Howard Watts

Born: February 19, 1913 in Monticello, Florida Death: January 21, 1970 in Nashville, Tennessee Inducted into the Bluegrass Hall of Fame, 2007 American country/bluegrass bass player and comedian. Howard Watts, better known by his stage name Cedric Rainwater, was a member of the ‘classic’ line-up of the Blue Grass Boys that included Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs and Chubby Wise. He began his music career in Orlando, Florida, in 1932. However, he moved to Nashville in 1943, adopting the name Cedric Rainwater for some stage comedy roles. He left the Blue Grass Boys early in 1948 to work with Flatt and Scruggs with whom he stayed for approximately two years. Shortly thereafter he joined Hank Williams’ band, the Drifting Cowboys. After Williams’ death on January 1, 1953, Rainwater played with other country and bluegrass musicians, including Jimmy Martin, Hank Snow, Ray Price and Ferlin Husky. During the 1960s he worked as a booking agent and ran a restaurant before joining the re-united Drifting Cowboys to back Hank Williams Jr. in 1969. His superb timing, tone and 4/4 'walking bass' technique led many of his peers to regard him as the best acoustic bass player in the business. Rainwater was inducted into the IBMA Hall of Fame in 2007.