The term ‘country music’ may have changed over time, but Ray Scott’s definition of it has not. Whenever you press play on a Ray Scott song, you know exactly what you are going to get: tried-and-true, dyed-in-the-wool, salt-of-the-earth country music. That’s how the country music traditionalist built his first ten albums and that’s how he’ll build the next ten – which conveniently starts right here.
Billboards and Brake Lights, Ray Scott’s 11th release, is a collection of twelve songs by the North Carolina native that remind real country music fans what it’s like to go on a journey through song. Rooted in his signature traditional sound, Scott straddles the line of growing as an artist and standing on that firm foundation of being exactly the same guy his fans have come to love. Self-effacing, self-aware, and vulnerable and with a humble confidence that stops shy of arrogance, Ray’s methods of storytelling shine brighter than ever before.
“I just write songs and then see where they fall. With this album, just like some of my older projects, it’s got a lot of songs that were written fairly recently and then it’s got a couple that are 10 or 15 years old. I don’t really know what the rhyme or reason is. I just always have songs in my back pocket, and they seem to resurface and want to be recorded at certain times. For the new songs, I see an evolution in me for sure, but then again, I’ve been this same person for a long time.
“I wrote the first single ‘Ripples’ with Tony Mullins five years ago but now was the time to record it. It’s got kind of an almost bluegrassy feel about it which is not something folks are used to hearing, but it was exciting to me. ‘Long Black Cadillac,’ that’s an old one people have always liked, and I thought it fit in well with this group.”
This group consists of songs like the album’s title track which paints the stark reality (or is it Ray-ality) of what life on tour is really like while ‘Keeper’ highlights a different kind of peril of the road. It takes a real man to stand strong in the eye of temptation and while most everyone has faltered in that moment at one time or another, Scott’s lyrical masterclass on the art of polite decline is one for the ages.
