THE ALLEN WATKINS BAND: Band finds new meaning to giving the audience what they want

STORY BY ERIN COGGINS | PHOTOS BY JOSHUA BERRY | LIVING 50 PLUS

It has been said that music brings people together. Nothing could be more accurate than when it comes to Allen and Connie Watkins.

Connie grew up in all things music. She played the clarinet in her high school band as well as participated in chorus and ensemble. Writing poetry and song lyrics was also a passion. That love of music led to an interest in folk music.

Allen, who grew up in a musical home, began to take music seriously at age 13 and joined his first full-time band after graduating high school. He is now a three-time Alabama State Champion for finger-style guitar, and is accomplished on the banjo, mandolin and bass. His musical influences range from the 50s, 60s and 70s rock. His most significant influence came from his dad, who was born in 1927.

“I got country music from its inception–from the Carter family on up,” Allen said. “Although with over 20 years of touring and my influences from different genres of music, my musical taste remains partial. I am a banjo player by trade, but I do play guitar and mandolin and a little bit of bass if necessary.”

With a collection of songs, Connie entered the recording studio to create her first studio album, “Dakota Landing,” alongside friends who would be featured as musicians. One of them recommended that Allen play with the ensemble for the recording.

“We fell in love recording that album and ended up getting together and then married,” Connie said.

Now that the couple has been wed for 12 years, they have fallen in love again—this time with performing for a cause with their newly formed band, The Allen Watkins Band. Formed in February, the band brings back Connie and Allen’s former bass player from a previous band, Joe Parker, and a new classically trained fiddle/violin player, Garrett Smith.

“On a ride back from a gig in Kentucky, Connie and I discussed trying to bring Joe back. We had all put things on hold because of aging parents,” Allen said. “We reached out to him, and he was ready to return. Joe called Garrett to join. We had an opportunity, so we took it. The band just took off right out of the gate.”

This time around, Connie, Allen and Joe look at performing a little differently. Connie, a former director for the Children’s Advocacy Center as well as director for other non-profits, came up with the idea to focus a bit of their musical efforts to benefit nonprofit organizations in the area.

“It’s our way of giving back the blessings that we have had for a long time,” Allen said. “We just like to give back to the community.

The first show, benefiting Alabama C.O.P.S., sold out. The idea to organize the benefit concert was personal. Their daughter, Haley’s friend Taylor, was married to Huntsville police officer Garrett Crumby, who was killed in the line of duty in 2023.

“She was like one of our kids. Our hearts broke when she lost her husband, widowed at age 30. When his death happened, she said that people from the organization came around and helped her get her life together again,” Connie said. “So, we did our first benefit because of our love for Taylor and in honor of her loss, as well as to help other families that might have had the same kind of loss.”

The event was the first of three held at the Huntsville Botanical Garden that the band has played or will play this year. Keeping it personal, the second non-profit was Band-Aids and Butterflies, whose founder is a friend of Joe.

“Band-Aids and Butterflies is a brand-new nonprofit. The founder worked with the hospital for a long time in children’s grief work,” Connie said. “Through this nonprofit, she counsels children who have a parent battling cancer or who has been lost to cancer.”

And not to leave Garrett out in choosing a nonprofit to benefit, the band will perform their third concert at the Huntsville Botanical Garden for the Village of Promise on Oct. 18. Garrett’s wife, Ina, serves on the organization’s board. Besides these three charities, the band has also performed concerts for mission work in Uganda and children’s cancer research.

Along with nonprofits, Connie and Allen hold preserving the history of music close to their hearts. Allen recalls a story his father told about growing up with country music. It was during the Great Depression, and his dad was around 15 years old. He was out with a couple of friends when they came across two young boys playing guitar and singing. One thing led to another, and Allen’s dad played the mandolin for a song, all the time thinking to himself that the kid singing was “pretty bad.”

