Dick Watson grew up in Indianola, Iowa. He started taking classical piano lessons at age 8. At age 13 he added jazz lessons in Des Moines, Iowa with Speck Redd, a good friend of Duke Ellington. Dick went to Park College in Parkville, Missouri for one year and then transferred to the University of Iowa where he graduated with a degree in German. All through school the weekends were filled with playing gigs. Dick has played most of the last 20 years on Friday and Saturday nights with his trio at The Lighthouse Inn in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He has played in a number of local festivals and venues in the area over the years including the Bix Festival in Davenport and the Cedar Basin Festival in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Dick has played with Al Jarreau, David Sanborn, Boots Randolph, Roy Clark, Al Hirt, Smokey Stover, Ray Blue, Rusty Jones, Bill Allred, Pee Wee Matese, J. R. Monterose, Ira Sullivan and Dave Bennett among others.