Song Spinner: 'Mystic Tonight' by Dan Watson

May 20, 2021 12:00 am • Last Updated: May 21, 2021 10:20 pm

By Peter Huoppi and Rick Koster, Day staff

Dan Watson performs his song "Mystic Tonight" in front of the drawbridge in downtown Mystic during a video shoot for The Day on May 18. (Peter Huoppi/The Day)
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'Mystic Tonight' by Dan Watson

This edition of our Song Spinner series, which takes you into the hearts, minds and hands of local musicians and their creative process, reveals the story behind "Mystic Tonight," performed by Dan Watson and written by Watson and Steve Broderick.

Bio: Watson is one of the area's most popular and busy musicians. He's originally from Mystic, has lived in North Stonington, Uncasville, Mystic again, and now Noank. Despite an early presence in Little League and a fierce allegiance to the Boston Red Sox, Watson knew he wanted to be a guitarist from his early teens.

Originally enamored of Big Rock and guitar sorcerers like Jimmy Page, Yngwie Malmsteen, Paul Gilbert and Eddie Van Halen — and also (surprise!) the Beatles — Watson was playing in working bands long before he was probably legal, and certainly after graduating from Grasso Tech. Over the years, those acts included Cry Havoc, K-A-W, the Sugar Daddy Band, Wicked Peach, 2 Cat Zoo, Cucumber Jones, and The 100-Watt Suns.

A funny thing happened on the way to his Marshall stack: Once an avowed electric guitar devotee, Watson chanced by accident — or sly coercion — into a gig playing solo acoustic cover tunes by his pal/bandmate Izzy Malik, leader of hyper-popular cover band Wicked Peach and also a busy solo performer. When Malik couldn't do a gig one night, he told Watson to take it.

"I said, 'I don't know how' or something stupid like that," Watson laughs. "I did know how, but I didn't know I did. I took an acoustic and a song list and just ... did it. And I loved it."

That incident ushered in a rapid segue to Watson's very busy career working solo acoustic shows several nights a week. With a repertoire of hundreds of songs — almost all of which he says he enjoys playing — Watson was able to unlock his own past. "Years ago, my Mom said, 'You know, you really should play acoustic around here in Mystic.'" He laughs. "Uh, Mom, no. I had bigger ideas. But here I am. She was right — and I love it."

Acoustic all along: Watson's emphasis on the solo shows also unlocked a forgotten love of acoustic music from the '70s — America, Joni Mitchell, Crosby, Stills & Nash — and awakened an awareness of more contemporary artists like Shawn Mullins, Martin Sexton, Ryan Adams, Gary Louris (Jayhawks), Jakob Dylan, David Gray, and many more.

What's missing here? Performing solo in bars, wineries and restaurants, or for weddings, private parties and special events, is by definition a job that demands a wide-ranging repertoire of tunes — by other artists. Watson, whose role over the years has been an in-demand guitarist/vocalist, has been mostly content to leave the songwriting to others. But his latter-day acoustic persona, with its emphasis on material by songwriters, has intrigued him.

How "Mystic Tonight" happened: In 2019, Watson was on the phone with his good friend Steve Broderick, a well-established musician and songwriter. Watson played in Broderick's rock band the 10-Watt Suns. Broderick asked if Watson was keeping busy.

"I was just giving Steve the rundown of my schedule, and I listed the gigs for the week, and I'm pretty sure that list ended up being the chorus."

Indeed, in the fashion of popular "road tunes" where artists list towns on their itineraries — built-in crowd-pleasers when they actually play the song in the town (Huey Lewis and the News' "The Heart of Rock 'n' Roll," for example) — "Mystic Tonight" rattles off a tourist brochure's worth of great and popular clubs and locations in Mystic, Block Island, and the region.

Broderick suggested writing a tune around Watson's recitation of the gig schedule, and they were off.

