Always Thankful, Never Satisfied
AARON WATSON IS NO STRANGER TO COLEMAN COUNTY. IN FACT AS MANY ALREADY KNOW THE COVER FOR HIS ALBUM VAQUERO WAS TAKEN RIGHT HERE IN COLEMAN.
“When you’re feeling creative you’ve got to really strike while the iron’s hot.” Aaron said when asked about the chances of a new album in 2023. “So actually we’ve got three albums that we are kind of in the middle of.” With those released Aaron will have over twenty albums under his belt, practically one for every year of his career. While exciting, this news will be of no real surprise to Aaron’s fans. They already know that’s just the kind of artist he is. Sometimes called country’s ultimate underdog troubadour, Aaron keeps on truckin’ and proves to his fans year after year that he’s got plenty of tricks left up his sleeve.
Creativity and drive have always been key factors to Watson’s success. By 2000 he had released two albums in less than a year’s time, his debut Singers and Songwriters followed shortly after by The Texas Cafe. But it wasn’t until his third release Shut Up and Dance in 2002 that Aaron received consistent radio airplay and nationwide attention. Even so, putting out three full length albums in under four years time was a tell tale sign of what to expect from this thirsty new artist who was barely old enough to buy a beer.
Looking back now on The Texas Cafe, Aaron realizes its poten- tial to be better. “You know I was very limited with my budget when we recorded it. Things didn’t sound that great.” He said. A story too well known by many in the music industry. While it’s one thing to write a great album, it’s another thing to make a great album. “We thought it would be fun to just go back” he said. “So we went back and re-recorded an album I made back in 1999. An album that’s been out of print for 20 years now.”
And in regards to this revitalization of The Texas Cafe... “We’re going to call it Grand Reopening.” he said.
Next in line is something much different from any of Aaron’s past releases. An album which was actually daughter Jolee Kate’s idea. “Yeah we’re doing a cover album as well.” He said. “We’re doing songs that female songwriters have written and it’s called Cover Girl. So we’ve been working on that, it’s a lot of fun. And we are working on a straight forward just good old honky tonk’n country album called Haggard Blues.”
Three albums all due to wrap up this year and all very different from one another. Aaron and his crew truly are putting in the hard work by also playing nearly 100 shows in 2023. “But it’s fun. Music is fun.” He said. “I hear about people getting burnt out and I’m like, uh... (draws a blank) I mean I can understand if you were roofing or digging ditches. But I don’t really get the whole getting burnt out on music thing. You’ve just got to take a little breather, get rested up and then you’re ready to get after it again.” And Aaron is without a doubt ready to go this year! “It’s good for business and it’s good for the fans. They want music. I don’t want them to get bored with me. They’re naturally going to get bored with my dance moves on stage, so I’ve got to compensate that by putting out a lot of music.” He said.
Already checking some national dates off of his list this year as well as hitting all the stops in Texas I asked Aaron if there was a date he was really looking forward to. “Every one of them.” He replied. “Last year was kind of a tough year for me, as I had sur- gery on my vocal cords. I was out for about four months. And you know 2021 was weird, 2020 was weird, so every show is a blessing. And whether there is fifty, five hundred, five thousand or fifty thousand people there we are going to put on the best show we can play.” And that is truly what can be expected from Aaron and his band. It’s a large part of what his fans love and respect about him as an artist. Every show is played like it’s the first, the last, the best.
“We sure try.” He said. “And that’s kind of the foundation of my career. We have never gone the commercial, mainstream label kind of route. We just built this thing one honky tonk at a time.”
That philosophy is on display in Coleman, Texas in the form of a little piece of Aaron Watson history. “We had just come off of the success of having a number one album with The Underdog. We were getting a lot of attention nation wide. We had some pretty major publications picking up on us. So it was important to me to put out an album that said, hey this is our roots, this is what we’re doing. I had this idea for this Texas flag on a wall. The album obviously is called Vaquero which means cowboy. And I just thought there is nothing that says we’re staying true to who we are than an album called Vaquero and a Texas flag painted on the wall. And I’m holding my guitar up in a way that has this little rebellious tone to it.”
Quietly nested in an alleyway off of College Street in Coleman you will find that flag. The one in which Aaron stood holding up his guitar for the cover of Vaquero. Immortalized for fans to visit and take their own pictures for generations to come.
