Debuting in 1989 with Is Something Wrong, Dale Watson has shared stages with the likes of Kris Kristofferson, Johnny Cash, and Merle Haggard. Still, he refuses to call himself country, instead preferring the term “Ameripolitan,” which includes a little bit of honky-tonk, hillbilly, western swing, and rockabilly. Whatever you call it, however, Watson just dropped a musical tribute to the great trifecta of country music, “Willie, Waylon And Whiskey,” on Friday (Jan. 23.) The track heralds the spring 2026 release of Unwanted, his first full-length album since 2023’s Starvation Box.
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Dale Watson Announces 12 Brand-New Tracks
With all 12 tracks self-produced and written by Watson himself, Unwanted drops on April 24 via Forty Below Records. Earlier this month, the “I Lie When I Drink” crooner, 63, announced he had landed a multi-album deal with the Los Angeles-based independent record label.
Announcing the single in a social media post, Dale Watson said, “I’m really excited because I haven’t had a single out in a really long time, so I want to thank Forty Below Records for making that happen.”
Watson shared that he penned “Willie, Waylon and Whiskey” onstage at the Lonesome Rose Bar in San Antonio after seeing “a large man” wearing a shirt with those very words.
“I asked if it was a band name or a song name and he just said, ‘No, I just saw it in Walmart and liked it,’” he said. “Well, I liked it too, so I wrote the song on the spot. I knew it would be a keeper when by the second time the chorus came around the entire crowd was singing it with me.”
[RELATED: Ray Benson, Kelsey Waldon Among 2024 Ameripolitan Music Awards Nominees and Honorees]
The tracklist includes titles like “What the Hell Happened to the Cadillac,” “Don’t Let the Honky Tonks Go,” and “Never Mend the Broken Spoke.”
Moving from Wilmington, North Carolina, to Pasadena, Texas, in 1977, Dale Watson began writing songs at age 12. He turned pro at 15, attending high school by day and playing Houston beer joints by night with his brother, Jim.
While Watson likens his music to that of Merle Haggard, Buck Owens, Johnny Cash, and Bob Wills, he is very clear that this is not your grandfather’s country music. “It’s a new house built with an old blueprint,” he said.
Featured image by Robert Alexander/Getty Images
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