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Bruce Watson | |
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 Watson in 2018 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Bruce William Watson |
| Born | March 11, 1961 Timmins, Ontario, Canada |
| Origin | Scotland |
| Genres | Rock, new wave |
| Occupation | Musician |
| Instrument(s) | Guitar, sitar, mandolin, vocals |
| Years active | 1981–present |
| Labels | Phonogram Records, Track-BCR Records |
| Website | Official Website of Bruce and Jamie Watson |
Bruce William Watson (born March 11, 1961) is a Canadian-born Scottish guitarist, best known for being a member of Big Country. [1]
Watson was born in Timmins, Ontario, Canada. He moved with his family to Scotland as a toddler.
Prior to joining Big Country, Watson had been a member of several Fife-based new wave bands including the Delinquents and Eurosect.
Watson's role in the band was primarily as a supporting guitarist. He typically contributed rhythmic textures ("Wonderland", "Lost Patrol") and repetitive melodic fills ("In a Big Country", "Look Away") which underpinned verses, contrasting with Stuart Adamson's more straightforward chord work in these sections. During solos, as Adamson played the main melody, Watson often contributed a counter-melody. Watson also played slide guitar on some of the band's early material, including "Rain Dance" and "Red Fox." Later on, Adamson played much of the slide guitar work on the band's songs. Watson is also an accomplished mandolin player, and put this skill to use on several of Big Country's more country and western-influenced songs, including "Broken Heart (Thirteen Valleys)".
During recent tours, Watson has played many of Adamson's lead guitar parts live, while his son, Jamie, fulfils his old role.
Watson has played guitar on every Big Country album, and co-wrote many Big Country songs with Adamson. He also sang live backing vocals.
In the summer of 2007, Watson played with the Skids who had reformed to play two gigs in Dunfermline prior to a set on the main stage at T in the Park.
Also in 2007, to celebrate 25 years of Big Country, he reunited with founding members Tony Butler (now lead vocalist) and Mark Brzezicki to embark on a tour of the UK with dates in Scotland and England. Fellow band co-founder Stuart Adamson died in December 2001.
Starting in 2008, Watson began performing with his son Jamie Watson, as well as releasing an album, The Portastudio Diaries (2009), which chronicled a series of recordings in Bruce Watson's home recording studio.
Bruce and Jamie, along with American musician Tom Kercheval have a side project called WKW. WKW released an album in 2019 called Men of Steel.
The Crossing is the debut album released by Scottish band Big Country in July 1983. The album reached #3 in the UK; overseas, it hit #4 in Canada on the RPM national Top Albums Chart and #18 in the US on the Billboard 200 in 1983. It went on to be certified platinum in the UK and Canada. It contains the song "In a Big Country" which is their only U.S. Top 40 hit single.
No Place Like Home is the fifth studio album by Scottish band Big Country, released in 1991. Its title derives from a quote in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, which is referenced by the first track, "We're Not in Kansas". Dorothy's statement was in turn taken from the famous poem and song Home! Sweet Home! by John Howard Payne and Henry Bishop.
The Buffalo Skinners is the sixth studio album by the Scottish band Big Country, which was released in 1993. Two songs, "We're Not In Kansas" and "Ships", are re-recordings of songs from their previous album. The difference is more noticeable on "Ships" which features heavy use of guitars. The album featured two UK top 30 hits, "Alone" and "Ships".
Why the Long Face is the seventh studio album by Scottish band Big Country, released in 1995. It was produced by Chris Sheldon and members of the band.
Skids are a Scottish punk rock and new wave band, formed in Dunfermline in 1977 by Stuart Adamson, William Simpson, Thomas Kellichan (drums) and Richard Jobson. Their biggest successes were the 1979 single "Into the Valley" and the 1980 album The Absolute Game. In 2016, the band announced a 40th-anniversary tour of the UK with their original singer Richard Jobson.
William Stuart Adamson was a Scottish rock guitarist and singer. Adamson began his career in the late 1970s as a founding member and performer with the punk rock band Skids. After leaving Skids in 1981, he formed Big Country and was the band's lead singer and guitarist. The group's commercial heyday was in the 1980s. In the 1990s, he was a member of the alternative country band the Raphaels. In the late 1970s the British music journalist John Peel referred to his musical virtuosity as a guitarist as "a new Jimi Hendrix".
