Today we’d like to introduce you to Hilary Watson.
Hi Hilary, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I started as kid with a broken electric guitar from a pawn shop teaching myself Beatles songs and writing my own songs alone in my room. It wasn’t until I was in college that my roommates would hear me and ask me to play for get-togethers and church functions which led to me performing at churches all over the country and beginning a career as a Christian artist. I released a couple of albums as a solo artist before meeting my best friend/bandmate. I had randomly hired a violinist for a gig and we instantly shared a connection musically which turned into a friendship which turned into our full-time gig touring as “Hilary and Kate” – an Americana duo with a Celtic flair. A few years back, I was living in San Luis Obispo and started digging into some of the blues and soul influences that I loved as a kid and really began taking on that style. I began performing as a solo act again, sometimes bringing along a band and just started recording those songs when Covid hit. As with most musicians, my career was thrown for a loop and put on pause. I had meant to move back to So Cal (where I grew up) to be closer to family and to be close to LA for quite a while and finally took the opportunity since Covid had effectively canceled all of my gigs anyway. I picked up where I left off recording some of my songs and started working with one of my favorite artists/producers, Omar Velasco. My soon-to-be-titled EP consists of 6 songs all in the soul-blues-country vein (think Aretha Franklin meets Patsy Cline) and will be released in spring ’23.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
That would be a hard no. I was 21 when my music career started and I had no idea where to start. I had a myspace, a debut cd and a booking agent but that’s about it. I pretty much just took every opportunity I could get and finally found what niches I fit well into and which I didn’t. As a self-taught, young female musician in a very male-dominated world, I struggled to find confidence and a voice when it came to the sound I wanted. It took a long time for me to respect my own gifts, to know exactly what I was uniquely bringing to the table, how I wanted to be heard and to fight for it. I am really thankful to have hit a sweet spot in the music industry where social media/the internet made it possible to build a great career as an independent artist. To be able to promote myself and sell my own music made it possible for me to have this career for so long. The rise of the streaming era feels like a huge step back to the days when labels retained all control over artists and has unfortunately become the biggest struggle in my career and I’m still trying to figure out how to navigate through this.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a singer-songwriter. I sing and play guitar, mostly within the blues-soul-country genres. I perform mostly within California at festivals, wineries, breweries and private events. As I mentioned, I’m a self-taught musician and one of my biggest strengths has always been the ability to play music that comes straight from my heart rather than my head. There’s a lot of passion in my performances and whether the crowd is up and dancing or reflecting quietly, I try to bring emotion to each and every show. I am probably best known for my vocal range and power. I tend to stay within the sultry, lower range but am able to reach those high notes and love to dig into my inner diva.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I didn’t have to take many risks and enjoyed a pretty comfortable career early on but as I began to feel the need to venture out and play in a new genre for a new audience, I absolutely felt the struggle over staying in a comfortable place or taking big risks for something I believed in. I am absolutely an adrenaline junky and thrive off the highs of performing but when it came to putting out music that was new and different from anything I’d done in the past, taking risks with the career that I had established for so long, I was scared shitless. And it’s still scary! Even as I am about to release a new album, I am constantly vacillating between feeling confident and feeling completely overwhelmed and insecure. But there’s absolutely an energy that comes out of that space that I think translates to the audience.
Contact Info:
- Website: HilaryWatsonMusic.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hilarywatsonmusic/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hilwatson/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@HilaryWatsonMusic
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6ykrC5CsDTJUC6HQpCxWBB?si=d41168sGSs6MhtTi3EknnA
Image Credits
Brighton Galvan Trevor Hooper Jasen Tapia Nick Langlois
