The Watters

“With nearly twenty years of musical collaboration together, husband and wife duo Daniel and Jenna Watters embrace a sound they call “Americana Soul.” Seamlessly blending Soul, Rock and Jazz, they have been described as “Fleetwood Mac with a horn section” after developing their unique but accessible sound across seven different albums together under various monikers and releasing their debut record as their current band, The Watters, in 2016. Now an acclaimed mainstay of the Austin music scene, they have garnered a devoted fan base through their stirring vocals and road-weathered musicianship and have opened for artists like Michael McDonald, The Revivalists, Allen Stone, and Devon Gilfillian.

Before settling in Austin, The Watters developed their eclectic sound in part by living in several dramatically different cities including Los Angeles, Denver, Nashville, but their story began in Sedona, Arizona. They met on the pee wee football team in 6th grade, though it wasn’t until their high school graduation ceremony when they first sang together, performing “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” The spark of chemistry they felt as much as the audience did led the two to start writing together and performing at local coffee shops around northern Arizona and Los Angeles during their summer and winter school breaks. Four years of long distance writing and performing later, the two moved to Denver in 2009 to formally start their first band, “The Oak Creek Band.” Their romantic relationship was born soon after, and they married in 2011. After years of cutting their teeth in the mountain towns of the Colorado Rockies and then a stint in Nashville, the duo felt geographically aimless and uninspired, and on a fated drive back to Sedona in 2015, they took a long detour to Austin. They saw one show at The Continental Club Gallery and, falling instantly in love with the city’s music scene and vibe, decided that night to make it their new home.

Since then, they have released two full length LPs (The Watters, Intuition) one EP (Mellow), and played nearly every venue in Austin. They’ve been awarded several grants from local-non profits for their artistry including Sonic Gud Major Grant and the Long Center Live Music Grant and won four national John Lennon Songwriting Contest Awards for tracks from 2021’s Intuition. The Watters’s third full-length album, Duality, slated for release in late 2023, is a culmination of their nineteen years of creating and performing together and reflects all the challenges, learning, and growth they have evolved through as individuals and a duo. For The Watters, life and music are one, their journey together being their greatest muse.”

• wearethewatters.com

The Statesboro Revue

“If we’re honest, the true weight of any band or artist is chiefly determined by how they translate to us in a live performance setting. Can they breach that intangible border between the stage and the gathered onlookers? Can they slip in like a steady rising state of inebriation, stealing our attention, controlling our emotions and ultimately drawing us into their world? Does their energy continue to vibrate within us well after the last chords have been played and our daily life comes to reclaim us? These are probably some of the questions one writer from Rolling Stone Magazine had running through his head before he proclaimed The Statesboro Revue as one of the highlights of the 2009 South by Southwest Conference and Festival. The Statesboro Revue goes back to 2008, but the evolving vision of front man and primary songwriter Stewart Mann goes back much further. It’s a journey down many roads from Texas to Tennessee to California and back, all in a search for that perfect, unspoiled place for his music to grow roots. Year after year in city after city, it became clear that those roots had taken hold on stage and from there grew into a groove oriented, old school rock and roll band, the likes of which have not been seen in quite some time.

Never being afraid to aim high, The Statesboro Revue released their debut album DIFFERENT KIND OF LIGHT produced by GRAMMY Award-Winning David Z (Prince, Jonny Lang, Buddy Guy, Govt Mule) in 2009. Hitting the Texas Music Chart with two Top 20 singles, the blues rock effort quickly drew a dedicated fan base to their stages, but was just a prelude to the tour de force that is their brand new album RAMBLE ON PRIVILEGE CREEK, which was released in April, 2013. Described by Mann as earthier with catchier hooks, this new music is pure living energy that winds through light and lofty atmospheres down through the depths of sweet Celtic miseries and over to angry growls through clenched teeth…all without ever losing that gypsy pulsation that is the very definition of rock and roll. “This album is extremely broad in subject matter and style, in musicality and production, and I couldn’t be happier about it. I’ve always strived to create a sound that doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel; merely merge the little idiosyncrasies of all my influences and shape them in a manner that might someday be looked upon as my own unique sound. I think this record is as close as I have ever been to accomplishing that goal.”

Reminiscent of singers from decades past, Stewart Mann’s soulful voice is both evident and familiar. His seasoned timbre is well- worn, but polished enough to have landed him the starring role in Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story that opened at the historic Cameo Theatre in San Antonio, Texas last year. Joining Stewart is younger brother Garrett Mann, the lead guitar player who holds down the fort then lets loose when the song calls for it. On bass guitar is Musicians Institute alumnus Ben Bradshaw, providing backbone and foundation, all while mixing in melodic leads and runs that only a player of his experience can muster. Drummer Kris Schoen’s ability to both drive the tunes and lay down a lazy snare for the slow groove furthers the dancing frenzy that ensues at a Statesboro Revue show. The all-star list of shared stages more than hints that this all-inclusive working band is truly worth their weight. The Statesboro Revue has played with the Los Lonely Boys, The Wailers, the Allman Brothers Band, Cross Canadian Ragweed, Whiskey Myers, Dirty River Boys, Willie Nelson, Charlie Robison, Ryan Bingham, Reckless Kelly, Turnpike Troubadours, Randy Rogers Band, Bob Schneider, War, Arrested Development, Eli Young Band, Marshall Tucker Band, The Fabulous Thunderbirds and Will Hoge.”

-StatesboroRevue.com