WAYNE SCOTT: This Weary Way

Wayne Scott

This Weary Way

© 2005 Full Light Records (829372000827)

CD IN STOCK. ORDER NOW. Will ship immediately.

This recording may be the documenting of one of the must authentic country artists you've never heard - Darrell Scott

notes

Wayne Scott
Biography

It was a calling. That's the only way to describe the spiritual lure that country music had on Wayne Scott as a young boy growing up in the small Kentucky town of Cranes Nest. When he discovered country music, it satisfied his soul in a way that nothing had before or has since. Every Saturday night, he listened to the Grand Ole Opry, and still does. As he grew older he found patron saints-Hank Williams, Johnny Cash and Lefty Frizzell-whose songs would reveal the mystery and majesty of the heartbreak and hope found in the musical format that would shape his life.

"My family was slightly musical," he says. "Everybody could play something, but I think I had a disease of it. I was born to want to play and sing."

As a teenager he began to write songs, often skipping school or social events to go off into the woods alone where he would write and practice guitar. Never a fan of school, he left home at sixteen and followed an older brother to Michigan.

"I couldn't take this rural route no more. I went to Michigan to build cars and get rich. I hated that job. I went from there to the steel mills in Indiana before I finally made it out to California."

Music was always an integral part of his life, but he often kept his talents to himself. He always had a pen handy to jot down song ideas. It was on the West Coast, at 40 years old, that Wayne finally put a band together and began playing in dusty taverns and roadhouses all over California. That's where his sons, Denny, Dale, Darrell, Don, and David, were indoctrinated in the ways of country music. They played in his band and learned to share their father's joy in making music. It's something that stuck with them-they all became professional musicians.

He played the West Coast circuit for almost twenty years and wrote songs the entire time. But he never played his own songs in public. He gave the crowds what they wanted to hear and what he was paid to play-hits the audience knew and could dance to.

Wayne couldn't shake his need to write songs. It was and is his calling. It's the thing he was created to do.

"I've always compared songwriting to the night one of my sons was born," he says. "It's that kind of a high. To write a song and know that it says exactly what I want it to say is the nicest feeling. That's the best part of music to me. An encore or bright lights or your name in big letters on the marquee doesn't compare to finishing a song. There's also this remarkable release. It's like having a thorn removed from your side."

Wayne eventually moved back to his hometown. He'd come full circle. As he was settling back into rural life in Kentucky, his son, Darrell Scott, was becoming one of Nashville's most respected and successful songwriters and musicians.
Darrell, who learned to play guitar in his father's band, began writing hits for the likes of Garth Brooks, the Dixie Chicks, Brad Paisley, Sara Evans and Patty Loveless. He learned a lot about country music through the great country songs his dad would sing and play around the house. He was almost grown before he realized that some of those songs, mixed in with tunes by Hank Williams and Johnny Cash, were from his dad's pen.

One year Wayne made his son a songbook with over a hundred original compositions as a Christmas gift. Darrell recognized something special in his father's music. He wanted his father to record an album, but the elder Scott was reluctant. He was in approaching 70 and thought his time in the spotlight had passed. Darrell knew that his father had tapped into something elemental with his simple, emotionally direct songwriting style. He would not take no for an answer and eventually was able to get his dad in the studio to record the tracks that would become This Weary Way.

Wayne's debut album is remarkable in so many ways. It's the introduction of a compelling writer who's been honing his craft for over six decades. It's a traditional music masterpiece that harkens back to an era when country and gospel music were intrinsically intertwined. It comes from a man who understands country music, it's themes and the way it impacts everyday folks. Some of the finest musicians in Nashville, including Guy Clark, Dirk Powell, Tim O'Brien and Danny Thompson, have contributed there time and talent to this project.

This Weary Way is also a labor of love between a father and son.

"It was dream making this album with my son," says Wayne. "It couldn't have been a better experience working with him and all those great musicians. Those Nashville pickers, man, they are good. Sometimes we'd go through a song one time and they'd never miss a lick."

More than anything, this is an album that has been baptized in Wayne's lifelong love of country music. These songs have been sanctified by his commitment to the rich history and enduring importance of a distinctly American music form.

When Wayne is writing and singing about heartbreak ("It's The Whiskey That Eases The Pain"), family ("Sunday With My Son") and spirituality ("Since Jesus Came Into My Life"), he does it was a sincerity that's real and a conviction that's unshakable.

