Dale Watson reclaims country music

Dale Watson’s music is so old-school that he had to find a new-age sounding genre to describe himself.

And he’s fine with that.

He’d rather be classified as “Ameripolitan” — a blend of honky tonk, outlaw, Western swing and rockabilly — than be confused with mainstream country music.

“It’s not a retro thing, but it’s just a continuation of the roots of traditional country music,” Watson said this week. “It’s another branch. New country music — it’s not even on the same tree anymore.”

Watson, 52, is playing at the Longhorn Saloon in the Fort Worth Stockyards Friday at 9 p.m.

He released his latest album, Call Me Insane, in June. Here’s the rest of our conversation with him:

Your sound has strong ties to traditional country music, with your band featuring an upright bass and a pedal steel guitar. But you’ve distanced yourself from the “country” label. Why is that?

Watson: I call it Ameripolitan music, because we don’t really fit into mainstream country music anymore. Since country music is going [away from the traditional sound], it’s more important than ever to keep the roots involved in the music. Anything without roots is artificial. You can draw a straight line from what we’re doing and what the Ameripolitan award winners are doing to Hank Williams and Ernest Tubb.

You took issue with Blake Shelton a couple years ago, when he claimed country music was merely evolving. Why did you think he was off base with that?

What they’ve done is absolutely just ignore the roots that are there. If I’m going to come out and say I’m a rap artist now and still do what I do, that’s the equivalent of what they’re doing. They’re successful. They’ve won. It’s the new definition of country music. That’s the reason I had to change the definition of what I do. I had to have a new title, and I’m happy with it. He’s saying that we’re making it evolve. I don’t think you keep any genre evolving by turning it into something else. It evolves naturally.

Who were some of your main musical influences?

My dad’s influences turned into mine. George Jones and Merle Haggard and Ray Price and Bob Wills. And then ones that were on the radio, Gary Stewart and Conway Twitty. That’s what kind of bugged me for years — the mainstream guys talk about growing up on Haggard and Jones, which is [expletive].

If I said I was influenced by, let’s say, AC/DC and 50 Cent, you would call [expletive] on me, because if it was true, you’d be able to hear it. I don’t hear any of that in their music. Without even asking me, you should be able to hear Johnny Cash and Merle Haggard and Ray Price.

Even with the popularity of mainstream country music, do you feel like there’s a strong audience for Ameripolitan?

We manage to sell out a lot of halls. They’re not like stadiums, but they’re places from New York City to Austin to Cleveland to Chicago. The audience is there. Actually because of so much recent success I’ve been having at [Austin City Limits] and doing David Letterman and Jimmy Kimmel and The Bachelorette, these things have really helped my profile. It’s made it easier than it used to be. But it’s always been uphill, because when you’re not mainstream, it makes things tougher. But being from Texas, it’s kind of given. A Texan isn’t too welcome in Nashville.

When you were coming up, did that surprise you?

I was baffled. Absolutely baffled. But you know, if you follow the money trail, it ain’t hard to find. L.A. moved into Nashville and the demographic they’re searching for isn’t in someone 30 and up. They’re looking for 25 and down. The kind of music doesn’t really fit for a 25-year-old now. They’ve never really had to struggle and pay a bill like a grown-up. My music is a grown-up person’s music. I’ve dealt with death; I’ve dealt with taxes. I’ve dealt with living, dying and hating.

This story was originally published July 23, 2015 at 2:12 PM with the headline "Dale Watson reclaims country music."