Under the Americana banner of folk music, Willie Watson appeared at Music City’s historic Station Inn on Thursday of the AmericanaFest.
Watson, one of the original members of Old Crow Medicine Show, frequently appearing with the Dave Rawlings Band and other Americana troubadours, played a set with his new band: Ben Gould, who played in a band with Watson before the Old Crow days, on double bass; Sam Schmidt on guitar and mandolin; and Rosie Newton on fiddle.
With his usual effervescent demeanor, Watson entertained the audience with some best-loved songs from his catalog, including “Take This Hammer” and “Keep It Clean.” He also performed songs from the folk tradition he has preserved on several recording projects, including “Ain’t Got No Mama Now,” a song he called “new to the band” drawn from Blind Lemon Jefferson, as well as an original song called “Slim and the Devil,” which he adapted from a poem he found in a collection of works by Black poets from 1865-1965.
Noting that he had married a few months ago, Watson sang a song he wrote for his wife, “The Only Real Love That I Have Ever Known.”
With an encore of “John Henry,” he and the band delivered a performance that confirmed why so many other artists under the big tent of Americana choose to share a stage with Willie Watson.