Darrell Scott Reflects On His Roots On Latest Project, ‘Old Cane Back Rocker’

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The Darrell Scott String Band. Photo: Gabriel Scott

Darrell Scott is paying homage to his deep Kentucky roots on his latest album, Old Cane Back Rocker, set for release Aug. 11 via Soundly Music.

The project is the Nashville Songwriter Hall of Fame nominee’s first full-length studio album since 2016’s Couchville Sessions, and was created in conjunction with The Darrell Scott String Band. The collection is filled with originals and fully reformed covers like “Southern Cross,” “Banjo In The Holler” and more.

Leading the collection is the first single, “Kentucky Morning,” which tells the story of many a southern family’s migration to the north, where factory work held promises of a good living. Penned from the perspective of the one who stayed behind, “Kentucky Morning” reflects the pride of being both a southerner, and more specifically, a Kentuckian.

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Old Cane Back Rocker was developed over two consecutive weekend gigs in Arkansas and Colorado. Rather than sending the entire band back home in between weekends, Scott kept everyone out the following weekdays in a band house in Louisville, Colorado to record the new project.

“It’s literally my family’s story,” Scott explains. “There’s a bit of fiction there because, at the end of the day, I’m a songwriter. I can make up stuff. But I start, in this case, from a factual view. It happened across the south—folks chasing work. There were car factories and steel mills near Chicago, and my dad worked in both. Two brothers were born in Dearborn, Michigan, and two in the Chicago area. So many people left, yet there was a part of my family that never did.”

He adds, “That’s the thread that says, ‘Home is home. It’s not Chicago or Akron or anywhere else. I am proud of this band, this recording and these stories of real people in this unreal time. Love and hope and goodness and simplicity still exists, folks. We are still here.”

Scott will be busy touring on the road with dates in August, September and October including shows in Asheville, Louisville, Baton Rouge, Pittsburgh, Cleveland and more.

Old Cane Back Rocker Track Listing:
Kentucky Morning
Red Bird
Charlie and Ruby
Southern Cross (feat. John Cowan)
This Weary Way
One Hand Upon The Wheel
Banjo In The Holler (feat. Shad Cobb)
Cumberland Plateau (feat. John Cowan)
Great Day
Fried Taters (feat. Shalom Aberle)
The World Is Too Much With Me (Inauguration Day)
Raji’s Romp (feat. Matt Flinner)

Lorie Hollabaugh
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