Watson’s ode to a “modern folk hero” comes from his latest album Starvation Box.
Country artist Dale Watson describes his new release Starvation Box as “my first folk album,” so it’s altogether appropriate that he’s included a musical tribute to a man he sees as a folk hero: “Billy Strawn.”
Strawn — who’s alive and well, and actually can be heard on the cut — earned the trust and respect of Elvis Presley back in the early 1960s when, while plying his trade as an auto mechanic, he found a 100-dollar bill in The King’s T-Bird. He promptly returned the money to Presley — who was so impressed by the gesture of this “honest, honest man” that he hired Strawn as his personal mechanic.
“This album has the most folk song vibe of any I’ve done,” Watson says. “So with that in mind, I believe a modern folk hero like Billy Strawn fit perfectly. It’s a true story of how one honest deed can change the direction of your entire life for the better. And he’s still around to tell the tale.”
The title cut on Starvation Box was inspired, Watson says, by the legendary folk/blues singer Huddie William Ledbetter — better known as Lead Belly.
“Living in Marshall, Texas — the area so influential to Lead Belly — I went down the Lead Belly rabbit hole,” he explains. “It led me to a 1957 Stella 12-string guitar, just like the one Lead Belly had, which his father called a ‘starvation box.’ I knew I had to write that song as an ode to Lead Belly. What I wrote was OK, but with Mike Henderson’s additions and, of course, his slide guitar and harmonica, I think we came up with a fitting tribute that I hope people like.”
Watson admits that, even with his newly acquired 1957 Stella 12-string, “I did not really know how to go about recording an acoustic album. Luckily, my dear friend and amazing producer David ‘Fergie’ Ferguson volunteered to produce it. He was instrumental in the Johnny Cash American Recordings, as well as many other records with Johnny, so I knew I was in good hands. The talent Fergie brought into the fold, I think, made this record much stronger than I could’ve with just my guitar, but still gave me my independent voice. I would say this is my first folk album. Rootsy with a touch of Southern Boy blues.”
