For over two decades, Willie Watson has made modern folk music rooted in older traditions. From his early days as a founding member of the Old Crow Medicine Show to his current work as a solo artist, he is a celebrated musician with a rich vocal range, a top interpreter of the folk canon and a highly skilled multi-instrumentalist. Watson often plays alone with his soaring vocals accompanied by his guitar, banjo and harmonica, but most recently has been traveling with his new string band, featuring fellow Old Crow alum Ben Gould on upright bass, Sam Schmidt on guitar and mandolin, and Rosie Newton on fiddle. Playing in Old Crow Medicine Show, Watson learned how to be part of a string band, but as a solo artist, he's perfected everything from gospel to blues to Appalachian folk to Irish traditional music. These days, Watson juggles his time as a touring musician with his other two passions, his clothing company, the Willie Watson Manufacturing Co., and acting. He had a featured role in the Coen Brothers movie The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, where he sang the Oscar nominated song "When A Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings," and is currently in the Old West drama Redeeming Love.
