Brothers Osborne release Watertown, with John’s songwriting in focus
The new record puts John’s songwriting alongside the guitar work that makes him a player worth following.
Brothers Osborne released Watertown through MCA on October 23, 2026. Their fifth studio album reunites the duo with producer Jay Joyce, and its songwriting credits give guitar-minded listeners a useful way into the record.
Start with the credits
The standard 11-track release includes two songs written solely by John Osborne: “Family Business” and the title track. Cody Johnson guests on opener “Born and Raised Hell,” while Stephen Wilson Jr. appears on “Tough Kid.”
Those are credits, not a listening verdict. For readers following John as a musician rather than simply checking a release calendar, the two solo-written songs offer a focused starting point. The record itself—not a press release—will answer how those ideas land.
The guitarist behind the release
Earlier this year, Fender introduced John’s signature Telecaster, modeled on his personal 1968 instrument. Its B-string bender raises that string a whole step; the guitar also pairs an Olympic White finish with a maple fingerboard and a distinctive enlarged pickguard.
That is documented context for his playing, not evidence that this particular guitar was used to record Watertown. We have not verified an album-session equipment list.
Want to dig deeper into this kind of string bending? Read our Telecaster B-Bender explainer for the mechanism and its background.
For now, the news is a new album—and a reason to follow John’s writing as closely as his guitar work.