“Daddy said he thought the poor kid would never make it in music,” Allen said. “That kid turned out to be Hank Williams. So, he got to play with Hank Williams. He always wanted to do music for a living, but he also knew he wanted to raise a family, and he knew how hard the music business was, so he chose a career instead and raised a family. He always maintained the top quality, professional grade of singing. He kept saying over and over, keep the old songs alive. Don’t let them die.

With this sentiment of never letting the old songs die, Connie and Allen played at the Huntsville Traditional Music Association Coffeehouse at Lowe Mill. They will play the Roundtop Festival at Burritt on the Mountain in November, an event that focuses on the historical preservation of traditional music.

“We had always heard about the Roundtop Festival, so we reached out to them, and they said we were the right kind of band for something like that,” Connie said.

And traditional music is what the Allen Watkins band plays. Well, sort of.

“Our music is Americana style. As songwriters, we draw from a lot of different influences. We have some songs that have a kind of rock and roll feel. We have swing tunes. We have bluegrass. We are very eclectic,” Allen said. “The joke I use from the stage is, ‘If you don’t like what you hear, just wait about four minutes.’ That’s because we do have a wide variety, and it’s a jack of all trades, master of none.”

Audiences will hear 60-70 % original music with some traditional tunes like “Red River Valley” or “Shenandoah.” They also throw in some fiddle blues and Celtic instrumentals.

“This music connects people. It’s uplifting,” Allen said. “We try to mix a lot of things together that lift people’s spirits.”

One of the original songs the band will perform in October is “Falling Through the Stars,” a song the couple says they wrote together before they even met. Connie had written a waltz lyric and a melody line to go with it, but she didn’t like either the instrumentation or the melody.

“When we got married, Allen was noodling around, and he played this melody that I thought was beautiful. I told him that it was so pretty. He said that he had never gotten any words for it, but that it was a minor key waltz,” Connie said. “And I said, ‘Well, I’ve got a waltz that I wrote words for and I don’t have a melody.’ And in just a few minutes, we put the two together, and it ended up being the song, ‘Falling Through the Stars.’”

Connie and Allen incorporate this type of love and passion into their performances, not to show off their songwriting or banjo playing, but to allow the audience to experience whatever emotion comes to them. The band performed at the Resurrection Baptist Church at the request of one of Allen’s music students. While putting together the set list, Allen included a song the couple co-wrote called “Don’t Try So Hard” as well as some faith-based songs from his Bluegrass gospel days.

“We did the traditional hymns and, of course, the song we co-wrote. When we finished and were packing up, a lady and her husband came walking up to the front,” Allen said. “She thanked me for doing the song I had written and said that it meant so much to her. We did all these faith-based songs in a church, and it was that song she commented on. That was very interesting to me. I don’t know what part of the song touched her, but it did. So, we always hope our songs are uplifting and have meaning to our audience.”

The couple is uncertain about what next year will bring regarding playing benefit concerts, but they will continue to play venues both locally and regionally. They also look forward to entering the studio to record their original music as soon as the touring season settles, to add to Connie and Allen’s collective three albums. The couple will head out on the road as a duo in October, hitting regional shows in Missouri and Arkansas.

“We are kind of getting our duo act back together. We are doing short, weekend-type tours in small spaces like listening rooms,” Connie said. “We don’t really play in any noisy restaurants or bars. We play concerts or in listening rooms because we want people to hear the lyrics to our songs. It’s kind of what it is about.”

Channel 31 has helped promote the band through their musical giving this year. Allen has been humbled by the compliments some at the station have given the band, as well as heartwarming to know that somebody likes what he does and what she writes.

“My dad gave me a very good lesson when I was learning the banjo. I got good really fast. It just made sense. It clicked. And he told me that no matter how good I got, there will always be some snot-nosed kid in the next county that can play something I can’t,” Allen said. “I’ve stayed humble with music all my life because of that. Getting reviews makes us feel good. But we leave it where it is.”

But there is one thing, the two aren’t afraid to brag about. And that’s their love for one another.

“When we are on the stage, we have a genuine love for each other. When we play and sing together at shows, we are not putting on an act. People see it,’ Allen said. “The emotion is there, and the enjoyment and fun are there.”