Kerri Watt has recently announced that she will be dropping her new album titled “Neptune’s Daughter.” The album is due to be released on the 15th of January 2021.
“Neptune’s Daughter” was recorded in 2018 with Texas based producer Machine (Clutch, Lamb Of God, Fall Out Boy). Just like many artists this year, Kerri had to make the decision to push back the release of the album. However, the songstress did not let 2020 go to waste. She has a show called ‘Watt A Wonderful World’ show, which has been streaming every Wednesday at 7pm for over 4 months, she has been a featured performer on a variety of charity streams including Save Our Scottish Venues for the Music Venue Trust, Takeover Fest for Nordoff Robbins, and The 2.6 Challenge for Stop The Traffic, collaborated with Puma Women on their Stronger Together campaign live stream, and French designer Les Georgettes on a jewellery campaign.
Moving forward, Kerri Watt is finally releasing the album that she has worked so hard on. We wanted to know more about the up coming release so we got in touch. Here is what she had to say!;
Hey Kerri! Thank you for having a quick chat with us!
You have an album due to be released on the 15th of January titled “Neptune’s Daughter.” Congratulations! Why don’t you start by telling us a bit about it?
Thanks so much! I’m super excited about this debut record finally getting out there and into peoples ears. The album is a collection of moments from my life over the past few years. There’s visions of roadtrips, heartbreak, love, family and lots of good times! It’s a real blend of my favourite genres. I call it ‘Americana’ because that umbrella term kind of covers rock, pop, country and blues. I’m Scottish so there’s flavours of my accent that come through in certain songs and someone recently referred to it as Kilted Americana which i loved! I recorded the album with a live band in Austin, Texas and hopefully listeners will hear the crazy fun vibe we had in the studio for those 5 weeks.
We absolutely love the namethat you have given the album. It’s very unique. Can you tell us the story behind the name “Neptune’s Daughter”? How did that come about?
There’s lots of nature and outdoorsy references sewn into the fabric of the album which is a reflection of my lifestyle. I’m big into hiking the mountains but equally love the ocean. I spent some time living in California and learnt to surf which really gave me a deep passion for the water. ‘Neptune’s Daughter’ to me means child of the ocean, you know like daughter of King Neptune! There’s no feeling like being out in the great outdoors and in the lyrics of Neptune’s Daughter the chorus line goes “Gravity is pulling on me and the feelings rising high, and this is the time of our lives” – that’s the feeling of being out there in nature.
Could you tell us your favourite track on the album, and why? And how would you describe your sound to our readers?
That’s a tough question and it’s changed a lot over this past year. At the moment, I think ‘Waking Up In California’ is my favourite song. A few of the album tracks have been released already and others I’ve played live but Waking Up In Cali still feels really fresh to me. Although I’m hoping the whole album feels that way to new listeners! In terms of the sound, going back to the Americana vibe, the album was definitely influenced by artists like Sheryl Crow, Eagles, Train, The Rolling Stones. Besides one or two more serious songs, the whole vibe is kinda laid back and designed to transport the listener to a sunny place full of inspiration and nostalgia.
The release of the album sadly got delayed. What does it feel like to finally be able to release this body of work out into the world?
It’s feels great! It’s just going to be such a positive way to start 2021. There’s 12 songs on the album and 12 months in the year so hopefully by the end of the year each track will have had it’s own time in the spotlight. And fingers crossed for some live shows!
Can you describe the writing process that you went through when creating this album?
The writing of this album was a very intense, but inspired 2 month period. I’d just moved back up to Scotland from London where I’d been living and gigging for a few years and wanted to have a bit of a reset – get back to my roots and write on my own again for a while. Between the March and April I wrote about 37 songs. I was just writing all day every day and I did a few select cowrites with trusted friends like Gregor Philp of Deacon Blue – who actually cowrote 3 of the tracks that ended up on the album. I was going through a funny time with the sudden loss of two family members, the cultural shock of moving back to the countryside from a busy city but also the joy of a very happy relationship. I’d done lots of travelling over the past couple of years particularly to California which you can hear coming through in songs like ‘Band of Gold.’ By the time I went out to Austin to record the album, I’d whittled the 37 songs down to 15 and we ended up recording 12 of them. But I hope there’ll be a place for the others some time in the future
Everyone is itching to get back out on stage again to perform. How excited are to be able to do this again? What can people expect from you live?
The stage has always felt like home to me. I’ve been performing since I was 4 years old. I competed nationwide as a dancer from age 7, went into acting at 12 and had a short professional career in musical theatre before turning to songwriting. This is the longest I’ve ever been away from performing and i’ve really missed it! But I’m also grateful for the opportunities this time off has allowed me to stumble upon so I wouldn’t call it a wasted year at all. But when I do get back out there, expect high energy, lots of fun and some great outfits.
If you had to share the stage with anyone, who would it be and why?
This is going to sound totalllly random. But my life long hero is the comedic actor Steve Martin. I don’t know if you know this but he’s also a very talented musician – particularly banjo. I’ve seen him and the bluegrass group the ‘Steep Canyon Rangers’ play a couple of times. I’d love to share the stage with him, be in the presence of his amazing energy and play some cool roots music. Side note – if you need a book recommendation, he narrates the audio book to his memoir ‘Born Standing Up’ and it’s the best way to spend a long drive.
What is one question you wish someone would ask in an interview, but nobody ever does? Feel free to answer whatever question you come up with!
Hmm I guess I never get asked about my interests or goals outside of music, which makes sense as I’m usually here to discuss an upcoming release! But I do have many ambitions outside of music for my life. I recently recorded a voice over show reel and would love to get into voice acting – particularly in animation. I’d love to do a degree in Biology. I’m currently doing a diploma course in Evolutionary Biology and loving it so much it would be cool to find the time to take my studies further. And I also can’t wait to start a family!
Finally, apart from the album, can you tell us any future plans that you may have in 2021?
Ooh well there’s quite a few plans in the works! I’m launching a new business in the new year which will be a kind of coffee and music hub for the people of Glasgow! I’ll be talking a bit more about that in the coming months. I’m currently working on a musical with a couple of cowriters – one of whom is my brother so that’s really fun! Andddd I’m in the middle of trying to plan my wedding. Crossing our fingers for a big celebration later in the year!
“Neptune’s Daughter” is an album you truly don’t want to miss. It is now available for pre-order here. You will be able to choose from a variety of formats such as CD, cassette (which you can get exclusively from Kerri’s official store), and a Deluxe Digital Edition which includes six bonus acoustic tracks. She sure knows how to treat her audience. The track listing can be found below;
Neptune’s Daughter tracklisting
- All The Worse For Me
- Kissing Fools
- Chasing Aeroplanes
- Band of Gold
- Neptune’s Daughter
- Waking up in California
- Cut Me Loose
- Hellfire
- Spoonful of Sugar
- Jessie
- You Can’t Catch Me
- I Wanna Sing For You
Deluxe Digital Edition bonus tracks
- Chasing Aeroplanes (Acoustic)
- Cut Me Loose (feat. Samuel Jack) (Acoustic)
- Kissing Fools (Acoustic)
- Band of Gold (Acoustic)
- Hellfire (Acoustic)
- Jessie (Acoustic)
For more updates, be sure to follow Kerri Watt on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!
Are you excited for “Neptune’s Daughter”? Let us know over on our Twitter! – @AboutThe_Noise