which became the first Country album released independently to chart at number one. “People told us that it had never been done. It was impossible. I don’t put so much stock in that word anymore.”

Success built upon success with Watson’s follow up albums. However, 2020 heralded a slow down for the artist by way of the COVID-19 pandemic and an unexpected vocal cord surgery. “That time out reminded me what a blessing this is. To get to do what I love, sing the songs that I write and have people sing them along with me.” Watson was keen to get back to his fans, and to make them feel like a part of the family more than ever before.

“Me and my thirteen year old daughter Jolee Kate had been talking a lot about music, particularly female singers who write their own stuff. I wanted her to understand the power that comes with owning your own voice.” Out of those conversations came Cover Girl, a collection of covers of mold-breaking female country singers performed by Aaron, with his daughter joining him on vocals for one track. “I had no plans for the rest of the world to hear it, but the more people I told, the more people loved it. So we’re doing it as a full release, I’m so excited!”

Aaron Watson is nothing if not audacious, and his promise to fans that his next album of originals will be the best Country album of 2024 stands firm. By his own admission, the songs are, by-and-large, completed, yet Watson continues to push himself to make them better. "I love every second of what I get to do, but if making music is a marathon (and it is), I want to collapse to the ground the second after I cross the finish line. Nothing left to give." Aaron Watson is a man constantly reaffirming his dedication to the craft of songwriting, and it is this commitment to quality and treating his fans with respect that has proved him, time and again, to be the living North Star for country music’s free and indomitable spirit.