Darrell Scott
James Darrell Scott known as Darrell Scott (b August 6, 1959, London, Kentu… Read Full Bio ↴James Darrell Scott known as Darrell Scott (b August 6, 1959, London, Kentucky), the son of musician Wayne Scott with whom he has collaborated, is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He was playing professionally by his teens in Southern California, later living in Toronto and Boston. He attended Tufts University, where he studied poetry and literature.
In 2010, he recorded and toured as part of Robert Plant's "Band of Joy" project.
Scott has also collaborated with Steve Earle, Sam Bush, Emmylou Harris, John Cowan, Verlon Thompson, Guy Clark, Tim O'Brien, Kate Rusby, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, and many others. His unique music has attracted a growing fanbase, and he tours regularly with his own band.
Much of the commentary about Darrell Scott’s career has focused on the songs he’s written that have been recorded by famous names and voices – those known in music industry parlance as “artists.” But then there’s the actual word artist, whose definition has nothing to do with radio hits and red carpets. We refer of course to those who create artifacts of aesthetic and intellectual contemplation and wonder, built from experience, skill, reflection and emotional intent. That’s an artist. And that, at the end of the day, is Darrell Scott.
This is made abundantly clear on A Crooked Road, Scott’s sixth solo studio album. Recorded at home and entirely performed by Scott on a variety of instruments, A Crooked Road falls somewhere between a carefully crafted memoir and an arresting breach of privacy. From the deepest containers of memory, it recounts the bruises and blessings of 30 years of love relationships, stirring the heart with its intimacy and with the enthralling warmth and strength of Scott’s rare voice and musicianship. It is certainly the most introspective and intense project of Scott’s career, spilling over from one CD onto a second, and arranged as a journey with instrumental interludes and a sense of purpose that invites the listener to follow Scott along the crooked road of life, from romantic young man to drama king to lone poet.
Why this album, and why now? Scott says the proximate cause was the approach of his 50th birthday and a long process of adjusting to being single for the first time since first getting married at age 20. The songs were not written with the album in mind specifically, but upon looking at his output over a period of a few years, Scott saw a strong theme emerging. A sequence of songs presented themselves with the kind of clarity that rings an inner bell and signals ‘this is an album.’ Indeed, Scott shelved several other projects temporarily in order to focus on the recording of these 20 songs and pieces.
That recording took place in unusual isolation. Scott generally calls upon peers from the top ranks of roots and Americana music for his projects, but this seemed like the right time to realize a life-long aspiration of making an album by himself. When Darrell was 16, his father, a remarkable songwriter and singer in his own right, purchased a four-track, reel-to-reel recorder. Darrell virtually adopted it, spending many long nights in a shed, laying down parts and harmonizing with himself on a variety of instruments. It was a vital part of his musical schooling, as he figured out how instruments sound together and how to layer parts with grace and taste. While he did engage the help of his regular recording engineer Stephanie Hudacek at a console one floor below his living room “studio,” otherwise Scott worked alone. He would lay down a baseline performance of a song with the right backing instrument, whether guitar, piano or mandocello. Then he added parts, sometimes a single line and in some cases all the parts of a fleshed out band. It is perhaps no surprise that he dedicated the project to guitar pioneer Les Paul, the father of multi-track recording, who died while the album was being recorded at age 94.
As for the music itself, longtime fans of Scott will find a lot that is familiar here: that soul-saturated voice, somewhere between Lowell George and James Taylor, the dazzling instrumental chops and the unfailing judgment about what makes a song sturdy enough to stand up to the wind and weather of time. The album opens with the title track, a simple tune that throws back a bit to the folk-pop of the early 1970s. It lays out the geography of the album to come. “I will sing a lonesome song to anyone who’ll listen,” he says, invoking the muse and inviting the kind of active attention the album merits.
Highlight songs include “Long Wide Open Road,” wherein Darrell recounts his first love with wistful hindsight. “For Suzanne” burrows into the complex cocktail of guilt and anger that remain in the wake of a crashed relationship. “Colorado” finds Scott in lone contemplation on a spiritual road trip. And the passion and humor of a forest-fire romance are described in the rocking “Snow Queen and Drama Llama.” The last stage of the journey achieves new plateaus of insight and peace in songs like the lush and grand “This Time ‘Round” and the spare benediction of “This Beggar’s Heart.”
