Brett Callwood
Waymore Love for Dale Watson: Kira Annalise of Americana duo the Waymores told us about her Dale Watson experience.
Kira Annalise: The best gig we ever saw collectively was in Austin, TX at The Continental Club in May, 2021. We had seen Dale Watson perform plenty of times but there’s something about The Continental that really puts him in his element. The club is legendary in every sense of the word. It opened its doors in 1955 and has seen the likes of Stevie Ray Vaughan, Joe Ely, Junior Brown and Social Distortion amongst thousands of others. It’s dark, red lit and only has a few tables with most of the space being dedicated to the dancers that come out every night of the week. Dale was performing on a Monday and it was wall-to-wall as if no one had work the next morning.
Watson walked through the doors just moments before set time, shaking hands and quickly making his way through the crowd and onto the stage where his band was waiting, ready and prepared. No introduction, no “Hello, I’m Johnny Cash” moment, just down beat and the night began. Dale Watson looks and sounds like you’ve stepped back in time. Immediately, you’re pulled into the late 60’s/early 70’s as if today was all a mirage and this moment in time with Dale is reality. The ease in which Dale plays guitar and croons out his vocals is something that invokes envy along with peer-driven hunger. Willie and I both were in awe. We didn’t just want to be watching Dale, we wanted this to be how someone watched us.
We sang with Dale on that iconic stage that night; a moment we’ll never forget. We’ve played with him since, on several stages but something about seeing him for the first time at The Continental Club was magical. This whole industry is about “Man, Moment, Machine” and this night showed us a tangible future; a goal for which to strive. Luckily, we found all of that in someone who is humble and kind and very willing to help future generations of country musicians. Dale wound up playing on our sophomore album and we were nominated for Best Honky Tonk group at Ameripolitan Music Awards (An Event that Dale and his wonderful wife Celine have put together to help celebrate the roots of real country music). We’re honored to be in the Ameripolitan family and we’ll never forget that gig.
Waymore Love for Dale Watson: The Waymores’ Greener Pastures album is out August 25. They perform on September 15 at Sassafras Saloon.
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