Jun 20 2019
Willie Watson

Willie Watson

Presented by HopMonk Tavern Novato at HopMonk Tavern Novato

For nearly two decades, Willie Watson has made modern folk music rooted in older traditions.

He’s a folksinger in the classic sense: a singer, storyteller, and traveller, with a catalog of songs that bridge the gap between the past and present.

On Folksinger Vol. 2, he acts as a modern interpreter of older songs, passing along his own version of the music that came long before him. Southern gospel. Railroad songs. Delta blues. Irish fiddle tunes. Appalachian music. Folksinger Vol. 2 makes room for it all.

Produced by David Rawlings, the album carries on a rich tradition in folk music: the sharing and swapping of old songs. Long ago, the 11 compositions that appear on Folksinger Vol. 2 were popularized by artists like Leadbelly, Reverend Gary Davis, Furry Lewis, and Bascom Lamar Lunsford. The songs don’t actually belong to those artists, though. They don’t belong to anyone. Instead, they’re part of the folk canon, passed from generation to generation by singers like Watson.

Watson has never sounded more commanding, more confident, more connected to the music that inspires him.

“I’m not trying to prove any point here,” he insists, “and I’m not trying to be a purist. There’s so much beauty in this old music, and it affects me on a deep level. It moves me and inspires me. I heard Leadbelly singing with the Golden Gate Quartet and it sounded fantastic, and I thought, ‘I want to do that.’ I heard the Grateful Dead doing their version of ‘On the Road Again,’ and it sounded like a dance party in 1926, and I wanted to do that, too. That’s the whole reason I ever played music in the first place — because it looked and sounded like it was going to be a lot of fun.”

Admission Info

Reserved Seating – $30
General Admission  – $25
Plus fees, 21+

Phone: 415.892.6200

Email: hello@hopmonk.com

Additional time info:

8:00 pm

Dates & Times

2019/06/20 - 2019/06/20

Location Info

HopMonk Tavern Novato

224 Vintage Way, Novato, CA 94945