Those qualities make his music unmistakably country. Even more importantly they give him the ability to communicate intense feelings of love and loss in ways that resonate with a broad audience. He believes that music serves a higher purpose, that it helps people make it through the tough times. He writes what he believes and he believes in what he writes. That's the mark of a great songwriter. And Wayne Scott is a great songwriter.

reviews

Please log in to review this album.

  • Brilliant
    author: Panhead1952

    That's the way country music should be. Everything is perfect. Highly recommended!

  • This is a great CD
    author: Doug Kelsey

    As a bluegrass musician, I hesitated buying this one but heard two of the cuts played on one of the Bluegrass TV channels while visiting a friend. I wrote the name down, came home and listened to each and every cut on Amazon.com and then ordered the CD. It has become one of my favorites to play and play along with on my guitar and banjo. I recommend it highly.

  • ...and 1/2...Recreates a different musical era…one not characterized by all the
    author: Joe Ross

    Playing Time - 44:05 -- Wayne Scott has a great deal of classic country soul. In fact, he seems about 50 or 60 years late in making this album. Born to play and sing, he grew up on a Kentucky tobacco farm in the 30s and 40s, and the old photos in the CD jacket show that he’s done his share of country music picking and singing. However, until now, he’d never really performed his own material that was inspired by the songs he covered from Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Lefty Frizzell and Merle Haggard. He presented some originals once in a bar but quickly realized that the people weren’t there to hear his songs. Orchestrated by one of his five kids, Darrell, “This Weary Way” recreates a different musical era…one not characterized by all the hype and glitter we typically see in country music today. Thus, armed with all but two originals, Wayne Scott sings life-affirming tales about being born, raised, working, drinking, loving and praying in the mountains. Fortunately, his son saw something special in his father’s songs and the feelings they express. Wayne’s country band toured for about 20 years, and Darrell learned to play guitar on stage for five sets a night with the group. Darrell’s own songs have been recorded by many big names. The aptitude for good songwriting must be in their genes. Darrell recognized that his father’s songs were simple, emotional, direct – all the essential rudiments of old country. Just listen to “What I Really Need is You” with its heartfelt music. Some stellar Nashville session musicians helped out on this project --Guy Clark, Dirk Powell, Tim O'Brien, Dennis Crouch, Dan Dugmore, Casey Driessen, Danny Thompson, and others. These guys know how to tap into the river of tradition, history, values and beliefs that ran through yesteryear’s country music. Building on this, Wayne Scott’s creates his own distinct image when he sings about family (“Sunday with my Son”), heartbreak (“It’s the Whiskey that Eases the Pain”), or salvation (“Sinner”). For a little more variety, I only wish that Wayne would have put a few more faster tempo’ed tunes like “In the Mountains” and “Since Jesus Came Into My Life” on the CD. (Joe Ross, staff writer, Bluegrass Now)

  • A taste of music so pure and true
    author: R. W. Stewart

    When I listened to the first track of this disc, I thought, oh man, yet another Texas Road House band. By the time the last cut, 'Folsom Prison Blues' had finished, I was praying, begging for more from this 71 year old Kentucky born and bred singer & songwriter. Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce you to a true diamond in the rough, Mr. Wayne Scott. 42 minutes, 6 seconds of pure white southern soul found on the debut album of this gem from Crane's Nest Kentucky backed instrumentally by some of Nashville's A-list musicians. Guy Clark - nylon string guitar, lead vocal duet on cut one, 'It's the whiskey that eases the pain." Dennis Crouch - upright bass. Casey Driessen - fiddles Dan Dugmore - banjo, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, pedal steel. Nick Forster - electric guitar. Kenny Malone - djembe, drums. Dirk Powell - accordion, banjo, fiddle. Tim O'Brien - mandolin, vocals. Suzi Ragsdale - vocals. Bill Scheleicher - harmonica. Darrell Scott - everything but the kitchen sink Wayne Scott - acoustic guitar, lead vocals. Danny Thompson - upright bass. Verlon Thompson - acoustic guitar, mandolin, vocals. Impressive to say the least. There is so much to say concerning this collection of 11 out of 13 songs written by Mr. Wayne Scott that this review would become an epistle. What kind of songs does Mr. Scott write you ask? His son Darrell says it best. " Four themes fill his stories - work, family, church and music - in that order." If I was ask to pick a favorite, it would be cut #4, 'Sinner.' A true labor of love from producer Darrell Scott and a tribute to his father Wayne Scott. If you folks don't grab a copy of 'This Weary Way' you have missed a taste of music so pure and true. The kind of music that rarely makes it to the recording studio. (R W Stewart EMAIL Richard854@webtv.net )

email

Please log in to email this artist.