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
The Man Who Could Have Played Bass For Shanana
Darrell Scott Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I walked into the lounge of the Windsor Arms Hotel
Where a band was playing Fifties songs
The ones we know so well
And they played just like the record
Not a note was out of place
Then they finished with "Goodnight Sweetheart"
As he walked by the table I offered him a beer
Said I was a player too
I had been for many years
And we talked about the business
All the years out on the road
How forever sweet sixteen
Was such a heluva heavy load
And he said, "Ya know I could have made it once
If I′d have listened to a friend
He had set up this audition
With a fifties group back when
But it was 1967 and I had dreams of moving on
The man who could've played bass for Shanana
Shanana, Shanana
He said, "I see them on the TV shows
Every now and again and I see my buddy playing
The saxophone the way he did back then
Oh we used to play the circuit
Any dive that had the pay
But we′d have done it all for nothing
Just to get a chance to play"
He said, "I talk to my family on every Sunday night
And I tell em where I'm working next
And how the band is getting tight
And my children always ask me
How much longer I'll be gone"
The man who could′ve played bass for Shanana
Shanana, Shanana
Well, we all have our stories
How we try but can′t forget
And how we sit in contemplation
And we lick our own regret
There's the one we could′ve married
There's the job we could′ve had
There's the winning run we could′ve hit
If we had a more loving dad
And there's the house we could've bought
When the prices weren′t so high
And there′s the loving words we could've said
Before that loved one died
There′s the road we could've traveled
There′s the one we traveled on and on and on
And there's the man who could′ve played bass for Shanana
Shanana, Shanana, Shanana
In the song "The Man Who Could Have Played Bass for Shanana" by Darrell Scott, the singer walks into the lounge of the Windsor Arms Hotel where he hears a band playing classic Fifties songs. Impressed by their perfect rendition of "Goodnight Sweetheart," he strikes up a conversation with the bassist after the show. The man tells the singer that he could have made it once but he was too foolish to take an opportunity to audition for Shanana when he was asked. The man laments his choices in life and how the road not taken still haunts him.
The song reflects on the regrets and lost opportunities that we all have as we look back on our lives. The choice to pursue a dream or stick with a steady job, the chance to tell someone how much they mean to us before it's too late, the opportunity to take a risk and try something new. The man in the song symbolizes the possibilities that we let slip away, the what-ifs that keep us up at night. While the song is specific in its references to music and the 1950s, it strikes a universal chord as we all wonder what might have been.
Line by Line Meaning
I walked into the lounge of the Windsor Arms Hotel
The singer entered the lounge area of Windsor Arms Hotel
Where a band was playing Fifties songs
The band that was playing in the lounge was playing songs from the fifties
The ones we know so well
The songs the band was playing were well known by the singer
And they played just like the record
The band played the songs exactly like they were recorded
Not a note was out of place
The band played the songs perfectly without making any mistakes
Then they finished with "Goodnight Sweetheart"
After playing a few songs, the band concluded with "Goodnight Sweetheart"
By the guy who played the bass
The bass player in the band played the bass part for "Goodnight Sweetheart"
As he walked by the table I offered him a beer
As the bass player walked past the artist's table, the artist offered him a beer
Said I was a player too
The artist told the bass player that he was also a musician
I had been for many years
The artist had been playing music for several years
And we talked about the business
The singer and the bass player talked about the music industry
All the years out on the road
They discussed the time they had spent touring
How forever sweet sixteen
They talked about how they used to perform for young crowds
Was such a heluva heavy load
They agreed that performing all the time could be tiring
And he said, "Ya know I could have made it once
The bass player mentioned that he had the opportunity to make it big in the music industry
If I'd have listened to a friend
He believes that he could have been successful if he had taken the advice of a friend
He had set up this audition
The friend had arranged an audition for the bass player with a fifties group
With a fifties group back when
The audition was for a group playing music from the fifties
But it was 1967 and I had dreams of moving on
He turned down the audition because he wanted to move on to newer things
He said, "I see them on the TV shows
The bass player sees his friend performing on TV with his saxophone
Every now and again and I see my buddy playing
He occasionally sees his friend playing music with his band on TV
The saxophone the way he did back then
His friend is playing the saxophone the same way he used to play it when they performed together
Oh we used to play the circuit
The bass player and his friend used to tour together
Any dive that had the pay
They used to play in any venue that would pay them
But we'd have done it all for nothing
They wouldn't have minded performing for free
Just to get a chance to play"
Playing music was their passion, and they would have played for free just to have the opportunity to perform
He said, "I talk to my family on every Sunday night
The bass player calls his family every Sunday to update them on where he is performing
And I tell em where I'm working next
He tells his family where his next gig is going to be
And how the band is getting tight
He informs his family about how his band is improving with each performance
And my children always ask me
His children ask him
How much longer I'll be gone
They want to know how much longer he will be away from home
Well, we all have our stories
Everyone has stories about missed opportunities and regrets
How we try but can't forget
It can be difficult to forget about missed opportunities
And how we sit in contemplation
People often reflect on past experiences
And we lick our own regret
They regret not taking the audition and getting the opportunity to play with Shanana
There's the one we could've married
People often regret not marrying a certain person
There's the job we could've had
People often regret not taking a certain job opportunity
There's the winning run we could've hit
People often regret not hitting a winning run
If we had a more loving dad
People often think things could have been different if they had a more supportive father
And there's the house we could've bought
People often regret not buying a house when the prices were lower
When the prices weren't so high
They could have bought a house for less money if they had acted earlier
And there's the loving words we could've said
People often regret not saying loving words to someone before they passed away
Before that loved one died
They wish they could have said something meaningful before the person died
There's the road we could've traveled
People often regret not choosing a different path in life
There's the one we traveled on and on and on
They are on a path that they do not want to be on for a long period of time
And there's the man who could've played bass for Shanana
The bass player regrets not taking the audition and getting the opportunity to play with Shanana
Shanana, Shanana, Shanana
Repeating the name of the band to emphasize the regret felt by the bass player
Contributed by Camilla O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.