“And man it’s cool.” Aaron said. “I get people all of the time sending me pictures. That album did big things nationally and it’s just neat to see people taking pictures and tagging me. I love it. And I kind of like how it’s just a little bit hidden. I like how it’s in an alley but as the alley kind of opens up. I just really like where it’s located. And that was kind of a big thing. We wanted it to be somewhere tasteful. We were thinking somewhere that it would add a little character. So that was a lot of fun.”
Another mural in town is graced by lyrics from Watson’s To Be the Moon a song from his 2019 album Red Bandanna. It was the day after attending the 2017 ACM Awards that Aaron was inspired to write the song. It was that morning that Aaron received a text from then 11 year old fan and friend Hayden Hensley originally of Coleman. Over time Watson had taken notice of Hayden after the young fan attended several of his shows. Soon after the two became friends. In the text Hayden exclaimed “I saw you in the ACM Awards last night, I wanna be a star just like you someday.” Due to a somewhat lackluster experience Aaron wasn’t feeling like the star that Hayden pro- claimed him to be to which he replied “I’m not a star.” With that Hayden asked “Well if you’re not a star then what are you?” Aaron thought about the question and replied “Man, I don’t know. Maybe I’m more like the moon.” The message behind his reply as well as the song itself is simple and inspiring. “We can’t all be stars, and that’s okay, because there are other things that are equally as important.” Aaron said.
On the wall in Coleman the lyrics read:
So don’t you dare duck behind the clouds and hide You help the children dreamSo it’s not so bad to beThe Moon
EDITOR'S NOTE: This mural is no longer visible due to remodeling.
Traces of Aaron can be found around Coleman County as men- tioned above. But how did this relationship between artist and location blossom? “Coleman County is such a beautiful part of the country.” He said. “I’ve got to do some hunting there. I’ve been going through Coleman for 25 years now. You’ve got to stop and get a shake at the pharmacy!” He says with a laugh speaking of Owl Drug Store’s famous fountain and grill. I’ve got friends who live in Coleman. I’ve been out to the rodeo a few times.”We spoke more of the areas new growth and of what’s to come. “You know I remember driving through downtown 20 years ago and well there just wasn’t a lot going on. So it’s neat to see that vision really happen.” He said.
Coleman County’s overall growth spurt shows no signs of slowing down. And now visitors to our area can look forward to a major expansion at Santa Anna’s Ranger Park Hotel, a likely hot spot to stay for travelers in 2023.
“Coleman’s got good bones.” Aaron said. “It’s one of those towns that has those neat older buildings where you can go in and make them special again. And that’s really cool. And that’s just kind of an American thing where a lot of times its an old building and we tear it down and put up something new. We’ve toured Europe 11 times and they don’t do that. They do Exactly what’s going on in Coleman right now. Those buildings have history.” He said in regards to Coleman. “Some of those buildings have been there 100 years. They’ve earned the right to be renovated. You know, shined and polished again.”
Watson states plainly that he is a little biased when it comes to Texas though. In fact Aaron and his team recently brought back all merchandise production to CH Lonestar Promo, a Denton County based media company. “We had been working with a merch. com- pany out of Nashville. And you live and you learn. It just wasn’t the best fit for us. So we were like, we’re bringing everything back home.”
Aaron likes to take part in the entire process. And based on the popularity of the merchandise he’s got to be doing something right. During a recent performance at Stagecoach Music Festival in Cali- fornia, Watson outsold 55 of the 60 artists on the bill in merchan- dise. “And you know I am an artist.” He said. “I like to write songs, I like to sing, I like to draw, I like to take pictures.. I see art every- where I look. My mom’s an artist. And my dad was always making pottery. So everything I look at, art is just everywhere. So to me I want to be with a company where I can be hands on, come up with ideas and that’s going to be a game changer for us. I mean my number one priority is to just make merch that people would want to wear. It’s like this shirt I have on now. It’s not a brand name, you know? I was down in Alabama on the beach and I saw this shirt that had a shark on it and I was like, that’s cool... I’m gonna buy it.” He said with a smile. “And you put it on a good product. We don’t put our stuff on cheap hats or cheap shirts. You don’t want to wear a scratchy shirt. It’s just good business. And doing better business is the goal.”
Watson indeed does business well and in return, business is good. Fans can look forward to a duet or two from Cover Girl to be re- leased very soon. And if live music is what you’re after , be sure to check out aaronwatson.com for all of the latest tour dates. You’re bound to find one near you.
“I’m hungrier than ever. In 2023 I want to play the best shows I’ve ever played. I want to write the best songs I’ve ever written. Always thankful... Never satisfied.”
This story was originally featured in Coleman County Living's Spring 2023 edition.