Article by Brady Oxender. Promotional Photo by Greg Bartram. Live photos by David Heasley.
Today, every band must be accurately defined in order to be pigeon-holed into their respective over restrictive category to be used by show promoters and music snobs in order to win arguments and impress the world. To classify Watershed accurately, the taxonomy must be dropped to its most rudimentary form. Simply stated–Watershed plays American Rock and Roll. Watershed is Rock and Roll. And Watershed is Columbus.
Watershed has spent the last 25 years driving from Columbus to every corner of the country to play in legendary clubs and hole-in-the-wall dives. Then, after every tour, Watershed returns to Columbus. They have families and run small businesses, they host open mics and bartend, and they are published authors. They are “Rock and Roll’s Last Hope,” and they remain right here in Columbus.
Watershed is not a band that’s best enjoyed at a reasonable volume while you read a book or have dinner with your spouse. Watershed would be best heard in a stolen convertible driving 100 miles an hour through the desert with a dozen police cruisers on your tail. The band loads their guns with the best sounds from the Who, Tom Petty, Green Day, the Foo Fighters, and the Sex Pistols, and every Watershed song takes aim and lands those sounds right between the eyes.
In an industry increasingly concerned with likability and expanding demographics, Watershed doesn’t pretend to be anything but what they are. Colin, Dave, and the Joes leave the ballads to the other bands and they simply do what they do best. They rock. A chronological walk through songs likes Suckerpunch and Slowly then Suddenly, to Sticky Bomb prove that Watershed is innovative, talented, and imaginative enough to have distinct and original sounds. Yet each song is unmistakably Rock music. Each Song is unmistakably Watershed.
