The Official Jeff Watson Home Page

Having scaled the heights of rock stardom with platinum albums and Top 10 hits, guitarist-songwriter extraordinaire Jeff Watson is climbing yet another peak in his career--composing, performing and producing music for film and television.

His score to the 2002 critically acclaimed feature-length Tom Brokaw-narrated documentary Vertical Frontier, about the first rock climbers to ascend the granite walls of Yosemite, announces the arrival of a completely fresh and innovative voice.

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_____"I know it’s horrible to say but I don’t watch much TV or many movies," says the energetic Watson at his state-of-the-art Camp Studio in Mill Valley, CA. "But that may be a benefit because I’m not influenced by anyone else, not even some I’ve been compared to and admire (such as Dire Straits’ Mark Knopfler). I try to bring a completely new perspective. I aspire to write music that isn’t derivative, that people haven’t heard, and that’s turning out to be a real plus."
_____For Vertical Frontier, which premiered in October at the Mill Valley Film Festival then took first place at the Banff Film Festival and screened at the Denver Film Festival, Watson’s score is a soaring, musically thought-provoking, largely acoustic work quite apart from his fame in Night Ranger, one of the most popular bands of the ‘80s. From playing classical guitar with steel strings to banjo to a butterknife that twangs with a particular sound, Watson performed every instrument.
_____"Everyone is using guitar samples these days on soundtracks," notes the gifted guitarist credited with popularizing, if not inventing, the fretboard tapping style known as the 8 Finger Technique. "But most score composers are keyboard players. They don’t play like guitar players. That may be one reason some scores sound generic and cold. What I love about scoring and writing music cues is trying to capture the heat of a moment. Bringing to life that musical emotion is very satisfying."
_____Watson’s music has graced film and TV prior to Vertical Frontier. For the CBS series "Nash Bridges," which starred Don Johnson, he wrote songs for (and appeared in) several episodes. And when Boogie Nights director Paul Anderson needed to define the ‘80s for its soundtrack, Night Ranger’s anthemic "Sister Christian" was a centerpiece. The band had also been heard in the films The Secret Of My Success, Pretty In Pink, 16 Candles and Teachers.
_____Today, a reformed Night Ranger with its original line-up is back touring, the Watson-led metal supergroup Mother’s Army enjoys success in Europe and Japan, and fans eagerly anticipate his next solo album. Yet, Watson admits, his personal and musical sensibilities make film and TV scoring a natural evolution for his career.
_____"This is a serious business and I take it seriously," he says. I'm humble about the craft, I'm a team player and I love being in the studio. My goal is to be overwhelmingly too busy.