McGuckin Entertainment PR - Music Dale Watson

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Feb. 28, 2006

4:15 p.m. Saturday, March 11
SXSW world premiere of “Crazy Again” doc about Dale Watson
Dobie Theatre Landmark, 2025 Guadalupe; 512.472.FILM

9:15 p.m. to close Saturday, March 11
Watson post-premiere performance (new album WHISKEY OR GOD available)
Broken Spoke, 3201 S. Lamar Blvd.; 512.442.6189

4-8 p.m. Sunday, March 12
Watson Chicken S--- Bingo gig (new album WHISKEY OR GOD available)
Ginny's Little Longhorn Saloon, 5434 Burnet Rd.; 512.458.1813

10 p.m. Monday, March 13
Watson pre-release CD party & show (new album WHISKEY OR GOD available)
The Continental Club, 1315 S. Congress Ave.; 512.441.2444

Tuesday, March 21
National retail release of Watson's WHISKEY OR GOD (www. palodurorecords.com)

COUNTRY TROUBADOUR DALE WATSON
RELEASES WHISKEY OR GOD CD

Watson Plays Post-Premiere Party
Celebrating 'Crazy Again' Doc

Austin, Texas — Artist-performer Dale Watson celebrates in March the release of a new CD, just after the world-premiere screening of Zalman King's documentary about Watson during this year's South by Southwest Film Festival.

WHISKEY OR GOD, a collection of 13 classic, semi-autobiographical country-rock tunes, is set for release March 21 on Palo Duro Records, the label whose goal is to capture Texas music in its purest form — such as through Watson's rich rough-as-diamonds, cry-in-your-beer baritone. To mark the occasion of the documentary screening and the CD release, Watson will play three Austin shows, where fans can score a pre-release copy of WHISKEY OR GOD.

Indeed, Watson has been called the new “savior of traditional country music” by none other than Hank Williams III. The current keeper of the Williams musical legacy was himself described as that savior by a reporter for the Orlando Sentinel, but he corrected the writer, saying he was uncomfortable with the description and “that would have to be somebody like Dale Watson.”

March 11 will see the world premiere of “Crazy Again,” a documentary by feature film director Zalman King (“9 1/2 Weeks,” “The Red Shoe Diaries”) that combines performances by Watson in Austin and on the road and the story of singer's breakdown after his girlfriend died in September 2000. It will also be screened at CineVegas as well as film festivals in California, Arizona, Argentina and Thailand.

To view the trailer: http://2006.sxsw.com/film/screenings/film/F3978.html#top

Watson will also star in King's “Austin Angel,” a feature film about a country singer who sells his soul to the devil (David Carradine) to save his daughter. “Austin Angel” is scheduled to be shot in Austin and other locations later this year. Publication of a memoir by Watson, “I Wish I Was Crazy Again,” is slated to coincide with the release of the film.

The country music veteran is well-known in Europe, where he has won awards in Holland and Spain and British Country Music Awards' Best International Artist on an Independent Label.

Watson replies to Williams' praise: “Hank III is a friend who understates his role in the future of country music, but I'm proud to be thought of as a torch bearer of real country music.”

In the 2005 Austin Music Awards, Watson was named Best Songwriter and his band was chosen over that of Willie Nelson to win a third Best Country Band. He was also inducted into The Austin Music Hall of Fame.

Watson was born in Birmingham, Ala., and raised in Pasadena, Texas, and began performing at 14. In 25 years, he has appeared in clubs and concert venues across the United States and Europe.

He's recorded hundreds of original songs — including a cut featured in the new A&E Network series “Rollergirls” and its soundtrack and some of which are part of major film soundtracks. Watson tunes have been part of numerous compilation albums with country legends including Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Dwight Yoakam, and he has performed live with Nelson as well as Merle Haggard and Johnny Paycheck. His music videos have aired on Country Music Television, and he's appeared on “Grand Ol' Opry” and “Austin City Limits.”

In “Naked Nashville,” a 1998 documentary that also starred Watson and focused on traditional country music's struggle against the Nashville Pop Country machine, Nelson proclaims, “I'm one of Dale's biggest fans.”

For more information: www.dalewatson.com, www.palodurorecords.com

Contact:
Jill McGuckin, McGuckin Entertainment PR, 512.217.9404 cell; jill@mcguckinpr.com

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