THE WATTS:
Tad Taylor: guitar and vocals
Rich Proctor: guitar and vocals
Mark Cantrell: bass and vocals
Donavan Turner: drums and vocals
With alternating vocalists, a pair of electric guitars and a thundering and thumping rhythm section laying down the groove, THE WATTS celebrate rock music’s greatest traditions and deliver them with fresh contemporary style.
A road-tested band with durable rock ’n’ roll ruggedness, THE WATTS have a niche for nuance and a soulful subtlety in their sound which makes them as alluring and accessible in intimate semi-acoustic settings as they are enthralling and engaging in fully-electric concert-stage environments.
THE WATTS began performing full-length public shows in October 2006, and have since performed nearly 200 times. In 2008 the band released its self-titled debut 12-song all-original album, and have received airplay on radio stations WROQ 101.1FM in Greenville, SC, WTPT 93.3FM in Greenville, WGWG 88.3FM. Boiling Springs, NC and WNCW 88.7FM, a station based in Spindale, NC, with transmitters broadcasting across upstate South Carolina through Greenville (FM 97.3) and Spartanburg, western North Carolina through Asheville, Charlotte (FM100.3) and Boone (FM 92.3) and into a large portion of eastern Tennessee.
THE WATTS have also appeared on WSPA TV-7 and WHNS Fox Carolina television stations.
While THE WATTS draw from a fundamentally rock ’n’ roll foundation, many of the songs and sounds compliment their solid rock base with flourishes of Chicago-style rhythm & blues, New Orleans-style funk, Detroit soul, Southern rock and reggae. Every show is unique, and THE WATTS specially tailor each performance to suit the audience and venue.
THE WATTS are a rock ’n’ roll band in both the most basic, and conversely, most eclectic senses of the connotation. A solid dual-guitar driven lineup fueled with pulsing bass guitar and drums, THE WATTS have a style and sound to delight classic-rock purists, comparable to The Beatles, Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix.
THE WATTS is by no means a recycler of rock’s yesteryear, however. THE WATTS have a modern appeal to audiences, and have also drawn comparisons to Sugar Ray, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sublime and 311.
Here is what some of the press is saying:
“The Watts are the sort of band that will restore your faith in blues-flavored rock 'n' roll.”
Dan Armonaitis, Spartanburg Herald-Journal
“Still riding high from the recent release of its debut album, The Watts continue to churn out some of the finest rock 'n' roll in the Upstate. The Spartanburg outfit offers a fresh take on blues- and funk-flavored rock, creating a highly infectious original sound that falls somewhere between Jimi Hendrix and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.”
Dan Armonaitis, Spartanburg Herald-Journal
Venues: In addition to parties, wedding receptions and other private and corporate events, THE WATTS have performed the following venues:
Spartanburg, SC: Brasserie Ecosse (acoustic solo & duo appearances), The Cellar Club, Decades, Delaney’s Music Pub and Eatery, Denny’s Plaza: Music on Main, Duncan Park Amphitheatre: Sunday in the Park, Ground Zero, Hickory Tavern Grill and Raw Bar, Lil D’z Food & Spirits, The Music Camp (acoustic solo), Nu-Way Restaurant and Lounge, PJ’s Bar and Grill, Rock Water Tavern, The Showroom, Sonny’s Brick Oven Pizza, Wild Wing Café and Zimmerli Amphitheatre: Spartanburg Bands Together 2
Greenville, SC: Brown Street Club, Liberty Tap Room, The Handlebar (as an opening act for Cowboy Mouth), The Handlebar (as a headliner), The Gathering Spot, Riley’s Sports Bar and Grill and Wild Wing Café
Greer, SC: Rhythm & Brews
Inman, SC: July 4th Celebration, Harvest Day Celebration
Columbia, SC: Flying Saucer Draught Emporium, Jillian’s Billiard’s
Clemson, SC: The Esso Club, TD’s
Myrtle Beach, SC: Wild Wing Café (Garden City)
Charleston, SC: Bert’s Bar (Sullivan’s Island), Wild Wing Café
Charlotte, NC: Hickory Tavern Grill and Raw Bar
Tryon, N.C.: Rogers Park Amphitheatre: Summer Tracks Concert Series
Rutherfordton, N.C.: 191 Prime
Hickory, NC: Hickory Tavern Grill and Raw Bar
Augusta, GA, Wild Wing Café
Macon GA: Red Eye Tavern
Savannah, GA: Fiddler’s Crab House
Selected Songs from THE WATTS’ Repertoire: Winter 2009/2010
Original Songs
Children
For Dear Life
The Great By and By
Hearsay
A Matter of Pride
The One Place She Won’t Go
That was That
Trash Talkin’
The Trouble We Get Into
Until at Last I Meet the Next One
The Allman Brothers Band
Ain’t Wasting Time No More
Southbound
The Band
The Weight
The Beatles
All My Loving
Birthday
Come Together
I Saw Her Standing There
Sgt. Pepper
Ticket to Ride
Eric Clapton
Before You Accuse Me
Jimmy Cliff
The Harder They Come
Johnny Darrell
Why You Been Gone So Long
Eagles
Seven Bridges Road
ELO
Don’t Bring Me Down
Gnarls Barkley
Crazy
Green Day
Pulling Teeth
Jimi Hendrix
Fire
The Wind Cries Mary
The Ike Reilly Assassination
Valentine’s Day in Juarez
Dr. John
Qualified
Freddie King
Going Down
Walkin’ By Myself
Kings of Leon
Molly’s Chambers
Kiss
New York Groove
Led Zeppelin
Kashmir
Marshall Tucker Band
This ‘Ol Cowboy
John Mellencamp
Authority Song
The Meters
Fire on the Bayou
Hey Pocky A-Way
Just Kissed My Baby
Tom Petty
American Girl
Change the Locks
Mary Jane’s Last Dance
Yer So Bad
You Wreck Me
Queen
Crazy Little Thing Called Love
Bonnie Raitt
Give it Up (Or Let Me Go)
Red Hot Chili Peppers
If You Have To Ask
The Rolling Stones
Honky Tonk Women
Loving Cup
The Romantics
What I Like About You
Leon Russell
Dixie Lullaby
Stone Temple Pilots
Interstate Love Song
Sublime
Badfish
Santeria
U2
Desire
Stevie Ray Vaughan
Couldn’t Stand the Weather
Joe Walsh
Rocky Mountain Way
The Who
My Generation
Lucida Williams
Can’t Let Go
I Lost It
Joy
Stevie Wonder
Superstition
ZZ Top
Cheap Sunglasses
I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide
Jesus Just Left Chicago
Please visit the band’s website at http://www.thewattsband.com for more information.
Please visit THE WATTS on MySpace at: http://www.myspace.com/thewattspage.
