Tim O’Brien and Darrell Scott Reunite for September Release

Tim O’Brien and Darrell Scott

Roots-music titans Tim O’Brien and Darrell Scott will reunite for a sophomore studio release, titled Memories & Moments, on Sept. 17. The Scott-produced project will be released on a newly formed Full Skies imprint, a compound of O’Brien’s Howdy Skies and Scott’s Full Light labels through Thirty Tigers.

Comprised of five songs from each of the artists, the album also includes the co-write “Turn Your Dirty Lights On” about mountaintop removal, as well as guest John Prine on his song “Paradise,” and covers of classics by Hank Williams and George Jones.

“It’s rare that you can play with somebody who can respond and magnify like Darrell does,” O’Brien said. “So it’s a pretty good game of Ping-Pong. We end up doing stuff that neither of us would do on our own.”

Back in 2000, the two Grammy winners joined forces to record 13 tracks in Scott’s living room, which comprise Real Time. O’Brien and Scott became an in-demand touring act, which was captured last year on, Live: We’re Usually a Lot Better Than This, a record released on Scott’s Full Light.

“When Tim and I get together, we push each other’s Appalachian roots buttons,” Scott points out. “My Kentucky comes out, and so does his West Virginia. It happens naturally, it’s not a strategy.”

Between the two of them, O’Brien and Scott have had songs covered by Dixie Chicks, Dierks Bentley, Nickel Creek, Kathy Mattea, Faith Hill, Guy Clark, Brad Paisley, Sara Evans, Garth Brooks, Patty Loveless, Trace Adkins and Tim McGraw, in addition to releasing solo records, touring and respectively appearing in Mark Knopfler’s touring unit and Robert Plant’s Band of Joy.

The two are expected to begin touring in support of the new music in late September and into 2014.