WILLIAM DEAN WATSON

The twentieth century saw the United States of America emerge as world music’s most influential region. Drawing inspiration from the folk and formal music traditions of the world, especially European, African and indigenous American canons, a dazzling variety of American musical styles – Delta and Chicago Blues, Ragtime, Jazz, Old Time music, Bluegrass, Cajun, Honky-Tonk, […]

I can remember the first time I had anything at stake in popular music. As a ten year old English schoolboy in the days leading up to the British Invasion, I had to decide whether I was a Beatles or a Rolling Stones fan. The Beatles had shot to fame in 1962, with the Stones […]

I moved permanently to Canada in 1993, an Englishman with little appreciation of country music.  It was women’s voices that tamed my hostility.  Pop country was everywhere.  Having grown up with the searing Janis Joplin version, I remember hearing Faith Hill’s “Piece Of My Heart”,1 and thinking it was hugely lame, then, suddenly – guiltily […]

During the 1970s, while I devoted much of my spare time to writing, playing and listening to music, I could never afford a good hi-fi. My great friend Paul had a decent system and I spent many a weekend afternoon listening to his album and cassette collection; the old-favourites and the latest acquisitions. Paul liked […]

The music I am developing on this site is determinedly backward looking; the goal is to understand what is beautiful in various American country music genres music from the 1920s to the 1960s – by creating new music that echoes the old. Through the creative process, what is beautiful both within and about these genres […]