Biography
Jack Watts, a singer and songwriter born in Brighton, absorbed a passion for music from childhood, taking after his father’s affection for Dylan while his mother steered him toward Motown. During his preteen phase he experimented briefly with grunge, yet Ryan Adams, Jeff Buckley, and Radiohead captured his attention as a teenager and guided the emergence of his distinctive songwriting style. Once he had mastered guitar and keyboard, he abandoned formal education after completing his GCSEs to devote himself entirely to music, holding a series of jobs that financed his training at music college. Early appearances found him on stage alone, supplying his own keyboard and guitar accompaniment. His inaugural tour arrived in 2015 within the Communion New Faces package. That same year he issued his first recording, the EP Red Shortbread on BARP Records, an effort that introduced a full band he would later incorporate into live performances. The heavily reverbed, fingerpicked electric guitar, high-pitched and impassioned vocals, and emotionally raw lyrics plainly echoed his influences, although a clear soul/jazz dimension surfaced from time to time, occasionally recalling Nina Simone. Reviewers also noted resemblances to Damien Rice, Justin Nozuka, and Ben Howard. His second EP, How It Is, appeared in 2016 and gave greater prominence to the soul/R&B leanings than earlier work.
Singles
