By Eleni P. Austin
There is so much amazing music in the world that it can feel like there isn’t enough time to discover it all. Take singer-songwriters Darrell Scott and Tim O’Brien, most people have never heard of them, yet separately and together, they are responsible for a number of mainstream hits.
Darrell Scott was born in Kentucky in 1959 and grew up in Indiana. His father, Wayne Scott, was an aspiring musician and he passed his passion for music on to his son. After spending his teen years in Southern California, Darrell attended Tufts University. He briefly lived in Boston and Toronto.
By the early 90s, Scott was an accomplished multi-instrumentalist, having mastered guitar, mandolin, accordion, lap and pedal steel, as well as banjo. He relocated to Nashville to pursue a career in music. Initially he found work as a session musician. It wasn’t long before major recording artists were covering Scott’s songs, garnering critical and commercial acclaim.
Garth Brooks, Faith Hill, Brad Paisley, Tim McGraw and the Dixie Chicks all had huge success with Darrell Scott compositions. A collaboration between Scott and singer Sara Evans, “Born To Fly”, shot to number one on the Country charts.
Scott began his prolific recording career in 1997 with his debut, Aloha From Nashville. Seven solo albums followed in quick succession: Family Tree, Theatre Of The Unheard, Live In NC, Invisible Man, Modern Hymns, A Crooked Road and Long Ride Home.
Scott still made time for session work, and he achieved instant Rock and Roll cred outside Nashville when he was invited to join Robert Plant’s Band Of Joy in 2010.
Darrell Scott met Tim O’Brien in a writer’s room in Nashville’s storied Music Row. Born in West Virginia in 1954, O’Brien had travelled the same circuitous path as Scott, playing sessions, as well as writing and recording his own music. Since 1984 he has released 15 solo albums. Tim O’Brien has also toured with Dire Straits’ front man, Mark Knopfler.
There was an immediate connection between Darrell and Tim. The bond was cemented when the duo made RealTime in 2000. Consisting of nine originals and four cover songs, the album was recorded in Scott’s living room in just three days.
It didn’t rocket up the charts, but anyone lucky enough to hear Real Time, realized it was special music. As each man continued to further their solo careers, fans held out hope the duo would carve out time for another collaboration. It took 13 years, but Memories And Moments is finally here.
The album opens with a Tim O’Brien song, “Time To Talk To Joseph.” Anchored by whipcrack banjo and mandolin runs the lyrics sketch out a desperate man’s search for spiritual redemption.
The feel of this album is loose and improvisational, but Scott and O’Brien each provide finely crafted compositions. Beginning with the title track, Scott’s songs include “It All Comes Down To Love,” “Angel’s Blue Eyes” and “Fiddler Jones.”
“…Down To Love” is a shimmery ode to the pursuit of true love…”In the end there’s a feast of milk and cookies, lion and the lamb will be there/Nymphs and virgins all stand in line to greet me, voodoo waits to come my silken hair.”
Clear, crystalline acoustic guitar and banjo intertwine on “Angel’s Blue Eyes” Darrell and Tim’s warm tenors blend in a rich harmony as they yearn for reassurance…”Give me something to believe in, when this world turns dark and cold/Tell me sunlight’s shining somewhere, dreams are bought but never sold.”
The title track blends call and response vocals, spiraling acoustic fills and sharp fiddle runs. The lyrics remind us that our most powerful possessions are our memories and moments.
“Fiddler Jones is the album’s most expansive track, a low key waltz powered by strumming acoustic guitar and sawing fiddle. The lyrics paint a finely etched portrait of a 19th century musician who has seen it all… “I’ve fiddled for governors, I’ve fiddled for slaves, I’ve fiddled at birthings, I’ve fiddled on graves/I’ve one thousand memories I’ll never forget, one broken fiddle, not a single regret.”
Tim O’Brien’s songs, “Brother Wind,” “You Don’t Own Me”and “Free Again” are equally impressive. “Brother..” is propelled by sun-kissed acoustic riffs, the lyrics weigh the pros and cons of wanderlust. What are the emotional costs of life on the open road?
On “You Don’t Own Me” the narrator tries to break free from a backwoods jezebel. The instrumentation is a simple combination of banjo, acoustic guitar and mandolin, but these guys are such virtuosos, the song plays out like a bluegrass symphony.
Finally, “Free Again” is lush with multi-tracked acoustic guitars. The lyrics offer a convincing argument for divesting ourselves of worldly goods….”I was afraid to look inside to see what I might find, it might be worse than cancer maybe I would lose my mind/I get myself distracted, Lord I have found a thousand ways/I used to let them weigh me down, now I let them fall away.”
The song Scott and O’Brien wrote together is the album’s best track. (It’s also Grammy nominated in the newly created category, Best American Roots Song). “”Keep Your Dirty Lights On” is a bluesy ramble. A stinging indictment on the coal industry….”Every time they have elections, they talk about how coal is clean/ Well coal is cheap, but coal’s still black, it ain’t never turning green!.”
Along with their superlative originals, the guys tackle three classics, George Jones’ “Just One More,” Hank Williams’ “Alone And Forsaken” and John Prine’s “Paradise.” On the latter, Prine joins in, with his raspy tenor adding a courtly grace to the proceedings.
The album closes with “On Life’s Other Side.” The melody feels suitably churchy. Rippling mandolin fills compliment gospel piano. The lyrics reassure us, whatever our transgressions, we are ultimately forgiven…”We’ll walk with each other, with nothing to hide/ Every sorrow a memory on life’s other side.”
Memories and Moments is a richly nuanced record. Not just a commodity offered up by Nashville pros, but a heartfelt effort from kindred spirits. Hopefully it won’t be another 13 years before we hear from them again.