It’s a special album from a special time in the life of a special recording artist. Its hand-crafted feeling evokes the integrity and permanence of a well-made instrument or an expertly done painting. It may be more somber and vulnerable than Scott’s previous releases, but for that reason it has that much more emotional directness and power. It is truly a self-portrait of the artist as an older and wiser man.
Craig Havighurst
Nashville 2010
Career Highlights:
American Songwriter Top 25 Songs from the last 25 Years - #6: "It's A Great Day To Be Alive" - 2009
Americana Award for Song of the Year - "Hank William's Ghost" 2007
4th Annual Independent Music Award for Album of the Year - Theatre of the Unheard - Jan 2005
Indie Acoustic Best CD Lyrics - 2004
#3 2004 Country Music Songwriter of the Year - (ranked by over 100 music critics)
Grammy Nomination for Best Country Song – "Long Time Gone" Dixie Chicks 2003
Rolling Stone Magazine 2003 Critics Top Albums - Theatre of the Unheard
IBMA Song of the Year Nominee - 2002, 2003
Village Voice Pazz & Jopp Poll - 2000, 2003
Founded Full Light Records - Apr 2003
ASCAP Songwriter of the Year - 2002
Grammy Nomination for Best Country Instrumental Performance – “The Second Mouse” 2001
NSAI Songwriter of the Year - 2001
In 2010, he recorded and toured as part of Robert Plant's "Band of Joy" project.
Scott has also collaborated with Steve Earle, Sam Bush, Emmylou Harris, John Cowan, Verlon Thompson, Guy Clark, Tim O'Brien, Kate Rusby, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, and many others. His unique music has attracted a growing fanbase, and he tours regularly with his own band.
Much of the commentary about Darrell Scott’s career has focused on the songs he’s written that have been recorded by famous names and voices – those known in music industry parlance as “artists.” But then there’s the actual word artist, whose definition has nothing to do with radio hits and red carpets. We refer of course to those who create artifacts of aesthetic and intellectual contemplation and wonder, built from experience, skill, reflection and emotional intent. That’s an artist. And that, at the end of the day, is Darrell Scott.
This is made abundantly clear on A Crooked Road, Scott’s sixth solo studio album. Recorded at home and entirely performed by Scott on a variety of instruments, A Crooked Road falls somewhere between a carefully crafted memoir and an arresting breach of privacy. From the deepest containers of memory, it recounts the bruises and blessings of 30 years of love relationships, stirring the heart with its intimacy and with the enthralling warmth and strength of Scott’s rare voice and musicianship. It is certainly the most introspective and intense project of Scott’s career, spilling over from one CD onto a second, and arranged as a journey with instrumental interludes and a sense of purpose that invites the listener to follow Scott along the crooked road of life, from romantic young man to drama king to lone poet.
Why this album, and why now? Scott says the proximate cause was the approach of his 50th birthday and a long process of adjusting to being single for the first time since first getting married at age 20. The songs were not written with the album in mind specifically, but upon looking at his output over a period of a few years, Scott saw a strong theme emerging. A sequence of songs presented themselves with the kind of clarity that rings an inner bell and signals ‘this is an album.’ Indeed, Scott shelved several other projects temporarily in order to focus on the recording of these 20 songs and pieces.
That recording took place in unusual isolation. Scott generally calls upon peers from the top ranks of roots and Americana music for his projects, but this seemed like the right time to realize a life-long aspiration of making an album by himself. When Darrell was 16, his father, a remarkable songwriter and singer in his own right, purchased a four-track, reel-to-reel recorder. Darrell virtually adopted it, spending many long nights in a shed, laying down parts and harmonizing with himself on a variety of instruments. It was a vital part of his musical schooling, as he figured out how instruments sound together and how to layer parts with grace and taste. While he did engage the help of his regular recording engineer Stephanie Hudacek at a console one floor below his living room “studio,” otherwise Scott worked alone. He would lay down a baseline performance of a song with the right backing instrument, whether guitar, piano or mandocello. Then he added parts, sometimes a single line and in some cases all the parts of a fleshed out band. It is perhaps no surprise that he dedicated the project to guitar pioneer Les Paul, the father of multi-track recording, who died while the album was being recorded at age 94.
