The Watters

With nearly twenty years of musical collaboration together, husband and wife duo

Daniel and Jenna Watters embrace a sound they call “Americana Soul.” Seamlessly

blending Soul, Rock and Jazz, they have been described as “Fleetwood Mac with a

horn section” after developing their unique but accessible sound across seven different

albums together under various monikers and releasing their debut record as their

current band, The Watters, in 2016. Now an acclaimed mainstay of the Austin music

scene, they have garnered a devoted fan base through their stirring vocals and road-

weathered musicianship and have opened for artists like Michael McDonald, The

Revivalists, Allen Stone, and Devon Gilfillian.

Before settling in Austin, The Watters developed their eclectic sound in part by

living in several dramatically different cities including Los Angeles, Denver, Nashville,

but their story began in Sedona, Arizona. They met on the pee wee football team in 6th

grade, though it wasn’t until their high school graduation ceremony when they first sang

together, performing “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” The spark of chemistry they felt as

much as the audience did led the two to start writing together and performing at local

coffee shops around northern Arizona and Los Angeles during their summer and winter

school breaks. Four years of long distance writing and performing later, the two moved

to Denver in 2009 to formally start their first band, “The Oak Creek Band.” Their

romantic relationship was born soon after, and they married in 2011. After years of

cutting their teeth in the mountain towns of the Colorado Rockies and then a stint in

Nashville, the duo felt geographically aimless and uninspired, and on a fated drive back

to Sedona in 2015, they took a long detour to Austin. They saw one show at The

Continental Club Gallery and, falling instantly in love with the city’s music scene and

vibe, decided that night to make it their new home.

Since then, they have released two full length LPs (The Watters, Intuition) one

EP (Mellow), and played nearly every venue in Austin. They’ve been awarded several

grants from local-non profits for their artistry including Sonic Gud Major Grant and the

Long Center Live Music Grant and won four national John Lennon Songwriting Contest

Awards for tracks from 2021’s Intuition. The Watters’s third full-length album, Duality,

slated for release in late 2023, is a culmination of their nineteen years of creating and

performing together and reflects all the challenges, learning, and growth they have

evolved through as individuals and a duo. For The Watters, life and music are one, their

journey together being their greatest muse.