California's The Black Watch have existed as a rock outfit since the late '80s with various lineups and on a maze of labels. The one constant has been at the core: writer and English professor John Andrew Fredrick. As one might expect from a doctor of literature, Frederick has an ear for catchy lines and hidden meanings. Frederick also has a thing for the sound of electric guitars. However, the poetry of his compositions lies more in his fret work and the styles with how he hits the strings than with his lyrics. He follows in the tradition of classic rock. The music recalls the sounds of past semi-psychedelic glories filtered to the present tense.
Fredrick formed the band in 1987 after earning his Ph.D. in English from University of California, Santa Barbara. After recording St. Valentine and releasing it on eskimo, Fredrick's own label, violinist J'Anna Jacoby joined the group and the two of them formed the nucleus of the band until she left the group in 2003.

The Black Watch has recorded and toured consistently throughout its history except for a brief period in 1997 when the band broke up. During this hiatus, Fredrick wrote The King of Good Intentions, a semi-autobiographical novel about an indie rock band. The band recorded a CD of the same title intended as a companion piece to the novel, although the planned publication of the novel was cancelled when the publisher folded.

In 2008, guitarist and singer Steven Schayer (formerly of the Los Angeles band Clay Idols, and New Zealand band The Chills) joined, and Fredrick wrote and published a book of fiction, The Knucklehead Chronicles.

In 2013, The band released The End of When on Pop Culture Press Records.[2] Fredrick's novel The King of Good Intentions was finally published, and soon after, its sequel, and the band issued Sugarplum Fairy, Sugarplum Fairy (largely recorded by Fredrick without the band) and Highs and Lows in 2015.

The band signed with Atom Records to release Witches!, and the digital EP Paper Boats. In 2019, the band issued a compilation of their early vinyl-only releases, The Vinyl Years, a career-spanning best-of 31 Years of Obscurity: the Best of the black watch 1988-2019, as well as another studio recording, Magic Johnson.
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