in Watson’s career is not how he has achieved such great success, but how successful can he be? With bro-country slowly fading into the background the age of the “true” artist may be coming. For many, the person leading that charge is the uber-talented  Chris Stapleton, yet if there is anyone who can accompany him to the pantheon of country success it may just be the underdog from Texas.

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After a drawn out talk on the couch, and growing restlessness from a packed house below him, Watson gets the signal from his manager and makes his way across the waiting room and down the stairs. He walks through the back stage door and emerges to awaiting cheers from a faithful crowd. It is a far cry from the venues he headlined 15 years prior. Except for the unusual amount of Red Sox hats, one could easily mistake the small Boston venue for a mid-size bar in the heart of Texas. Watson lightly pushes down his hat and flashes a sheepish, but excited smile. In a second the room will be filled with his unique brand of country that many doubted could ever be successful. It has been a long, tumultuous road to get to where he is today, yet it feels like it is only the beginning.

References:
“Aaron Watson Debuts at No. 1 With ‘The Underdog’” via Taste of Country
“The Underdog: Aaron Watson on the Good and Bad of Being an Independent Artist” via Taste of Country
“Aaron Watson” via All Music
“Aaron Watson Chart History” via Billboard