The Black Watch

The Black Watch, based in Santa Barbara, California is an independent rock group that was formed in 1987 by songwriter, guitarist, and singer John Andrew. The latter has been the only consistent member of the band’s lineup while it currently comprises of Steven Schayer on guitars and vocals, Rick Woodard on drums, and Chris Rackard on bass. Past members have included the likes of Scott Taylor, Tim Boland, Gary Sullivan, Darin Danford, Randy Leasure, Roger Butchers and J’Anna Jacoby. To date the band has released five EP including Short Stories in 1989, Seven Rollercoasters in 1997, The Christopher Smart in 2001, The Innercity Garden in 2005 and After the Gold Room in 2008. They have also issued several albums with the most recent one released in 2011 called Led Zeppelin Five, Icing the Snow Queen, Tatterdemalion, The Hypnotizing Sea, Very Mary Beth, Jiggery-Pokery, Lime Green Girl, King of Good Intentions, Amphetamines, Flowering and St. Valentine.  Over the years, the group’s top hit songs include Room 407, Weirdly, Stars in the Sky, Earl Grey Tea, The Maid’s Been Around, How Much About Love, Oscillating, Beautiful, Floating, Kinsington Gardens, Strawberry Girl, Things I Never Said, Bitter Getting Better, and All These Shivers among a host of others. Throughout its history, the band has been touring rigorously with exception of a few months in 1997 when it had disbanded. The Black Watch tickets are considered to be quite a treat among rock music fans particularly those with extra fondness for indie rock sensibilities.

John Andrew Frederick, who is the sole original member of The Black Watch, is a multi-talented anglophile who graduated from the University of California with a Ph.D. in English. Since the end of the eighties, he has been releasing well-received albums in a rather sporadic pattern, and his work has gained comparisons to the high-end likes of House of Love, My Blood Valentine, the Go-Between, Yo LA Tengo, American Music Club, The Cure, as well as some late-sixties pop. Since his band’s formation, the artist has been unable to gather a stable lineup alongside which he has had difficulty signing up with a good label for the release of more than one album. Besides gaining praise from a select few underground journalists, Frederick’s talents and skills as a writer and musician have remained largely unnoticed or underestimated.

The artist assemble his first lineup for The Black Watch soon after graduating from college, following which he recorded a short demo alongside an opening for Toad the Wet Sprocket and the Church. By 1987 he had to bring together a new band to record a full-length album called St. Valentine, which was issued in Eskimo label. Soon enough this lineup also disbanded so that Frederick had to yet again pick out another group of musicians to perform with. Interestingly enough, he encountered Jacoby by chance, who had been playing the mandolin for Rod Stewart and John Tesh. Jacoby became his second full-time member and two have been performing together since. By 1989, the band was on its way to releasing their vinyl –only EP called Short Stories which was prompted their collaboration with Dr. Dream on 1991’s release Flowering that brought in a whole other rhythm section. One of the hit songs from this album was Terrific which was given overwhelming airplay on numerous well-known radio stations but due to the lack of any label promotion, the album’s exposure to more public became unlikely. The band then left the label and instead signed a contract with Zero Hour on which they released Amphetamines in 1995.

In 1997, The Black Watch disbanded for a short period during which Frederick wrote his semi-autobiographical novel called King of Good Intentions which centered on an indie rock group. Upon coming together again, the band made a record by the same name with the intention of letting it be a companion piece with the book. This is a one of a kind, visionary band that will not sell out its music al conceptions to what mainstream music must sound like. Instead it chooses to be honest and values integrity in art. Don’t miss out their next string of live performances; just grab The Black Watch tickets and be there to enrich your musical core.