Roots Music Report News Article
Darrell Scott
Darrell Scott makes a much anticipated return to Louisiana and Texas
Jennifer Balzer, Marketing/New Media for Darrell Scott
2009-11-03
Jennifer Balzer, Marketing/New Media for Darrell Scott
2009-11-03
ASCAP Songwriter of the Year and Grammy-nominated instrumentalist Darrell Scott makes a much anticipated return to Louisiana and Texas
NASHVILLE, Tenn., November 2, 2009 – The venerable Darrell Scott will begin his southern sweep at the Manship Theatre in Baton Rouge, LA, then continuing through Texas with stops in Wimberley at the intimate Blue Rock Studios, Ft. Worth for a special show with Jim Lauderdale, the popular Rice Festival in Fischer, then finishing up with a return visit to the Mucky Duck in Houston.
Born on a tobacco farm in London, Kentucky, and raised in E. Gary, Indiana, and central California, Darrell honed his skills with his four brothers as part of their dad’s band, getting on-the-job training in country music as they played on the stages of roadhouses and taverns all over the west.
Darrell eventually headed east, paying some more musical dues in Toronto and Boston, and earning a degree in poetry from Tufts University. With his lyric skills sharpened and his extraordinary abilities on guitars, banjo and numerous other instruments already road-tested, Darrell moved to Nashville where he utilized his string-slinging skills by appearing on albums by alt-country mavericks Guy Clark (for whom he later produced two CDs), Steve Earle, Randy Travis, Patty Loveless, and countless others.
With his skills as a studio picker flourishing and in high demand, Darrell channeled his other creative energies into his own songwriting and recordings includuing his debut CD, Aloha from Nashville, its follow-up Family Tree, as well as Real Time, a duo recording with “newgrass” trailblazer Tim O’Brien. Darrell’s original songs are much sought after by other artists, with Suzy Bogguss the first of many, taking his "No Way Out" to the country singles charts in 1996. Darrell’s compositions became highlights of albums by Garth Brooks, Faith Hill, Reba McEntire, Kathy Mattea, Maura O’Connell, Travis Tritt, Martina McBride and even his mentor, Guy Clark. The Dixie Chicks’ recording of “Long Time Gone” from Real Time was not only a smash hit for the Chicks, it garnered a Grammy nomination for "Best Country Song." "The Second Mouse," a Scott/O’Brien tune from Real Time was a Grammy finalist as “Best Country Instrumental Performance.” Darrell has been named Songwriter of the Year by both the Nashville Songwriters Association International and ASCAP.
Darrell’s solo CDs, session work, touring gigs with Steve Earle’s Bluegrass Dukes (of which he remains a member), Guy Clark, and Newgrass Revival founder Sam Bush, as well as his own live shows have steadily drawn rave reviews. USA Today praised his “brilliantly clever songs”; Entertainment Tonight raved about his “powerful songwriting, passionate vocals and masterful picking”; Rolling Stone listed his CD, Theatre of the Unheard, in their list of Critics’ Top Albums and compared him to Clark and Springsteen “at their best.” Performing Songwriter went all the way, dubbing him “the best of the best.”
Somehow, Darrell has continually found the time and energy to expand his musical activities ever further. In 2003, he launched his own label, Full Light Records, producing a traditional, mountain country album of his father's original songs, This Weary Way. Darrell has been the “artist in residence” with Orchestra Nashville, creating what he calls “diverse musical happenings – the odder the better,” mixing the string section with such guests as Sam Bush, jazz guitarist Bill Frisell, and other musicians from many genres.
To record a convincing all-covers CD of songs by the modern-day pantheon of great singer-songwriters, from Bob Dylan to Mickey Newbury to Joni Mitchell, one needs more than guts and good intentions. Something special and personal needs to be added to reignite oft-heard standards – musical talent, sure, but also a depth of feeling, experience and understanding. And Darrell Scott, from his genes to his genius as a sensitive vocalist, an award-winning songwriter of depth and perception, and a versatile instrumentalist, has earned that right as he so effortlessly demonstrates on his most recent release, Modern Hymns.
Darrell has also been stockpiling songs and ideas for his next few CDs, plays more than 50 shows a year including prestigious US and UK festivals, and conducts songwriting workshops around the country to students from all over the world. He will lead a second annual workshop in Costa Rica this December, having enlisted fellow songwriters Mary Gauthier and Beth Nielsen Chapman to teach as well. Early in 2009 Darrell launched a new audio series entitled NEW MOON | NEW MUSIC which features past solo performances, interviews or a variety of live shows in different band arrangements. Coinciding with each new moon, episodes have featured Darrell performing with John Cowan, Nick Forster, Casey Driessen, Kenny Malone and others. He recently had to turn down an invitation to lead a road band for Joan Baez due to logistics. We should all have such problems; we should all have such skills. But Darrell does, and that’s what makes him such a distinctive and creative force in contemporary music.
