Gene Watson › Similar Artists

Vern Gosdin - 100% match to Gene Watson

5 August 1934, Woodland, Alabama, USA. Gosdin’s first steps in carrying out his wish to be a country singer-songwriter came in the early 50s, when as a result of singing with his two brothers in the local church, they became regulars as the Gosdin Family on WVOK Birmingham. In 1953, he moved to Atlanta where he sold ice cream and in 1956 to Chicago where he ran a countr Read more

Earl Thomas Conley - 86% match to Gene Watson

17 October 1941, Portsmouth, Ohio, USA. The son of a railway worker, Conley left home at 14 when his father lost his job. His influences were the Grand Ole Opry, followed by Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis, and then the Beatles. He originally planned to be a painter, but developed his love for country music while in the US Army. After his military service, Conley had a suc Read more

Moe Bandy - 85% match to Gene Watson

Marion Bandy, 12 February 1944, Meridian, Mississippi, USA. Bandy was nicknamed Moe by his father when a child in the home town of the legendary Jimmie Rodgers, so it is perhaps not surprising that he grew up to be a country singer. He later stated: ‘My grandfather worked on the railroads with Jimmie Rodgers. He was the boss of the railway yard in Meridian and Jimmie Ro Read more

Ricky Van Shelton - 80% match to Gene Watson

12 January 1952, Danville, near Lynchburg, Virginia, USA. Shelton was raised in a church-going family and he learned to love gospel music. His brother worked as a musician and through travelling with him, he also acquired a taste for country music. He worked as a pipe fitter but his fiancée Bettye realized his singing potential, and in 1984, suggested that they went t Read more

Mickey Gilley - 79% match to Gene Watson

9 March 1936, Natchez, Louisiana, USA, but raised in Ferriday, Louisiana. Gilley is a cousin to Jerry Lee Lewis and the evangelist Jimmy Swaggart. He grew up with his cousins and his mother, a waitress, who saved her money to buy him a piano when he was 12 years old. Gilley left Louisiana when he was 17 and started working in bars in Houston. His first record was ‘Tell Read more

Janie Fricke - 77% match to Gene Watson

Jane Frickie, 19 December 1947, on the family farm near South Whitney, Indiana, USA. Fricke, who adopted the spelling in 1986 to avoid mispronunciation, has sung in public since the age of 10. Her father was a guitarist and her mother a piano teacher and organist. Fricke sang jingles to pay her university fees and then moved to Los Angeles to find work as a session singer. A Read more

John Conlee - 77% match to Gene Watson

11 August 1946, Versailles, Kentucky, USA. Conlee’s early years were filled with farm chores, but he was playing the guitar on local radio before he was 10. He describes Versailles as ‘a very small town with a very large barbershop chorus’ in which he sang high tenor. Like soul singer Solomon Burke, he became a licensed embalmer. In the mid-70s he set about es Read more

Jack Greene - 76% match to Gene Watson

Jack Henry Greene, 7 January 1930, Maryville, Tennessee, USA. Greene took guitar lessons when he was eight years old, then added drumming to his abilities. Moving to Atlanta in the late 40s, he became part of the Cherokee Trio with Lem Bryant and Speedy Price. He then became a member of the Rhythm Ranch Boys and was a popular radio entertainer on Georgia Jublilee on WTJH. Gr Read more

T.G. Sheppard - 76% match to Gene Watson

William Neal Browder, 20 July 1944, Humboldt, Tennessee, USA. Sheppard is a nephew of old-time country performer Rod Brasfield, and his mother was a piano teacher who gave him lessons. Sheppard began his professional musical career in Memphis in the early 60s, working as a backing vocalist for Travis Wammack and then performing as Brian Stacey, having a regional hit with
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Johnny Lee - 75% match to Gene Watson

Charley Pride - 74% match to Gene Watson

18 March 1938, Sledge, Mississippi, USA. Charley Pride was born on a cotton farm, which, as a result of his success, he was later able to purchase. Pride says, ‘My dad named me Charl Frank Pride, but I was born in the country and the midwife wrote it down as Charley’. Harold Dorman, who wrote and recorded ‘Mountain of Love’, also hails from Sledge and wro Read more

David Houston - 74% match to Gene Watson

9 December 1938, Bossier City, Louisiana, USA, d. 30 November 1993, Bossier City, Louisiana, USA. Houston’s forefathers included Sam Houston, who fought for Texas’ independence from Mexico, and the Civil War general Robert E. Lee. His parents were friends of 20s singer Gene Austin, who was his godfather and encouraged his talent. Houston made his debut on The Louis Read more

Mel Tillis - 74% match to Gene Watson

Lonnie Melvin Tillis, 8 August 1932, Tampa, Florida, USA. The family relocated to Dover, 18 miles east of Tampa, when Tillis was only eight months old. He contracted malaria when aged only three, and was left with a permanent stutter. During his school days, various treatments failed to cure this speech problem and though originally embarrassed by it, he managed in later yea Read more

Sonny James - 71% match to Gene Watson

James Loden, 1 May 1929, Hackleburg, Alabama, USA. The Country Music Hall Of Fame includes a guitar that Sonny James’ father made for him when he was three years old. James has been performing since that time and has played fiddle and guitar with the Lodens’ family revue. Sonny won several junior fiddle championships, although he was to play guitar on his records. Read more

Donna Fargo - 70% match to Gene Watson

Yvonne Vaughn, 10 November 1949, Mount Airy, North Carolina, USA. Fargo is the daughter of a tobacco farmer, and she sang in church as a child. She became a schoolteacher and was discovered by her future husband, record producer Stan Silver, singing in a club in Los Angeles. She first recorded in 1969, but her success started once she had signed with Dot Records in 1971. She Read more