Darrell Scott
Darrell Scott is a Kentucky-born guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter whose Nashville cuts — "Long Time Gone" (The Chicks), "It's a Great Day to Be Alive" (Travis Tritt), "You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive" (Patty Loveless) — place him among the most-covered Americana songwriters of his era.
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- Full name James Darrell Scott; born August 6, 1959 in London, Kentucky.
- Family relocated when he was young to East Gary, Indiana, then San Bernardino, California; later studied poetry at Tufts University under Pulitzer winner Philip Levine.
- Moved to Nashville in 1992 and became one of the city's premier session multi-instrumentalists (guitar, mandolin, banjo, accordion, vocals).
- Wrote "Long Time Gone," a major hit for The Chicks (Dixie Chicks) and "It's a Great Day to Be Alive," a #2 country hit for Travis Tritt.
- Other oft-covered Scott compositions include "You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive" (recorded by Patty Loveless, Brad Paisley) and the co-write "Born to Fly" (Sara Evans).
- Long-running duo partnership with Tim O'Brien; their album "Real Time" (2000) earned a Grammy nomination for the track "The Second Mouse."
- Toured and recorded with Robert Plant's Band of Joy beginning in 2010.
- Named NSAI Songwriter of the Year (2001) and ASCAP Country Songwriter of the Year (2002); received the Americana Music Honors Lifetime Achievement Award in 2025.
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Darrell ScottPlayed on recordings with Darrell Scott
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Tim O’Brien and Darrell ScottPlayed on recordings with Tim O’Brien and Darrell Scott
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Tim O’BrienPlayed on recordings with Tim O’Brien
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Ginny HawkerPlayed on recording with Ginny Hawker
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Patty LovelessPlayed on recording with Patty Loveless