Gene Watson’s Peers within the country music industry believe in the sheer talent of this unassuming man from east Texas, so much so that Gene is regarded by many of them as ‘the singer’s singer’ – and rightly so!
All of Gene Watson’s Peers, who were contacted during 2019, were most gracious with their time and words.
It is here, within this special part of The Gene Watson Fan Site, that you have an opportunity to read a quote from King Leg, which he submitted to this site on Wednesday 20 November 2019.
Sean Brady would like to take this opportunity to say ‘thank you’ to King Leg who made a special contribution to this unique part of this online ‘celebration of a Lone Star Hero’.
Photo courtesy of photographer Emily Joyce, King Leg, Sire Records and Warner Music Group
King Leg
This quote was submitted on Wednesday 20 November 2019.
‘Gene Watson was formative for me.
I have a wonderful memory putting ‘Farewell Party‘, which was written by Lawton Williams (Monday 24 July 1922 – Thursday 26 July 2007), on the jukebox at the Hermitage Cafe in Nashville one time.
I sat back down in my seat and watched the room go silent so they could hear.
Then, a gentleman who’d been sitting at the bar, picked up his phone to call a friend and tell him ‘you’ll never believe what’s playing on the jukebox here‘.
I’ve never seen a song illicit a reaction close to this in all my jukebox remembrances’
Thank you, King Leg, for your support of Gene Watson.
About King Leg…
King Leg mixes up an unlikely, but winning, combination of vintage rock ‘n’ roll, old-school country music, and post-millennial cool.
King Leg is either the stage name of songwriter and vocalist Bryan Joyce or the collective handle for Joyce and his group.
Born in 1986 and raised in Nebraska, Bryan Joyce began writing songs as a teenager, and in high school he joined his first band, an Andrew W.K. tribute act.
As Bryan Joyce became more interested in songwriting, he decided to take a stab at making music his career and moved to Nashville.
While living in Nashville, Bryan Joyce founded a Smiths cover band, which favoured his slight vocal resemblance to Morrissey, although his voice has more often been compared to Roy Orbison (Thursday 23 April 1936 – Tuesday 6 December 1988).
With his musical career not making much progress, Bryan Joyce shifted gears and enrolled in college, hoping to attend medical school.
However, Bryan Joyce was passed over for medical school and, as he pondered his next move, a friend encouraged him to give songwriting another chance.
Bryan Joyce pulled up stakes and moved to Los Angeles, where he put together a band and started playing as King Leg.
Bryan Joyce and his group developed a buzz in Los Angeles, and when veteran A&R man and label chief Lenny Waronker heard them, he recommended the act to Seymour Stein, the head of Sire Records, whose signings included the Ramones, Talking Heads and Madonna.
Seymour Stein was just as enthusiastic as Lenny Waronker, and he quickly signed King Leg to a record deal.
King Leg then booked time at Capitol Records’ Studio B and, with Dwight Yoakam and Chris Lord-Alge acting as producers, they started recording Bryan Joyce’s songs.
On Friday 30 June 2017, King Leg saw the release of his first single, ‘Great Outdoors’ (written by King Leg).
On Friday 27 October 2017, King Leg saw the release of his debut album, ‘Meet King Leg’ (Sire Records / Warner Music Group, 2017), which was produced by Dwight Yoakam and Chris Lord-Alge, and included the following tracks:
‘Great Outdoors’
‘Cloud City’
‘Walking Again’
‘Another Man’
‘Your Picture’
‘Comfy Chair / A Dream That Never Ends’
‘Wanted’
‘Loneliness’
‘Seeing You Tonight’
‘Moaning Lisa Screaming’ (written by King Leg)
‘Running Scared’, which was written by Joe Melson and Roy Orbison (Thursday 23 April 1936 – Tuesday 6 December 1988) / the original version of this track was recorded by Roy Orbison (Thursday 23 April 1936 – Tuesday 6 December 1988), who included it on ‘Crying’ (Monument Records, 1962); Roy Orbison’s version of this track was No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop music singles chart in 1961, and No.9 on the United Kingdom Singles Chart in 1961
At the time of the release of ‘Meet King Leg’ (Sire Records / Warner Music Group, 2017), in October 2017, King Leg were on the road supporting the album with a string of dates opening for co-producer Dwight Yoakam.
• Visit King Leg’s official site at kinglegmusic.com