James Darrell Scott, known as Darrell Scott (born August 6, 1959),[1] is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer. He has written several mainstream country hits, and is well-established as one of Nashville's premier session instrumentalists.
Scott was born in London, Kentucky, and at an early age his family moved to East Gary, Indiana, where his father Wayne worked in a steel mill. Scott's father was also a musician and songwriter who encouraged Darrell and his brothers Denny, Dale, Don, and David to play instruments in the family band at schools and church events.[2] In 1971 the Scott family moved to San Bernardino, California and started a business erecting chain-link fencing and playing California honky-tonks as Wayne Scott and Harlan County. At age 16 Darrell completed high school via the California equivalency exam and left the family band in favor of playing professionally in dance bands and country music groups, eventually playing five nights a week as a member of a house band at a San Bernadino bar called the Brandin' Iron.[3]
In 1980 he began traveling north from gig to gig while living in a van, eventually ending up in Stratford, Ontario, where he performed as a one-man band before auditioning and being hired to play with the Mercey Brothers. Scott wrote two songs that were included on a Mercey Brothers album, with one being released as a single, and Scott signed a music publishing deal, but didn't like writing the style of songs he was playing with the Mercey Brothers. In 1983, with a renewed interest in pursuing a college education, Scott moved to Bedford, Massachusetts and attended Middlesex Community College for two years before enrolling at Tufts University. Scott saw a volume of poetry by Tufts artist-in-residencePhilip Levine and was inspired to enroll in classes taught by Levine. With Levine's guidance, Scott wrote the song "Uncle Lloyd". Having found his writer's voice, Scott had soon produced a demo tape that made its way to Charles Koppelman of SBK records and, eventually, a record contract. Scott recorded an album of 12 songs in Memphis with producerNorbert Putnam but the label, not hearing any obvious hit singles on the record, chose not to release it, which also prohibited Scott from recording any of the songs on the album for the next seven years.[3]
Move to Nashville and breakthrough
Darrell Scott (2008)
In 1992 Scott moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where he began working as a session musician, landing work with Guy Clark the following year. More session work followed, as well as a new publishing contract. He self-produced another album, Aloha from Nashville (1996), which was picked up for distribution by Sugar Hill Records. The same year, Suzy Bogguss' recording of the Scott-penned song "No Way Out" made it onto the country singles chart.[4] The following year, Garth Brooks' version of "When There's No One Around", co-written by Scott and Tim O'Brien, was included on Brooks' #1 album Sevens.[2]
In 1999 Scott released his second album, Family Tree. He collaborated with O'Brien to release their first album as a duo, Real Time (2000),[5] and the song "The Second Mouse" from that album being nominated for the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental Performance.[6]
In 2001, Scott was named Songwriter of the Year by the Nashville Songwriters Association International, and received the same honor from ASCAP the following year.[4] In 2003 he launched his own label, Full Light Records, and revisited and re-recorded the songs from his unreleased debut album, releasing them as Theatre of the Unheard. In early 2005, the album won the 4th Annual Independent Music Awards Album of the Year.[11] That same year, Scott produced his father Wayne's debut album, This Weary Way, featuring Darrell's longtime collaborators O'Brien, Dan Dugmore, Casey Driessen, Suzi Ragsdale, and Verlon Thompson, as well as a duet with Guy Clark.[2]
His album, Crooked Road, was released May 25, 2010.[14] In January 2011 Crooked Road won the award for the Country Album category from The 10th Annual Independent Music Awards.[15][3]
In 2010, Brad Paisley's cover of "You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive" was played during the final scene of the season one finale of the TV drama Justified, and different versions of the song were used for the second, fourth, and fifth season finales,[16][17] with the original recording by Darrell Scott himself used for the series finale.[18]
On November 2, 2016 at the 50th Annual Country Music Association Awards, Beyoncé performed a remix of her song "Daddy Lessons" together with the Dixie Chicks, including excerpts from their version of Scott's song "Long Time Gone". A studio version was released after the performance.[19]
Home is the sixth studio album by American country music band Dixie Chicks, released on August 27, 2002, through Monument and Columbia Records. It is notable for its acoustic bluegrass sound, which stands in contrast with their previous two country pop albums.
Wide Open Spaces is the fourth studio album and the major label debut of American country music band Dixie Chicks. It was their first record with new lead vocalist Natalie Maines, and became their breakthrough commercial success. It received diamond status by the RIAA on February 20, 2003, in the United States, having shipped 13 million units worldwide, while spending more than six years in the Australian ARIA music charts Country Top 20.
This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 2000.
This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 2002.
This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 2006.
This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 2007.
The Chicks are an American country music band composed of Natalie Maines, along with Emily Strayer and Martie Maguire, who are sisters. Their discography comprises eight studio albums, two live albums and 28 singles.
