en Watson was born in 1960 and started playing guitar around the age of 9
or 10, taking lessons from an excellent guitarist named Shawn Foster who played many
different styles (classical, flamenco, folk, jazz) on a nylon-string guitar using
classical guitar techniques. As he grew older, Ken gravitated toward rock and the electric
guitar, and began to play in high school rock bands. At this time, he was listening to The
Beatles, Grand Funk, Yes, Focus, and whatever else was popular in the early 1970’s. He also
began to play the saxophone in the school concert/marching band, a skill now since lost.
It wasn’t until the late 1970’s that Ken began specifically to
listen to progressive rock. Someone turned him onto the Washington DC progressive band
Happy the Man (still one of his favorites) and after that, he was hooked. He began to
devour any music he could find with the progressive label tagged to it. He also discovered
20th century composers such as Ravel, Bartok, Stravinsky, Messian, etc.
In 1979, Ken assembled a band called Black Market with a
guitarist from Iceland named Gulli Faulk, bassist Buddy Stewart, and drummer David Webb.
They played all-original instrumental progressive jazz-rock. The band stayed together for
about one year and played around the Jacksonville, Florida area. It was in Black Market
that Ken first began to write music and where some of the first seeds of Assembly
were planted.
Ken later moved to Montgomery, Alabama to attend school at a
small college. While there, he met Terry and Jerry Morgan, two brothers who owned a
recording studio in town. They offered him a very inexpensive rate to record an LP of
music. With the help of David Webb on drums, Ken began to write and record Assembly
during 1985. Buddy Stewart (another Black Market alumnus and a fine bassist) was enlisted
to play on one track (Skeleton in Armor). Long distance travel and a busy schedule
prevented Buddy from contributing further to the project. Ken released the album on LP
himself in early 1986. Roughly 500 copies were manufactured and all were sold. By breaking
even, he was encouraged to attempt a second LP project which he negotiated with the studio in 1987.
Ken began work on the second project in late 1987 and recorded
the basic tracks for 20 minutes worth of material with drummer Craig Riches. (David had
moved away and was no longer available.) Craig was an old school friend from Jacksonville
who then lived in the nearby city of Birmingham, Alabama. In later months, personal issues
(marriage, children, job) began to demand more of his time, and Ken slowly lost interest
in the project. On rare occasions he would venture into the studio to record a part or
two. Also, he decided to move to the Atlanta, Georgia area, about three hours from the studio.
In late 1992, Ken decided to finish the second project. The
studio was loathe to let him return to finish the entire album project after so much time
had passed. They did, however, allow him to finish the 20 minutes of material he had
begun. In 1993, Larry Kolota of Kinesis contacted Ken about rereleasing Assembly
on CD and happily agreed to include the recently finished material from the aborted second album.
Ken Watson’s aim as a musician is simply to write and present good music with an
original voice - simple to state, but difficult to achieve. He likes a piece of music to
contain a lot of surprises, but for its development to make logical sense in retrospect.
Influences are too numerous to list all, but some notable ones are Dave Stewart (National
Health, Bruford, etc.), Scott Johnson, Frank Zappa, Trey Anastasio (Phish), Frenchmen
Albert Marcouer and Francois Breant, Chick Corea, Happy the Man, Steve Reich, Kenso (from
Japan), Zamla Mammaz Manna (from Sweden), and PFM (from Italy).
In 1999, Ken released his second album The
Twinkle Factor. This is a totally solo project using MIDI gear (sequencers and synths) and guitar
to realize it. While he states a dislike for music produced this way, due to the resulting
inhuman, antiseptic sound and feel, he welcomes the challenge to create a warm,
interactive sound. The advantages of the new technology far outweigh the disadvantages!
Because of other priorities and lack of time, Ken regrets he will likely never again
assemble a band to perform his music live.
Those wishing to contact Ken may email:
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