DARREN WATSON * SINGS JOHN HIATT *
Darren Watson is a New
Zealand-based singer, guitarist and songwriter whose
professional career began in the mid-1980s as frontman of local blues outfit Chicago Smoke Shop
. As well as filling bars and clubs around the country, and having radio hits like ‘Mind On My Sleeve’ and ‘I’m So Glad’, the band toured the country opening for notable blues acts like The Robert Cray Band , Chicago blues queen Koko Taylor , GeorgeThorogood, and The Fabulous Thunderbirds
.
Transitioning into a solo career in the early 2000s, Watson released his debut solo blues album King Size
(2000), which was nominated for Best Roots Album at the
New Zealand Music Awards. Over the next decade he followed up with South Pacific Soul (2005), Saint Hilda’s Faithless Boy (2010), and Introducing Darren Watson (2014).
In August 2014, Watson released the single ‘Planet Key’, a satirical critique of then
Prime Minister John Key, which the New Zealand Electoral Commission subsequently banned from radio, TV, iTunes, and online video, labelling it an ‘election programme’ or ‘election advertisement’. Watson took the matter to the High Court, which in April 2015, ruled the Commission had overstepped, stating the
ban breached free expression under the Bill of Rights Act 1990.
2018 saw a change in style, with Watson releasing
Too Many Millionaires , recorded live-to-tape in an all-acoustic format. The album spent six weeks in the NZ Top 20
Albums Chart and peaked at No.
1 on IMNZ Charts. It got rave reviews both locally and internationally. His seventh solo album, Getting Sober for the End of the World (2020), was self- produced and recorded at his Lamington Studio in Wellington. It debuted at No. 23 on the Official NZ Top 40 Albums Chart and peaked at No. 3 on the NZ Top 20
Albums Chart. The album’s title track addresses climate change and his recent sobriety, while other songs explore social and political themes and feature contributions from Mavis Staples ’ musical director Rick Holmstrom . In 2021, Getting Sober for the End of the World was a finalist for Best Roots Artist at the Aotearoa Music Awards.
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