The Watters is made up of husband and wife duo Daniel and Jenna Watters, whose timeless songwriting and dynamic musicianship embodies a sound they call “Americana Soul.” The band’s critically-hailed third album, INTUITION, was released in 2021, the same year that one of its tracks, “Deju Vu,” won the grand prize in the John Lennon Songwriting Contest.
The group’s latest project, Mellow, keeps the award winning songcraftmanship momentum going. Yes, I just made up a word you probably haven’t seen before…but you also probably haven’t heard an album like Mellow before, either.
In this interview spotlight, I take a chill pill and slow it down to chat with The Watters about this classy project, preferred listening mediums, challenges and more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
By the way, I really love Mellow. Did I say that already?
Where are you from and how do You describe your style of music?
Both of us were born and raised in Sedona, AZ. We call our genre of music “Americana Soul” and we blend 70s rock, pop, soul, & jazz together to create this musical fusion. We have been compared to bands like Tedeschi Trucks Band, Lake Street Dive, and Fleetwood Mac.
How did you get here? As in, what inspired or motivated you to take on this journey through music and the music biz?
We both have been involved with music since we were kids, but it wasn’t until our high school graduation that we first sang together and noticed a “spark”. We lived in different states and wrote songs together via e-mail exchanges and would do shows during the holidays when we returned home. In 2009 Daniel sent out a call to his friends to see who wanted to start a band, and Jenna was the only one that answered. He moved to Denver where Jenna lived and The Oak Creek Band was born. We spent the next 10+ years touring the country, moving from one music city to the other, and eventually landed in Austin, TX (which we now call home) and changed our band name to The Watters. We are constantly motivated by the amazing musicians we’ve had the chance to play with over the years and by all the diversity and culture we’ve soaked up through the different places we’ve lived.
How does your latest project compare/contrast with your previous release(s)? Were you setting out to accomplish anything specific, follow a specific theme, or explore different styles of creation?
For starters, this EP only has 4 songs, which makes it the shortest album we’ve released yet. The title “Mellow” embodies the vibe of the past few years, where we were forced to take things “low and slow”. Our past few albums have had a much ‘bigger’ sound, so we thought it would be a nice change of pace to release a short and sweet Ep with a mellow feel.
Name the biggest challenge you faced as a creative during these unprecedented? How did you adapt? How have you kept the creative fires burning during all this?
We were pretty depressed in 2020 when everything shut down and we couldn’t play live shows. Performing music is our therapy! Fortunately, living in the Live Music Capital of the World has its perks, and we found a way to perform a weekly Sunday brunch at a new spacious outdoor music venue in town. The creative juices never stopped flowing during the pandemic. If anything, it gave us the time and space to continue writing music and to work on this new EP.
What was the last song you listened to?
All Blues by Miles Davis
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? 8-tracks? Cassettes? CDs? MP3s? Streaming platforms?
Vinyl! We have a nice little collection. We hate to love streaming platforms like Spotify because of the lack of love the artists get, but we admit we enjoy the accessibility of just about any kind of music we want to listen to. It also helps us to make playlists to send to our musicians to learn new songs.
Where is the best place to connect with you and follow your journey?
Instagram, FB, Twitter: @ wearethewatters or www.wearethewatters.com
I really appreciate Your time. Anything else before we sign off?
Our new album can be found at www.wearethewatters.bandcamp.com
