Stephenville hosts Aaron Watson for Family Weekend

BY  MICHAELA DENNIS / Executive Producer 

Stephenville hosts Aaron Watson concert during Family Weekend Sept. 22-24. 

The concert was held Friday evening at the local bar, Twisted J. The room was at full capacity waiting to hear from the popular, Aaron Watson.

The room was fixed with a mixed audience of Stephenville natives, Tarleton State University’s Alumni and current members of the student body.

He has released 12 albums and eight singles. Additionally, he was named the Texas Cowboy of Hall of Fame in 2020 Spirit of Texas.

Watson’s music is published on Apple Music and Spotify for viewers to enjoy. Apple Music offers the category, Aaron Watson Essentials, a list of his most successful songs within his 21-year career.

Chloe Cooper, freshman at Tarleton, has attended four of Watson’s concerts prior to his showcase during Family Weekend.

She said the reason why she attends so many of his concerts is because he regularly plays close to her hometown Toledo, Texas.

Cooper was excited for the concert, especially knowing that her new home Tarleton welcomed her favorite artist. She was looking forward to Watson singing her favorite song “Dog Tags”.

“Dog tags” is one of Watson’s sentimental songs. It is featured on his American Soul album in honor of his disabled dad who served in the Vietnam War.

“At an early age I developed a great amount of love and respect for the men and women who serve our country,” Watson said on a YouTube interview.

Cooper related to the emotion behind the song because she comes from a military family.

“The overall meaning of the song and showing the respect of the dog tags is the biggest thing to me,” Cooper said.

Brianna Tejeda is a student at Tarleton. 

Like Cooper, Tejeda attended multiple of Watson’s concerts and is admirable of his music. 

“I love almost all of his songs,” Tejeda said. “I am looking forward to everything.”

Tejeda said that she attended this concert because she usually spends her weekends at home and wanted to support one of her favorite artists.

The song that she was looking forward to hearing was Diamonds and Daughters because she shared her first dance with her father at her Quinceanera to this song.

Overall, Tejeda said she wanted her friend to become a fan of her lifelong favorite artist.

Megan Schneider is a sophomore at Tarleton who attended the concert with Tejeda.

Before this concert, Schneider never sat down to listen to his music. She only heard a couple of songs on the radio. 

Schneider usually spends her weekend at home. She was looking forward to sharing this moment with a large group of people. 

She said that she is hoping that Stephenville hosts Kenny Orts. He is a Texas dancehall musician. She enjoys him because he is funny and good at engaging with the crowd during his concerts.

Schneider said she hopes Stephenville will host more country singers in the future and concerts bring a large audience.

“There is not a lot to do here but if there’s more like this it would make town fun,” Schneider said.