March 24, 2012
Gary Ogan began the night playing a three song set, a couple on his guitar, one on the piano. Next two of Portland’s finest Ashleigh Flynn, played a few from her newly released album and some older tunes as well, with long time friend Chris Funk on slide . Finally Darrell Scott took the stage. I planned to take notes, write the set list, snap some photos. Instead as if untethered by space and time I was transported by masterful musicality and evocative lyrics on a troubadour’s journey along the swollen banks of the Mississippi River, into the home of a hard working, hard drinking fence builder’s son, to academia in Boston and into the heart and soul of a man whose former teacher Phillip Levine, now our nation’s Poet Laureate, encouraged Darrell Scott to find his voice. Darrel Scott’s voice, whether digging into his deep-seated Kentucky roots, describing the heartache of a father and son’s minimal visitation rights, or exposing his soul while singing about the conflict of a loving father whose job takes him from those he loves most, is a voice with an honesty country music no longer knows. Darrel Scott, one of the best singer songwriters there is, reminds us of the real artistry that Nashville has to offer. A poet, a gifted multi-instrumentalist, Darrell Scot is a family man whose ability to tell a story transports the audience into his world and into his heart.
