Interview: AARON WATSON, The Long Road Festival, Leicestershire

Welcome back to the blog! Read on for my interview with The Long Road headliner Aaron Watson (you can read my opinions on his set here) to hear his thoughts on filling in for Carrie Underwood, why the UK is so obsessed with Texas, and some of the hardest songs he's ever had to write - hope you enjoy! 

Ciara’s Country (CC): What a privilege to be joined by The Long Road headliner Aaron Watson! So this being The Long Road, what’s the longest road you’ve taken in your career?

Aaron Watson (AW): Maybe my whole career! I don’t know, we’ve probably played 2,500 shows in my career so we’ve been on a lot of long roads. We’re so excited to be here – it’s unfortunate Carrie Underwood can’t be here, I flew my wife all the way from Texas to see Carrie, but we’re still going to have a lot of fun. Carrie’s in our hearts and prayers and we hope she starts feeling better soon.

CC: I think everyone is excited to see you too!

AW: We are going to have fun!

CC: You’ve had such an impressive career spanning over a decade and over 2,500 shows – has there been a highlight?

AW: I think every night is a highlight. To get to do what you love is such a blessing. I’ve gotten to sing songs with Willie Nelson and a lot of other greats. We’ve put out number one albums, three top ten albums, two top forty singles this year, and we’ve been able to do all of that independently. I think that’s a little bit of icing on the cake.

CC: And your latest album Vaquero was also a hit in the UK. What I find really interesting is that the type of music you write is sometimes talking about your hometown and a lot of American small town stuff a lot of people in the UK probably haven’t experienced. What do you think it is about that kind of music that appeals to UK fans?

AW: I don’t know, maybe because I was raised on The Beatles. I think that music is kind of a universal language, and even though I may be singing about things in Texas, when I’m sharing my heart, heartache is heartache, joy is joy. I had a guy last night in London – I think he was from Essex?

CC: Me too!

AW: Oh cool! Well he told me his dad had just passed away, and the song that’s helping him get through the loss of his father is a song I wrote called Texas Lullaby. For me, on The Beatles White Album there’s a song called Julia. When I lost my little girl six years ago, right after she was born, that song helped me get through it. Music is a universal language and people know when there’s heart and soul in a song.

CC: Is there a song you found particularly difficult to write?

AW: Oh, lots of them. Writing a song is always a challenge. Trying to get it right – some songs take me a couple of songs to finally get right, whereas some songs write themselves. You just never know. That’s what makes writing songs so fun.

CC: And creatively, what’s your process? Do you pick a theme first or does the melody come to you first?

AW: You just never know. I think I used to kind of revolve my writing process around a hook or one line, but now I’m really just open minded to everything and anything. I might have a melody that I like, or I might start off with a line or a guitar lick. I’ll take those ideas anywhere they come from.

CC: I find coming to festivals like this great places to find new artists. Is there anyone you think is rather underrated who deserves to be listened to?

AW: Gosh, I think if you just Google ‘Texas music artists’ you’ll see a list of hundreds that are incredible, and most of them are way more talented than me. There’s so many great artists in Texas, and obviously I kind of favour those guys and girls.

CC: I’ll go home and Google that then! Finally, is there one question you’ve never been asked in an interview but would like to be?

AW: I think I’ve been asked everything. In all these years, I don’t know if there’s anything I haven’t been asked. I’ll be thinking about it, and then next time I see you, I’ll be better prepared.

CC: I’ll see what you have to say then. Thank you so much!

AW: Thank you for having me! 

Thanks to Aaron for chatting to me - I hope you enjoyed reading this interview as much as I enjoyed doing it. If you'd like to check out more of my interviews and reviews, be sure to follow me on Twitter @CiarasCountry, and don't forget to drop me a message in the comments if you have any questions or thoughts on my content!