"Long Time Gone" is a bluegrass song by American musician Darrell Scott, originally recorded by him on his 2000 album Real Time which Scott recorded together with Tim O'Brien. The song was later covered by the American band Dixie Chicks, and served as the lead single to their 2002 album Home.
The Chicks are an American country band from Dallas, Texas. The band consists of Natalie Maines and sisters Martie Maguire and Emily Strayer. Maguire and Strayer, both née Erwin, founded the band in 1989, with bassist Laura Lynch and vocalist and guitarist Robin Lynn Macy. They performed bluegrass and country music, busking and touring the bluegrass festival circuits and small venues for six years without attracting a major label. In 1992, Lynch replaced Macy as the lead vocalist.
Part II is the second studio album by American country music artist Brad Paisley. Released on May 29, 2001, through Arista Nashville, it became Paisley's second platinum-certified album in the United States. It produced four singles; "Two People Fell in Love", "Wrapped Around", "I'm Gonna Miss Her " and "I Wish You'd Stay", which respectively reached number 4, number 2, number 1, and number 7 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts. "Too Country" also entered the country charts from unsolicited airplay.
"Wide Open Spaces" is a song written by Susan Gibson and recorded by the American country music group Dixie Chicks. It was released in August 1998 as the third single and title track from the band's album Wide Open Spaces. The song hit number one on the U.S. Country singles chart and spent four weeks there in November 1998. It also placed to number 41 on the U.S. Pop singles chart.
"It's a Great Day to Be Alive" is a song written by Darrell Scott and included on his 1997 album Aloha from Nashville. The song was later made popular by Travis Tritt, whose version, released in December 2000 as the second single from his album Down the Road I Go, peaked at number 2 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart and at number 33 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Steep Canyon Rangers is an American bluegrass band based in Asheville and Brevard, North Carolina.
"Heartbreak Town" is a song written by Darrell Scott and recorded by American country music group the Dixie Chicks. It was released on June 25, 2001, as the seventh single from their second studio album Fly (1999). The song was produced by Blake Chancey and Paul Worley. The song is a country ballad about a family's disappointment upon moving to Nashville.
Sarah Ellen Jarosz is an American singer-songwriter from Wimberley, Texas. Her debut studio album, Song Up in Her Head, was released in 2009 and the song "Mansinneedof" was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of Best Country Instrumental Performance. Her second studio album, Follow Me Down, released in 2011, received a Song of the Year nomination from the Americana Music Association's 2012 Honors and Awards. Her third studio album, Build Me Up from Bones, was released on September 24, 2013 through Sugar Hill Records. Build Me Up from Bones was nominated for Best Folk Album at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, and its title track was nominated for Best American Roots Song. In 2016, Jarosz released her fourth studio album, Undercurrent. The album won two Grammy Awards.
Christopher Alvin Stapleton is an American country singer-songwriter and guitarist. Born in Kentucky, Stapleton moved to Nashville in 1996 to study for an engineering degree from Vanderbilt University, but dropped out to pursue a career in music. Shortly after, he signed a contract with Sea Gayle Music to write and publish his music.
Ida Amanda "Maxida" Märak is a Swedish-Sámi joik singer, hip hop musician, actress and activist. Märak is a human rights activist with a special interest in the rights of the Sámi people. She has taken part in protests against the establishment of an iron ore mine in Kallak. In 2014, she recorded the album Mountain Songs and other Stories along with the bluegrass band Downhill Bluegrass band.
"Daddy Lessons" is a song by American singer Beyoncé. It is the sixth track on her sixth studio album, Lemonade (2016), released through Parkwood Entertainment and Columbia Records. The song's music video is part of Beyoncé's 2016 film Lemonade, aired on HBO alongside the album's release.
Molly Rose Tuttle is an American vocalist, songwriter, banjo player, guitarist, recording artist, and teacher in the bluegrass tradition. She is noted for her flatpicking, clawhammer, and crosspicking guitar prowess. She has cited Laurie Lewis, Kathy Kallick, Alison Krauss and Hazel Dickens as role models. In 2017, Tuttle was the first woman to win the International Bluegrass Music Association's Guitar Player of the Year award. In 2018 she won the award again, along with being named the Americana Music Association's Instrumentalist of the Year. In 2023, Tuttle won the Best Bluegrass Album for Crooked Tree and also received a nomination for the all-genre Best New Artist award at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards. Also in 2023, Tuttle and Golden Highway won International Bluegrass Music Awards for album Crooked Tree and the title track in the categories of Album of the Year and Song of the Year, respectively, while Tuttle won Female Vocalist of the Year.
"You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive" is a song written and originally recorded by American musician Darrell Scott. Since his original recording in 1997, the song has also been recorded by Patty Loveless, Brad Paisley, and Kathy Mattea, and performed live by Patty Loveless as a duet with Chris Stapleton at the 56th Annual Country Music Association Awards ceremony. The song is about Harlan County, Kentucky.
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