Joy is the fourth studio album by Scottish punk rock and new wave band Skids. It was their first album after the departure of signature guitarist Stuart Adamson who went on to found Big Country. It represented a change of direction from rock towards folk music—amplifying the traditional Scottish element already hinted at in previous releases. This would be their last album until the release of Burning Cities over 36 years later.
Scottish rock band Big Country, which formed in 1981, has released nine studio albums, eighteen live albums, twenty-five compilation albums, one extended play (EP), and twenty-nine singles released on Mercury Records, Reprise Records, Vertigo Records and Cherry Red Records.
Driving to Damascus is the eighth studio album by Scottish rock band Big Country. It was released in 1999 as both a standard edition and a limited edition digipack, and with bonus tracks in 2002. In the U.S., it was released under a different name, John Wayne's Dream. The limited edition version featured different cover artwork, and included two tracks by Stuart Adamson's alt-country side project, The Raphaels, although there was no indication in the credits that these were not by Big Country.
Big Country are a Scottish rock band formed in Dunfermline, Fife, in 1981.
"Harvest Home" is the debut single of the Scottish band Big Country. It was first released as a single in September 1982, then re-recorded for the band's debut album The Crossing.
The Journey is the ninth studio album by Scottish rock band Big Country, released on 8 April 2013 through Cherry Red Records. The Journey is the first and only Big Country album with The Alarm vocalist Mike Peters taking over for the late Stuart Adamson, who died on 16 December 2001 at the age of 43, and former Simple Minds bassist Derek Forbes replacing Tony Butler, who retired in 2012. It is also the first album to feature Jamie Watson, who joins his father Bruce Watson on guitar. The elder Watson along with drummer Mark Brzezicki are the sole remaining members of the band's classic lineup present on this album.
Big Country at the BBC is a box set compilation comprising Big Country's recordings and sessions for the BBC between 1982 and 1990. It includes performances from Wembley Stadium, Reading Festival, Hammersmith Palais and London's Soviet Embassy as well as all of the band's appearances on television shows such as Top of the Pops, The Old Grey Whistle Test and The Oxford Road Show.
"Save Me" is a song by Scottish rock band Big Country, released in 1990 as a single from their compilation album Through a Big Country: Greatest Hits. The song was written by Stuart Adamson and produced by Tim Palmer. It reached number 41 in the UK Singles Chart and remained in the top 100 for three weeks.
Burning Cities is the fifth studio album by Scottish punk rock and new wave band Skids, released on 12 January 2018. Produced by Killing Joke bassist Youth, this is the band's first studio album in 36 years, since the release of Joy in November 1981. It is their first album to feature Big Country father-and-son guitarists, Bruce and Jamie Watson, the second with drummer Mike Baillie, and third with founding bassist William Simpson. Tracks 5, 7, 9 and 11 are co-written by Martin Metcalfe. The album reached number 28 in the charts. It is also the first album not to feature any contribution from former guitarist Stuart Adamson, who died in 2001.
"Ships (Where Were You)" is a song by Scottish rock band Big Country, written by Stuart Adamson (lyrics, music) and Bruce Watson (music). The song was originally recorded for and included on the band's fifth studio album No Place Like Home (1991). It was then re-recorded for their following album, The Buffalo Skinners (1993), and released as the album's second single on 19 April 1993. "Ships (Where Were You)" reached number 29 in the UK Singles Chart and remained in the top 75 for three weeks.
"Alone" is a song by Scottish rock band Big Country, released in 1993 as the lead single from their sixth studio album The Buffalo Skinners. It was written by Stuart Adamson and produced by Big Country. "Alone" reached number 24 in the UK Singles Chart and remained in the top 100 for three weeks.
"The One I Love" is a song by Scottish rock band Big Country, released in 1993 as the third and final single from their sixth studio album, The Buffalo Skinners. It was written by Stuart Adamson and Bruce Watson, and was produced by Big Country.
"Fragile Thing" is a song by Scottish rock band Big Country, released in 1999 as the lead single from their eighth studio album Driving to Damascus. It was written by Stuart Adamson and Bruce Watson, and produced by Rafe McKenna and Big Country. "Fragile Thing" reached number 69 in the UK Singles Chart. A music video was filmed to promote the single.
"Republican Party Reptile" is a song by Scottish rock band Big Country, released by Vertigo in 1991 as an extended play from their fifth studio album No Place Like Home. It was written by Stuart Adamson and Bruce Watson, and produced by Pat Moran. The "Republican Party Reptile" EP reached No. 37 in the UK and remained in the charts for two weeks. A music video was filmed to promote the EP.
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