MUMBAI: With current single, Run Wild Horses in the 30s and climbing on the US country radio charts and making waves on the international scene with radio play on the UK’s 24/7 station Chris Country and across the BBC regional network, Aaron Watson wrapped his eighth international tour in the UK over the weekend, stepping in to upgrade an already planned set for ten thousand plus fans at the new The Long Road festival in Leicestershire, to a 90-minute Saturday night headline performance. In his 15+ year career as an independent artist Watson has played over 2,500 shows in the US and 20 plus overseas, with nearly half a million headline tickets sold in the last 18 months alone, so he was well positioned to step in at the last minute when Carrie Underwood had to cancel her appearance due to illness.

Fans were treated to a full band set made up of songs from Vaquero, number one album The Underdog and further back in the Aaron Watson songbook, as well as a couple of carefully-selected covers from his various influences. UK music site, Your Life In A Song, described the performance as "legendary... Every country festival needs a cowboy and they don’t come much bigger and better than Aaron Watson,” while you Discover Music said Watson “seized the bill-topping opportunity, with songs from the true tradition of country that had fans…dancing into the night.”

With four highly successful headline shows across the country, this trip built on ongoing support from the UK media in recent years, with airplay from Bob Harris on BBC Radio 2 and interviews on numerous other BBC and commercial local radio stations, to discuss the tour, his love for UK fans and the August release of his new live album Live At The World’s Biggest Rodeo Show which benefits the Rebuild Texas Fund for victims of Hurricane Harvey.