News4U Online

WHO:  Gene Watson and his Farewell Party Band
WHAT: 8 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 15.
WHERE:  Executive Inn, 1 Executive Blvd., Owensboro, Ky.
FOR TICKETS: Call (270) 926-8000 or purchase online at http://www.executiveinnrivermont.com/liveentertainment.html.
General admission is first-come, first-served; Gold and VIP is reserved seating.

The late Porter Waggoner, longtime emcee for the Grand Ole Opry, called him “a singer’s singer,” and George Jones lists him as one of his “all-time favorite ballad singers.” Gene Watson, however, keeps singing, recording and touring like he’s yet to make his mark.

With 42 top-10 country singles to his credit, including nine No. 1 tracks and scores more that hit country’s Top 40s, is far from a country-music newcomer. By all credible accounts, in fact, he’s a living legend—never mind that, at 64, he’s just released his 34^th album, In A Perfect World, which is his first for the Shanachie label.

Ironically, many of today’s country fans don’t know Gene Watson by name, but spin one of his classics, such as “Love in the Hot Afternoon,” “Paper Rosie,” “Farewell Party,” “Should I Come Home (Or Should I Go Crazy,” “Memories to Burn,” “Got No Reason Now for Goin’ Home” or “Fourteen Carat Mind,” and their faces light up in recognition of his timeless voice.

For Palestine, Texas, native Watson, though, it’s never been about name recognition, it’s been about the music. And in spite of the fact he grew up singing in holiness churches alongside his blues harp/guitar-playing father, Watson never aspired to be the music stalwart he is.

“I can remember singing before I can remember talking,” he said. “Even when I was a kid, if I heard a song twice, I knew it. But I never planned to be an entertainer. I knew I could sing, but that wasn’t out of the ordinary; my whole family could.

“Doing music professional was never a goal of mine. I always wanted to work on cars,” added the now Houston-based performer, who dropped out of school in 9^th grade and initially supported his own family by doing autobody work and car repair.

Watson did sing in Lone Star honky-tonks at night to make an extra buck, however, and it was while doing just that in the ‘70s that his seamless vocal stylings came to the attention of investors who eagerly financed several of his early, small-label singles. From there, Capitol Records caught the buzz on Watson and picked him up for national distribution; thus, launching what has become one of the most hit-making careers in country music.

Inducted into the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame in 2002, Watson knows what it’s like to be on top, just as he knows what it’s like to hit rock bottom, thanks to being diagnosed with cancer, undergoing surgery and surviving chemotherapy, all of which was “extremely devastating” to him both personally and financially.

“I didn’t have any insurance and didn’t know what I was going to do,” he remarked, “I am so grateful to my fans and to all the entertainers, my comrades who got behind me and helped me with their fundraisers and their prayers. I kept working as much as I could (during that time). It’s what I had to do. I couldn’t lay down. I had to be doing something, sick or not, (and) I think it made me a stronger person. If I had to do it over again, I wouldn’t change anything.”

With his health restored, his music never compromised and a touring schedule that would leave an act half his age exhausted, the always-humble Watson is more appreciative than ever of his latest recording success, the newly released, star-studded In A Perfect World disc, which features Watson dueting with a handful of contemporary country artists, including Mark Chesnutt, Vince Gill, Lee Ann Womack and Joe Nichols, among others.

Produced by Nashville veteran/guitarist extraordinaire Brent Rowan, In A Perfect World showcases Watson masterfully recording standards such as Merle Haggard’s “Today I Started Loving You Again” and fellow Texan Ray Price’s “Don’t You Ever Get Tired of Hurting Me,” as well as the late Buck Owens’ classic, “Together Again,” and three new tracks all his own.

“I do believe this album is a good example of me,” reported Watson, who didn’t shy away from reinventing a few classics. “I gave it 110 percent and I’m very happy with how I sound and how Brent put the whole production together. 

I have always sung live in the studio with the musicians there because it gives me more of an edge. When one of the musicians plays an especially incredible lick, then I try even harder to make my vocals stand up to their amazing performances.”

And standout, Watson does, observed Rowan, who says, “Gene is a timeless artist. He sings from such a deep well, a spiritual place. I wanted to      make a timeless and important record. Most of the icons in our business are no longer at the top of their game, musically. But he is.”

The current-day hitmakers who guested on Watson latest offering are the lucky ones, for dozens more lined up to join their ranks. Producer Rowan, though, narrowed the pool, choosing to keep the album’s focus on Watson’s unique voice.

“This was simply a record that I had to make for my soul, for my spirit,” revealed Rowan, who says working with Watson was a career highlight. “Some things you have to do purely for the music, for the kind of person (Gene) is.”

Similarly, Womack—former Country Music Association Female Vocalist of the Year—has said her duet with Watson set a new benchmark for her success.

“In my dad’s eyes, I hadn’t really made it in the music business until now (because) I’ve sung with Gene Watson,” she said.

As for Watson—who, along with his Farewell Party lineup— will perform Dec. 15 at Owensboro’s Executive Inn in support of his latest CD, he’s just grateful for his simple roots humbled to still be making great music, with no end in sight.

“I was a poor boy,” he said. “ But I wouldn’t take nothing for my raising— as far as my teaching, the way my mother raised me, the way my dad worked and everything. I think it took all that to get all this.