As for the music itself, longtime fans of Scott will find a lot that is familiar here: that soul-saturated voice, somewhere between Lowell George and James Taylor, the dazzling instrumental chops and the unfailing judgment about what makes a song sturdy enough to stand up to the wind and weather of time. The album opens with the title track, a simple tune that throws back a bit to the folk-pop of the early 1970s. It lays out the geography of the album to come. “I will sing a lonesome song to anyone who’ll listen,” he says, invoking the muse and inviting the kind of active attention the album merits.
Highlight songs include “Long Wide Open Road,” wherein Darrell recounts his first love with wistful hindsight. “For Suzanne” burrows into the complex cocktail of guilt and anger that remain in the wake of a crashed relationship. “Colorado” finds Scott in lone contemplation on a spiritual road trip. And the passion and humor of a forest-fire romance are described in the rocking “Snow Queen and Drama Llama.” The last stage of the journey achieves new plateaus of insight and peace in songs like the lush and grand “This Time ‘Round” and the spare benediction of “This Beggar’s Heart.”
It’s a special album from a special time in the life of a special recording artist. Its hand-crafted feeling evokes the integrity and permanence of a well-made instrument or an expertly done painting. It may be more somber and vulnerable than Scott’s previous releases, but for that reason it has that much more emotional directness and power. It is truly a self-portrait of the artist as an older and wiser man.
Craig Havighurst
Nashville 2010
Career Highlights:
American Songwriter Top 25 Songs from the last 25 Years - #6: "It's A Great Day To Be Alive" - 2009
Americana Award for Song of the Year - "Hank William's Ghost" 2007
4th Annual Independent Music Award for Album of the Year - Theatre of the Unheard - Jan 2005
Indie Acoustic Best CD Lyrics - 2004
#3 2004 Country Music Songwriter of the Year - (ranked by over 100 music critics)
Grammy Nomination for Best Country Song – "Long Time Gone" Dixie Chicks 2003
Rolling Stone Magazine 2003 Critics Top Albums - Theatre of the Unheard
IBMA Song of the Year Nominee - 2002, 2003
Village Voice Pazz & Jopp Poll - 2000, 2003
Founded Full Light Records - Apr 2003
ASCAP Songwriter of the Year - 2002
Grammy Nomination for Best Country Instrumental Performance – “The Second Mouse” 2001
NSAI Songwriter of the Year - 2001
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Darrell Scott Lyrics
10000 Miles Away I can feel it when the wind blows Stealing leaves out…
6 O'Clock In the Morning Look at the hand that made the steel That raised the…
A Crooked Road I walk a crooked road to get where I am…
A Father's Song I've missed fathers' days and birthdays and Sundays with my…
A House of Gold People steal, they cheat and lie For wealth and what it…
A Satisfied Mind How many times have you heard someone say ""If I had…
After All We walked all night in the pouring rain Made the coast…
All the Lovely Ladies All the lovely ladies in their finery tonight* I wish that…
And The River Is Me It's been rainy and windy for seven days straight I've been…
Banjo Clark Old Joe Clark he made his mark when cotton was…
Big River Well I taught the weeping willow how to cry, And I…
Candle For A Cowboy There was no denying the fire in his eyes It was…
Candles In The Rain Most days I never even notice Most nights are much the…
Colorado Colorado I need healing From this sorrow I′ve been feeling G…
Dance In The Darkness I saw the curtain move I saw the hand that pulled…
Day After Day Dad never started drinking 'til he was thirty-five And once…
Double-Headed Eagle We had a fight And I walked the street for hours When…
East of Gary I grew up on the Indiana side of Chicago With the…
Every Road Leads Back To You Playing 'cross the country with a 5-piece band I'm just try…
Family Tree Dancin in the living room, cuttin' up a rug Dancin' with…
Full Light Take the skeleton from the closet Shake the dust off of…
