Tony Watt

IBMA and SPBGMA award–winning flatpicking guitarist and mandolinist Tony Watt has performed throughout the U.S. and Europe, on the Grand Ole Opry, and beyond. He has been featured in Bluegrass Unlimited, Bluegrass Today, and Flatpicking Guitar Magazine, and his performance and jamming videos on YouTube have over 1.4 million views, including "Cherokee Shuffle" with Noam Pikelny and Andy Falco, which has been viewed over 200,000 times. Watt has toured with Alecia Nugent, Leigh Gibson, Alan Bibey & Grasstowne, and Jenni Lyn Gardner. He is a graduate of Leadership Bluegrass, has served on IBMA's education and board selection committees, and is currently the vice president and education codirector of the Boston Bluegrass Union (BBU).

Watt has taught bluegrass for more than 20 years, including most recently as an associate professor in Berklee's ensemble department. He has also taught at Berklee's five-week summer program and within the American roots music program. He was the camp coordinator for Ashokan's first-ever bluegrass camps and the jam coordinator and beginner track coordinator for Guitar and Mandolin Camp North and Banjo Camp North. Watt is also the director of Bluegrass University, which presents JamVember, a weekend-long bluegrass jamming "non-festival" held the weekend before Thanksgiving. He is also the host of bluegrass Tuesdays at Lily P's in Cambridge, MA, which is one of the longest-running and most successful bluegrass nights in the country. Watt currently teaches lessons, classes, workshops, and jam sessions throughout the Boston area and anywhere in the world online via Zoom video conferencing.