Instructor Bio

Steve Watson

email: jswatson@greenvilleschools.us

864-355-2570

Steve Watson graduated from Newberry College with a BA in 1974 and The University of Miami (Coral Gables) with a MM in 1977.

Steve has performed all over the world. He was a member of The University of Miami Concert Jazz Band that toured Switzerland, Cyprus, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, and Tunisia. From 1978 through1984 Steve was a member of The Bruce Hornsby Band. After moving to Los Angeles, he became a studio guitarist for television, movies and records. His credits include Hill Street Blues, Magnum PI, The A-Team, Hunter, Hardcastle and McCormick, Riptide, Murder She Wrote, LA Law, Big Business, Simon and Simon, Quantum Leap, The Young Riders, Sonny Spoon, The Greatest American Hero, Young Guns, Trains, Planes and Autos, Sixteen Candles, Rhinestone, Dragnet, Dr. Detroit, River Rats, Into the Night and The Dolly Parton variety television show. He has also recorded commercials for Coors, Budweiser, 7-11, Acura, Honda and Toyota. Steve was an adjunct professor at The University of Southern California from 1981-1990 and lecturer at The University of Miami from 1977-1978.

Steve has been the Director of Jazz Studies at The Fine Arts Center since 1990.

“Watson’s Riddle” was released in 2011 on Palmetto Records (Sony) with Paul Riddle and Chuck Leavell. Steve wrote all of the material for this project. It was a top 15 CD in the contemporary jazz charts for 2011 and 2012.

Steve released his self-produced solo project entitled “Heat It Up” in February 2015. It contains ten tracks of original instrumental contemporary jazz. The single "Mary Anna" was co-produced by smooth jazz veteran and University of Southern California professor Richard Smith. The CD reached #12 on the SmoothJazz.com Indie chart.

The CD "Playtime" was released in January 2016. It was produced by Chuck Loeb, Jeff Lorber and Steve Watson.

It has 8 songs with the 2 singles "Playtime" and "Pearbear". Both singles charted on BILLBOARD with "Pearbear" staying on the chart for 4 months. It reached number 4 on the Smoothjazz.com chart in May 2017.

The Jazz CD "Reflections" featuring Steve Watson, guitar; Ian Bracchitta, acoustic bass; Rick Dilling, drums; Wendy Jones, vocals, was released August 1st 2018. This is a collection of American Songbook tunes in am acoustic setting.

Recorded a CD in 2020-2021 with "The Regions" featuring University of Miami graduates Jon Gilutin, Steve Rucker, Jeff Carswell and Dave Fernandez. The music features the compositions of UM Professor emeritus Ron Miller as well as Jon Gilutin and Steve Rucker.