Darrell Scott

“I look like an insider because of everything I‘ve done but I always felt like an outsider,” Darrell Scott says. “And that’s important—to be an outsider.” He’s also a master. Witness his ability to make just about any instrument talk, listen to his vocals and songwriting to hear him contain every emotion between joy and pain within one verse in his singing and in his pen. Nowadays he’s taking the outsider role even more seriously; after 23 years in Nashville he spent the last year devoting himself to a self-sufficient lifestyle in the country while simultaneously putting together his best album in years. Couchville Sessions is that album, and it continues Scott’s long tradition of tackling the profound issues—loneliness, the demise of relationships, mortality—without ever becoming maudlin. The record may explore darkness but there is always light. Scott can sing to us about addiction, breaking up, even dying without it ever becoming depressing. That’s due to his writing, his vocal delivery—often erotically charged here—and the careful choice of five covers that he calls tributes to some of the masters. Scott’s tenth studio album shows no sign of him losing steam. In fact, he seems to be on fire.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of the artist