Willie Watson Takes Vermont

Willie Watson stormed into the Green Mountain State last night at Higher Ground and took all the hearts and minds with him when he left. He has not only redefined himself as a folk-singing solo act—something he never saw himself being—but, if he keeps it up, he could well become one of the major voices in American folk music.

Up there with bigs like Pete Seeger and Arlo Guthrie. But his voice pulls from previous sources, from way up in the mountains. Not only his interpretations—his stylings—but the sheer force of his pipes hollers down at us from Appalachia. From before the time of microphones and amplification.

There's no doubting his authenticity.

His song picker is singular, each choice jammed with urgency and feeling. Going back to earlier, lesser-known versions of songs—like Lead Belly's take on "Midnight Special"—is gutsy. But he creates whole new song experiences that are already developing devoted followers.

When Willie sings a song you hang on every word to see what will happen, to get the meaning, and to seek release from the pain the writer was in when he sat down to write it. Women turning men into mules, men shooting women with shotguns, Mexican gold, racehorses named "Stewball"—it's all there for folk song lover in us all.