Aaron Watson on Releasing 'Red Bandana': 'These Songs Are My Heart'

Aaron Watson's long-awaited Red Bandana album is out! The 20-track project is Watson's most personal record to date, which is why he admits he is nervous about sharing so much of himself with his fans.

"I'm very excited," Watson told PopCulture.com. "I'm also a little anxious. I've been working on this album for a couple of years now, so it's like I poured my heart into this album. It's really personal. If somebody makes a comment about a song, it cuts deep because these songs are my heart."

Watson wrote all 20 tracks, marking the first time an artist has undertaken such an arduous task solo since Alan Jackson released Good Times in 2008.

"It's the first album to be solely written by the artist in like 12 years," reflected the singer. "While I find that really cool, that also intimidates me because I wrote all the songs all by myself, so if people think it's terrible, it's all my fault."

Red Bandana comes on the heels of Watson's widely successful 2015 The Underdog album, followed by Vaquero in 2017, the latter which included his first Top 10 single, "Outta Style." While Watson is grateful for that success, he admits it comes with a price.

"It gives me confidence and a challenge," conceded the Texan. "The Underdog charted No. 1, and Vaquero charted No. 1. Technically, it was the top selling record, but we got beat in that whole streaming category type thing, which is okay. And Vaquero had two top singles on it. This is the first release I've ever had after having mainstream radio success. I wanted to bring my A-game. In a world full of EPs and albums with nine songs, I wanted 20."

In many ways, Red Bandana became Watson's gift to his fans, with many of them dating back more than two decades ago, when Watson was just getting started.

"I wanted to give my fans something special," said the 41-year-old. "There's 20 songs for the 20 years that I've been doing this. I worked really hard. I just couldn't hardly even sleep. I went in, and I made this album with the mindset that this is the last one. I hope that it's not. I don't think it will be, but God only knows. We may not be here tomorrow. We should all live life with the mindset that today might be the last day. It makes you look at things differently. That sunrise you saw this morning, you might have paid a little more attention to it if you knew you'd never see another one again. Those loved ones that you pass in the hallway, you might not pass them, you might stop and hug them if you knew, 'I may not have this moment again.'

"I took that mentality into the studio when I was producing this record," he continued. "When I was writing this record, like, 'What am I going to say? If this was the last album my family and my fans and my friends ever got from me, what am I going to say to them?' I really just poured my heart into it, and really I will take that same concept into the next album I make, and the songs that I'm already writing."

Purchase Red Bandana at AaronWatson.com.

Photo Credit: Getty images / Danielle Del Valle