Singer, songwriter, and guitarist Dale Watson has been railing against mainstream country music for decades. In a 1995 number called “Nashville Rash,” for example, he complained that “I’m too country now for country, just like Johnny Cash.” Added Watson: “[It] breaks my heart to see my heroes fadin’ away / Shoulda known it when they closed the Opry down / Things are bound to change in that town / You can’t grow when you rip the roots out of the ground.”
Nashville might have changed, but in the three decades since he released that song, Watson has not. On the enjoyable new Unwanted, which features backup from his longtime group the Lonestars, he delivers a dozen self-penned tracks that continue to mark him as a member of country’s outlaw contingent. Eschewing Nashville commercialism, he has one foot in the barrooms of his adopted hometown of Austin, Texas, and the other in Bakersfield, California, which gave birth to the rootsy subgenre associated with artists like Merle Haggard and Buck Owens. His stripped-down sound employs elements of honkytonk, Western swing, rockabilly, and rock and roll, and he often underscores those leanings with lyrics that recall the days before many country artists polished their acts to court wider audiences.
The self-produced Unwanted opens with Watson contemplating “one hell of a night…with some old friends of mine” on the rollicking “Willie Waylon and Whiskey.” The song namechecks Willie Nelson’s “Red Headed Stranger” and “On the Road Again” and includes a snippet of the latter song. It also quotes “Only Daddy That’ll Walk the Line” and “Good Hearted Woman,” two of the best-known tracks by the late Waylon Jennings, whose voice Watson’s resembles.
Other songs celebrate tradition or bemoan changing times. In the sprightly “Don’t Let the Honky Tonks Go,” Watson implores listeners to “keep dancing,” “put money in the jukebox,” and “be sure to tip the band.” In the catchy “Never Mend the Broken Spoke,” meanwhile, he pays tribute to Austin’s historic Broken Spoke dancehall and mentions several of its famed performers, including Nelson, Bob Wills, and Ernest Tubb. And in “What the Hell Happened to the Cadillac,” he complains that cars, music on the radio, and air travel have all changed for the worse.
Watson also offers several impassioned love songs, including “You’ve Got My Heart,” a duet with his wife, singer/songwriter Celine Lee, and “If You Really Love Me (Outlive Me).” The latter number will likely seem particularly poignant to listeners who know that, in 2000, Watson’s then-fiancé died in an auto accident, leaving him so depressed that he abused alcohol and drugs and almost died from an overdose before recovering in a mental hospital. “If you really love me, outlive me,” Watson sings. “Don’t make me go through life without you.”
Dirk Powell Delivers a Sublime Set
The word “multitalented” certainly fits Dirk Powell, a widely acclaimed Louisiana-based singer and songwriter who has mastered accordion, banjo, and many other instruments and is also an accomplished producer and recording engineer. Unfortunately, the four-time Grammy winner has apparently been so busy producing, teaching, collaborating, and scoring films that he has issued only a few solo albums in this century.
Wake, Powell’s first such LP since 2020’s When I Wait for You, takes you on an absorbing musical journey that draws on his Cajun, Creole, and Appalachian roots. He engineered the CD, recorded it at his own studio, and co-produced it with his wife, Cajun musician Christine Balfa (daughter of Dewey Balfa, a giant of the genre). Powell plays fiddle, electric and acoustic guitar, banjo, piano, bass, accordion, mandolin, keyboards, and percussion while also featuring contributions from musicians such as Darrell Scott, Rhiannon Giddens, and his daughter, Amelia Powell. Other players add brass instruments such as French horn, tuba, trumpet, and trombone.
It’s a sublime set, consisting of a dozen self-penned songs, plus a languid cover of “Long Long Long,” the George Harrison number from the Beatles’ so-called White Album. Standouts include “Étoiles Cachées,” the piano-dominated instrumental waltz that opens the LP; the lilting “Red Bird Road”; and the atmospheric “Down the Line,” which finds Powell singing about “a lonesome railroad track” and proclaiming that he’s “goin’ to California, never comin’ back.” These sweet and gentle tunes seem to float in the air as they soothe the soul.
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Jeff Burger’s website, byjeffburger.com, contains more than four decades’ worth of music reviews and commentary. His books include Dylan on Dylan: Interviews and Encounters, Lennon on Lennon: Conversations with John Lennon, Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen: Interviews and Encounters, and Springsteen on Springsteen: Interviews, Speeches, and Encounters.