(Interviewed on January 25, 2006)

Genre: Country

PC: When did you begin your music career?

I did some stuff in Hollywood and got asked to open for Alabama and Toby Keith in 97 in my hometown. It was then that I started writing and singing my own songs. I have been involved in a country music scene in Los Angeles for the last five years. Alot of cool music coming out of there. I call it Rebellious Cowboy Rock. Bunch of Nashville Misfits doing there own thing in LA. We have our own lil Muzic Mafia, but I am in Nashville now... Good bye LA

PC: Who are your main musical influences?

I listen to the same music over and over. I have like a collection that I like to listen to, when I am not working on my own music. I try and give everything a listen but truth is I really just listen to the same artist and my friends. My songwriting friends have influenced and inspired me the most. I will forever listen to Hank Williams Jr, David Allen Coe, Krist Krostofferson, Lorettya Lynn, Dolly P,Sammi Smith, Jonny Cash, Waylon, Willie, Lucinda Williams, Kasey Chambers,Deana Carter,Alabama, Lyrnrd Skynrd, Shooter Jennings (Put the O back in Country), Gunsnroses, 80's rock :) That's what I like and that's my musical influences..

PC: Do you have a release date set for you up coming CD and let folks know what to expect?

I'm in the Studio In Nashville working on my first record. Coming Soon!

Meanwhile, u can hear new tunes at www.myspace.com/tonyawattsmusic  

PC: If you had to pick a couple of songs you have written or recorded that
you are most proud of, what would they be and why?

That would be hard. I write very personal so each song represents something that feels like a part of me. They are my babies. I like them all.:) Am I allowed to say that? LOL  Right now I am having alot of fun with Alabama Crimson. I wrote this song with my friend Earl Brown and its my coming out song!

PC: Is there anybody that you would like to perform with or do a duet with?

I'd love to play Dolly's life story but I could never sing with her. )too afraid) I would like to do a duet with my friend Waylon Payne. I love his voice and we've sang together alot in the past few years.

PC: What are your fondest career memories so far?

My very first show ever was opening for Alabama and Toby Keith at Riverfest in 1997. I had no business being there. It was in front of 50 thousand people in  my home town . I was so green, but that was when my dream was born...  and here I am

PC: Do you have a preference when it comes to playing, whether it's
acoustic or electric (Full Band)?

I play acoustic most of the time...

PC: Where do you want to be in the next few years with your music career?
Any long term goals?

I just wanna make records and sing...... and pay my bills doing what I love...

PC: What CD would be found in your CD player right now?

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It’s a long way from Glencoe, Alabama to Hollywood, but Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter has made the voyage, and has lived the life of a troubadour. Watts grew up on a mainstay of country music that included Cash, Bocephus, David Allan Coe and Loretta Lynn, but it was Dolly Parton who she felt a kindred spirit to. Her earliest musical memory goes back to when she was just five years old where she’d go around the house putting on performances of Parton’s “Me and Little Andy” complete with hairbrush microphone for her family. But it wasn’t until nearly twenty years later that her musical dreams would become a reality. Watts landed the role of Parton in “The Barbara Mandrell Story: Get to the Heart”, and it’s from there that she realized she had a deeper connection with music than acting -- in the years that followed she’d start turning heads, opening ears and touching the hearts of the audiences she played for. 

While Hollywood isn’t what some would call a “true country market”, what some don’t realize is that Hollywood is the forefront of one of the best undiscovered underground country scenes that is yet to be discovered. “It’s what you’d call rebellious cowboy rock,” Watts says with a slight laugh, “we’re just a bunch of cowboy misfits.” Making the rounds all over town with fellow rebels and misfits that have included Keith Gattis (Dwight Yoakam), Dusty Wakeman (Lucinda Williams), up-and-comers including Bryson Jones of the Snakehandlers, and Waylon Payne, son of Grammy Award Winning artist Sammi Smith (“Help Me Make it Through the Night”), Austin Hanks (2003 Nashville Star contestant) and Travis Howard (2002 Nashville Star contestant) Watts’ has made quite the impact that has lauded the praises of Hank Williams Jr., and landed her major gigs including opening for Alabama and Toby Keith in front of 50,000 screaming fans in her home state of Alabama, and most recently opening for David Allan Coe at Hollywood’s Key Club in December of 2004.

But that’s not all that this quirky little girl from Alabama has accomplished. Currently without a label, she’s attracted the ears of Grammy Award Winning Producer Pete Anderson, and is getting airplay on Watusi Rodeo 103.1 FM and Fallen Angel Radio online, and has been featured in the Roots Highway e-Zine. In a time where country radio is overrun with run-of-the-mill teeny boppers singing about first dates and broken hearts, both subjects that the singers know little or nothing about, Watts delivers music that country fans haven’t experienced in decades.  “I think that people are hungry for truth and reality in music, and that’s what my music has to offer,” Watts says speaking of the triteness of today's music industry.  All the mud on her tires and caked on her boots show the hard life that’s been handed down to her, and while her rebel heart is a tough one to tame she has the ability to unlock emotions that you never knew you had with her charming smile, girl-next-door persona and the ability to freely speak her mind -- but if you’re not careful this lil’ filly just might waltz away with your heart. 

For More Information on Tonya Watts go to www.tonyawatts.com

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