A quick journey: "Steve started it off, and then we got together and started going through all the places mentioned," Watson says. "We had a Tom Petty vibe in mind, nothing too complicated. We knew it was going to be one of those singalong songs, so you don't want a thousand chords in it. Just something simple. There was no real rhyme or reason (to the structure). Just whatever worked. It happened pretty quickly."

What emerged is a sun-sparkled, exuberant pop song that hits all those Beach Boys/summer-is-fun high points while sticking proudly to its Mystic roots. And, yes, the chorus — with its "When you want to celebrate and raise 'em high / I'll meet you out in Mystic tonight" couplet — is about as anthemic as it gets.

Hold on a second: But, as Broderick (on bass) and Watson prepared to record the song with drummer John Seastrand, COVID hit. Watson was exposed to the disease and quarantined while Seastrand and Broderick managed to record the rhythm tracks, but from that point on, Watson's guitar parts and vocals, and the mixing and production, were done remotely. Jay Messina produced, and Vic Steffens engineered. With off-the-cuff diligence, the tune was completed and released around Christmas with a cover design by Amanda Mead and photography by Margaret Leonard.

The message is clear: "When it was finished, I realized I'd written my own love letter to Mystic," Watson says, laughing. "This place is so perfect. I grew up here and played gigs here for years in so many different bands. The song tells the story of a New England seaside, postcard town.

"And it's weird. Writing the song made me realize some things I'd maybe taken for granted. I've played here so much, and you forget what a destination this place is. People come here for their vacations — and we LIVE here. And it only seems to get more popular."

Video glory: Another Watson pal, Ken Pottie, produced a wonderfully evocative video for "Mystic Tonight" that perfectly captures the spirit and local references. A lot of the images come from Watson's own photo collection.

"Ken did an amazing job," Watson says, "particularly since there was time in the video for him to use about 30 images and I gave him about 500."

Reaction? "Raise 'em high!" Watson sounds genuinely surprised and happy that, as he says, "Maybe we created a little anthem with this. It seems to make people really happy. People DO raise their glasses in the chorus. It's sort of instinctive, I guess.

"You know, sometimes I get caught up in having to book shows and getting caught up in trying to pay the bills, and you forget people come to see YOU play. Someone might come up and say, 'This or that was going on in my life, and for two or three hours, I can come out and see you and everything goes away.' And that really hit me.

"And that I get to do that in this area? It's special. I don't think it would mean as much anywhere else. If 'Mystic Tonight' helps capture that, I'm proud. This place is really special to me, too."

Pint glass merch? How about dog rescue? There are no plans for commemorative Dan Watson "Mystic Tonight" beer mugs that fans could hoist at proper mid-song moments, but Watson did have some T-shirts for a while. The shirts were a surprise for Watson from his friends Kristin Parker and Heather Gaccione. The artist was Greg Moran and features an instantly recognizable drawing of Watson, and the U.S.-made tees were printed at J. Mack Studios in Westerly.

The shirts proved quite popular, which delights Watson because he and his wife are big advocates for dog rescue — they currently have two — and all profits from shirt sales went to regional rescue outfits like Animal House, Dan Cosgrove Animal Shelter, Animal Rescue Kingdom (Texas group), Zen Dog, Brass City Alliance, and Stand Up For Animals.

What's next? Watson hopes to hone his songwriting craft. He'd like to have enough original material to perhaps open shows at local vineyards when national songwriters come through on tours. As for performing his regular shows, with most COVID restrictions lifted, he's happily back to work and very busy. For a complete list of shows, and to find out more about "Mystic Tonight," go to danwatsonmusic.com.

"Mystic Tonight"

Steve Broderick/Dan Watson

(first verse)

New England seaside

postcard town

Mystic River and the Long Island Sound

Stuck at the drawbridge, coming down

a good excuse as any, I'm late for my gig in town

(chorus)

Sunday down on Water Street

Tuesday's DPI

Wednesday at the Winery