Darrell Scott

James Darrell Scott (born August 6, 1959) is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer. He has written several mainstream country hits, and is well-established as one of Nashville's premier session instrumentalists.

Biography Early life and career Scott was born in London, Kentucky, and at an early age his family moved to East Gary, Indiana, where his father Wayne worked in a steel mill. Scott's father was also a musician and songwriter who encouraged Darrell and his brothers Denny, Dale, Don, and David to play instruments in the family band at schools and church events. In 1971 the Scott family moved to San Bernardino, California and started a business erecting chain-link fencing and playing California honky-tonks as Wayne Scott and Harlan County. At age 16 Darrell completed high school via the California equivalency exam and left the family band in favor of playing professionally in dance bands and country music groups, eventually playing five nights a week as a member of a house band at a San Bernardino bar called the Brandin' Iron.

In 1980 he began traveling north from gig to gig while living in a van, eventually ending up in Stratford, Ontario, where he performed as a one-man band before auditioning and being hired to play with the Mercey Brothers. Scott wrote two songs that were included on a Mercey Brothers album, with one being released as a single, and Scott signed a music publishing deal, but didn't like writing the style of songs he was playing with the Mercey Brothers. In 1983, with a renewed interest in pursuing a college education, Scott moved to Bedford, Massachusetts and attended Middlesex Community College for two years before enrolling at Tufts University. Scott saw a volume of poetry by Tufts artist-in-residence Philip Levine and was inspired to enroll in classes taught by Levine. With Levine's guidance, Scott wrote the song "Uncle Lloyd". Having found his writer's voice, Scott had soon produced a demo tape that made its way to Charles Koppelman of SBK records and, eventually, a record contract. Scott recorded an album of 12 songs in Memphis with producer Norbert Putnam but the label, not hearing any obvious hit singles on the record, chose not to release it, which also prohibited Scott from recording any of the songs on the album for the next seven years. The following year, Garth Brooks' version of "When There's No One Around", co-written by Scott and Tim O'Brien, was included on Brooks' #1 album Sevens. and the song "The Second Mouse" from that album being nominated for the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental Performance.

In 2000, Sara Evans had a hit with "Born to Fly", co-written with Scott. Patty Loveless recorded "You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive" for her 2001 album Mountain Soul, featuring Scott playing banjo. Loveless' rendition was nominated for the 2002 International Bluegrass Music Awards Song of the Year. The song has subsequently been covered by Brad Paisley, Kathy Mattea, Montgomery Gentry and others. The Dixie Chicks recorded another of Scott's songs, "Long Time Gone". Released as the lead single from their 2002 album Home, the Dixie Chicks' version reached a peak of number 2 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and number 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and won a Grammy Award for Best Country Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group.

In 2001, Scott was named Songwriter of the Year by the Nashville Songwriters Association International, and received the same honor from ASCAP the following year. That same year, Scott produced his father Wayne's debut album, This Weary Way, featuring Darrell's longtime collaborators O'Brien, Dan Dugmore, Casey Driessen, Suzi Ragsdale, and Verlon Thompson, as well as a duet with Guy Clark. with the song "Hank Williams' Ghost" from that album awarded the 2007 Song of the Year by the Americana Music Association. In 2008, he released Modern Hymns, an album of twelve of Scott's favorite songs by twelve favorite songwriters recorded live with engineer Gary Paczosa in Blackbird Studio C. In January 2011 Crooked Road won the award for the Country Album category from The 10th Annual Independent Music Awards. with the original recording by Darrell Scott himself used for the series finale.

On November 2, 2016, at the 50th Annual Country Music Association Awards, Beyoncé performed a remix of her song "Daddy Lessons" together with the Dixie Chicks, including excerpts from their version of Scott's song "Long Time Gone". A studio version was released after the performance.

In August 2023, the Darrell Scott String Band, a group consisting of Scott and longtime fellow musicians Matt Flinner, Bryn Davies, Shad Cobb, John Cowan, and Daniel de los Reyes, released Old Cane Back Rocker, a studio string band music album of original and cover songs. He produced Steep Canyon Rangers' album Morning Shift (2023), and Willi Carlisle's Critterland (2024).

On September 10, 2025, Scott was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2025 Americana Music Honors & Awards.

Songs by Darrell Scott covered by other musicians "It's a Great Day to Be Alive" – Travis Tritt, Cory Morrow "Long Time Gone" – The Chicks

1997

JustUs — — — — 1999

Sugar Hill — — — — 2000

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Appleseed — — — — 2010

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55 22 14 —

64 35 — 3 2013

Full Skies 36 9 13 2 2015

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41 24 21 — 2020

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Awards