Track Listing

1. All the Lovely Ladies
2. Urge for Going
3. Out Among the Stars
4. Jesus Was a Capricorn
5. The Devil
6. James
7. Frisco Depot
8. American Tune
9. Nobody Eats at Linebaugh's Anymore
10. Joan of Arc
11. I Don't Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)
12. That Old Time Feeling

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #46958 in Music
• Released on: 2008-08-19
• Number of discs: 1

Album Description
Darrell Scott has already proved he can write great songs of universal appeal. More than 75 artists, including Garth Brooks, Faith Hill and Guy Clark, have covered his compositions, riding several of them into the Top 5 country singles charts. He penned the 2007 Americana Song of the Year ("Hank Williams' Ghost"), and was named Songwriter of the Year by ASCAP in 2002 and by the Nashville Songwriters Association International the previous year. The Dixie Chicks' version of his "Long Time Gone" was a 2003 Grammy finalist as "Country Song of the Year."

He's also a solo artist with six previous CDs, a multi-instrumentalist (guitars, Dobro, bouzouki, piano...), a first-call sessionman for everyone from Steve Earle to Joan Baez to Rascal Flatts, and a producer (Guy Clark, Susan Werner, his father, Wayne Scott, and his own CDs).

On Modern Hymns, Scott's first CD for Appleseed Recordings, his mission is to showcase "songs and artists/songwriters whose music shook me as a kid (with ears nearly as big as my heart). They guided the way to my own path as a singer-songwriter . . . These songs speak to the human condition . . . in all of our aching and beautiful glory . . . These songs are the truth . . ."

Scott has the life experiences and musical chops to add his own imprint to the classics of the modern country and contemporary singer-songwriter movements that he covers here. His soulful, low-key tenor voice rings wise, honest and vulnerable on material as varied as Gordon Lightfoot's "All the Lovely Ladies," Bob Dylan's "I Don't Believe You," John Hartford's "Nobody Eats at Linebaugh's Anymore," and Leonard Cohen's "Joan of Arc" (featuring Mary Gauthier and Alison Krauss on vocals). There's also a lovely, flowing, banjo-led take on Pat Metheny/Lyle Mays' "James," a near-instrumental in honor of James Taylor. The songs all share an undercurrent of melancholy and regret for emotional opportunities lost and times past, as well as stellar musical support by Scott, bluegrass great Del McCoury (harmony vocal on Joni Mitchell's "Urge for Going"), "newgrass" and roots mainstays Sam Bush (fiddle), Tim O'Brien (mandolin, vocals on Paul Simon's "American Tune"), Dirk Powell (banjo, fiddle), and Stuart Duncan (fiddle),the Fisk Jubilee Singers, and revered British folk/jazz acoustic bassist Danny Thompson, among many others.

Ken Barnes, USA Today "Playlist," 8/5/08
"Brilliant songwriter salutes his idols . . . here revamping an exquisite Joni Mitchell song [`Urge for Going'] in energetic bluegrass fashion."

Ken Tucker, Billboard
"A straight-up bluegrass version of [Joni] Mitchell's `Urge for Going' is one of the fresh interpretations on the disc . . ."

Customer Reviews

he can play as well as write
Darrell Scott is an incredible writer, with the ability to tell stories that stay with you. Don't believe me, try "The Man who could've played bass for Sha Na Na" from Theatre of the Unheard, or several of the songs from "The Invisible Man" with its themes of mortality or dying. However, at least in my case, his albums have been a case of half of the songs being spectacular and the other half are an excuse to take a phone call or go to the refrigerator until the next track comes on

In Modern Hymns he salutes incredible songwriters like Guy Clark, Kris Kristofferson, Paul Simon, and Gordon Lightfoot and delivers a wholly satisfying effort, one that shows off fine playing and a great voice. A wholly enjoyable effort, and worth the 14 bucks....

A Few Great Songs
This CD has a few amazing songs that I played over and over, but I wish that I could have happily played the CD straight through. A few songs made me cringe.