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 currently lives with his wife, Susan, of 30 years in Greenville, SC. His 26 year old daughter, Mary Neill, is a graduate of The University of South Carolina and is a nurse in Charlotte NC. and married to Colin Irvine. His 32 year old daughter, Anna, is a graduate of The University of Georgia and is an attorney in Richmond, VA. She is married to Robert Clarke Hunter and they have two children Perrin Elizabeth Hunter, and Olivia Crawford Hunter .
Steve is , Director of Jazz Studies at The Fine Arts Center, an art magnet high school in Greenville, and is an adjunct professor at Furman University.
Steve released “Watson’s Riddle” in 2011 on Palmetto Records (Sony) with Paul Riddle and Chuck Leavell. He wrote all of the material for this project. It was in the top 15 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.
Steve released his new CD "Playtime" with the first single "Playtime" featuring Chuck Loeb on May 2nd 2016. Chuck produced this track. Jeff Lorber produced and contributed the track "Stones Throw" on the CD. The other tracks were produced by Steve with production help on "Pear Bear" from Greg Alewine and Hazen Bannister.It reached #18 on the Billboard Smooth Jazz Chart on July 11th.
As of 2-7-2017 "Pear Bear" was # 6 on the smoothjazz.com Top 50 Chart and #29 on the Billboard Smooth Jazz Chart.
In August of 2018 Steve released his first straight ahead jazz CD "Reflections" with Ian Bracchitta on bass, Rick Dilling on drums and Wendy Jones on vocals. It is available at CD Baby, ITunes, Amazon and all streaming and downloading sites,
http://store.cdbaby.com/cd/stevewatsonianbracchittarickd1