Head South Head south in the morning, just take off with no…
Hopkinsville If you can't find work, work finds you You know daddy…
I This is the song that nobody knows I couldn't begin to…
I Never Had a Sister I never had a sister Me and four brothers made up…
I Wanna Be Free Sally took a ride with my kid brother Made her sister…
I Wish I wish I was a chauffer California, New Year's Eve Driving a…
I'm Not Gonna Forget You Last night on the mountain, I gave my horn a…
In My Final Hour In my final hour When I'm looking at the end When…
It I got rice cooking in the microwave I got a three…
It Must Be Sunday It must be Sunday for a man to feel this…
It's a Great Day To Be Alive I got rice cooking in the microwave I got a three…
It's the Whiskey That Eases the Pain It ain't love, it ain't money that makes this world…
Joan of Arc Now the flames they followed joan of arc As she came…
Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burnin' Troubles and trials are almost over Troubles and trials are …
Lazarus Dies Again Rise up Lazarus, get out of that grave Rise and shine…
Little Sadie Went out one night to make a little round, I met…
Lonesome Whistle I was riding Number Nine Heading south from Caroline I heard…
Long Wide Open Road I knew that I first loved her with a meeting…
Love I'm so close to you baby but I'm so far…
Love is the Reason I′ve been away, been away, been away too long And I've…
Love's Not Through With Me Yet Oh, I have seen the young girls cry Thinking love has…
Mahala She's the sweetest when she's sleeping I've watched her man…
Miracle of Living He left Boston in December for New Mexico Determined to forg…
My Father's House I was born and raised in my father's house Can catching…
No Use Living For Today There's no use living for today There's no use living for…
Out In The Parking Lot SITTING ON THE FENDER OF SOMEONE ELSE’S TRUCK DRINKING OLD C…
Pay Lake We've been watching the clock all afternoon If the eagle sc…
Rhonda's Last Ride She was found in her bedroom with a note on…
River Take Me It's been rainy and windy for seven days straight I've been…
Shattered Cross You don't mess around with a man in black, You will…
She Sews the World With Love My love she takes a needle and a thread With abox…
Someday I am grounded, oh, but I have wings to fly I…
Spelling Bee Romance Well, I just talked to rudy on the p-h-o-n-e Said "it's…
Still Got A Ways To Go Time is slowly ticking, taking all our youth Beelzebub and …
Take Me Back to Yesterday There's a full moon rising high filling up my empty…
The Ballad of Martha White I'm southern born and corn bred My folks are just the…
The Day Before Thanksgiving It’s the day before Thanksgiving I’m not feeling much of…
The Devil Don't you know, It's been rainin' in the mountains and the…
The Dreamer So the shepherd boy says to his lady in waitin' Give…
The Hummingbird A farmboy from Kentucky Hills Learned to play guitar for his…
The Man Who Could Have Played Bass For Shanana THE MAN WHO COULD HAVE PLAYED BASS FOR SHANANA I walked…
The Open Door Well, it's fare thee well, my true love The song is…
This Beggar's Heart This beggar's heart that I've been given This beggar's hear…
Tonight I'm Missing You Tonight I'm missing you Nothing original, nothing new Yeah…
Too Close To Comfort In a bar, in a hotel, in Atlanta, downtown He's a…
Uncle Lloyd He was not my father’s brother But he wished that he…
Urge for Going I awoke today and found the frost perched on the…
Walk Beside Me Put one foot in front of the other Steppin' into the…
Wayfaring Pilgrim I am a poor wayfaring pilgrim Traveling through this world…
When There's No One Around This is the song that nobody knows I couldn't begin to…
When There's No One Around / Will The Circle Be Unbroken This is the song that nobody knows I couldn't begin to…
When You're Tired of Breaking Other Hearts When you're tired of breaking other hearts won't you come…
You Like a hog a rootin' up under a fence Like a…
You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive In the deep, dark hills of eastern Kentucky That's the…