Tour schedule:
November 10 - Manship Theatre, Baton Rouge, LA
November 12 - Blue Rock Concert Series - Wimberley, TX
November 13 – McDavid Studio with Jim Lauderdale - Ft. Worth, TX
November 14 - Rice Festival - Fischer, TX
November 15 - Mucky Duck - Houston, TX
Written By: Jennifer Balzer, Marketing/New Media for Darrell Scott
NASHVILLE, Tenn., November 2, 2009 – The venerable Darrell Scott will begin his southern sweep at the Manship Theatre in Baton Rouge, LA, then continuing through Texas with stops in Wimberley at the intimate Blue Rock Studios, Ft. Worth for a special show with Jim Lauderdale, the popular Rice Festival in Fischer, then finishing up with a return visit to the Mucky Duck in Houston.
Born on a tobacco farm in London, Kentucky, and raised in E. Gary, Indiana, and central California, Darrell honed his skills with his four brothers as part of their dad’s band, getting on-the-job training in country music as they played on the stages of roadhouses and taverns all over the west.
Darrell eventually headed east, paying some more musical dues in Toronto and Boston, and earning a degree in poetry from Tufts University. With his lyric skills sharpened and his extraordinary abilities on guitars, banjo and numerous other instruments already road-tested, Darrell moved to Nashville where he utilized his string-slinging skills by appearing on albums by alt-country mavericks Guy Clark (for whom he later produced two CDs), Steve Earle, Randy Travis, Patty Loveless, and countless others.
With his skills as a studio picker flourishing and in high demand, Darrell channeled his other creative energies into his own songwriting and recordings includuing his debut CD, Aloha from Nashville, its follow-up Family Tree, as well as Real Time, a duo recording with “newgrass” trailblazer Tim O’Brien. Darrell’s original songs are much sought after by other artists, with Suzy Bogguss the first of many, taking his "No Way Out" to the country singles charts in 1996. Darrell’s compositions became highlights of albums by Garth Brooks, Faith Hill, Reba McEntire, Kathy Mattea, Maura O’Connell, Travis Tritt, Martina McBride and even his mentor, Guy Clark. The Dixie Chicks’ recording of “Long Time Gone” from Real Time was not only a smash hit for the Chicks, it garnered a Grammy nomination for "Best Country Song." "The Second Mouse," a Scott/O’Brien tune from Real Time was a Grammy finalist as “Best Country Instrumental Performance.” Darrell has been named Songwriter of the Year by both the Nashville Songwriters Association International and ASCAP.
Darrell’s solo CDs, session work, touring gigs with Steve Earle’s Bluegrass Dukes (of which he remains a member), Guy Clark, and Newgrass Revival founder Sam Bush, as well as his own live shows have steadily drawn rave reviews. USA Today praised his “brilliantly clever songs”; Entertainment Tonight raved about his “powerful songwriting, passionate vocals and masterful picking”; Rolling Stone listed his CD, Theatre of the Unheard, in their list of Critics’ Top Albums and compared him to Clark and Springsteen “at their best.” Performing Songwriter went all the way, dubbing him “the best of the best.”
Somehow, Darrell has continually found the time and energy to expand his musical activities ever further. In 2003, he launched his own label, Full Light Records, producing a traditional, mountain country album of his father's original songs, This Weary Way. Darrell has been the “artist in residence” with Orchestra Nashville, creating what he calls “diverse musical happenings – the odder the better,” mixing the string section with such guests as Sam Bush, jazz guitarist Bill Frisell, and other musicians from many genres.
To record a convincing all-covers CD of songs by the modern-day pantheon of great singer-songwriters, from Bob Dylan to Mickey Newbury to Joni Mitchell, one needs more than guts and good intentions. Something special and personal needs to be added to reignite oft-heard standards – musical talent, sure, but also a depth of feeling, experience and understanding. And Darrell Scott, from his genes to his genius as a sensitive vocalist, an award-winning songwriter of depth and perception, and a versatile instrumentalist, has earned that right as he so effortlessly demonstrates on his most recent release, Modern Hymns.
Darrell has also been stockpiling songs and ideas for his next few CDs, plays more than 50 shows a year including prestigious US and UK festivals, and conducts songwriting workshops around the country to students from all over the world. He will lead a second annual workshop in Costa Rica this December, having enlisted fellow songwriters Mary Gauthier and Beth Nielsen Chapman to teach as well. Early in 2009 Darrell launched a new audio series entitled NEW MOON | NEW MUSIC which features past solo performances, interviews or a variety of live shows in different band arrangements. Coinciding with each new moon, episodes have featured Darrell performing with John Cowan, Nick Forster, Casey Driessen, Kenny Malone and others. He recently had to turn down an invitation to lead a road band for Joan Baez due to logistics. We should all have such problems; we should all have such skills. But Darrell does, and that’s what makes him such a distinctive and creative force in contemporary music.
Tour schedule:
November 10 - Manship Theatre, Baton Rouge, LA
November 12 - Blue Rock Concert Series - Wimberley, TX
November 13 – McDavid Studio with Jim Lauderdale - Ft. Worth, TX
November 14 - Rice Festival - Fischer, TX
November 15 - Mucky Duck - Houston, TX
Written By: Jennifer Balzer, Marketing/New Media for Darrell Scott