Scott Fant is a Texas singer/songwriter/guitarist who relies mainly on influences of traditional country, rockabilly and early rock and roll to define his sound. His writing retains a regional flavor that tells tales of life on the rural fringes of big city Texas.

The Black Dirt Chronicles is Scott's latest release which he not only self-produced and wrote all of the album's songs, but he also handles all the instrumental duties that include electric & acoustic guitars, dobro, mandolin, lap steel, bass, washboard, shakers, hambone, vocals, drum machine programs and other percussion. To give you an idea of Scott's overall sound, his guitar style's been described as 'Don Rich meets Carl Perkins,' and he has a pleasant, laid back Texas twangy voice.

The album opens on a high note with the outstanding Bakersfield two-stepper, "Long Hard Song." He moves back to his Texas roots with a dusty string driven two-stepper, "Pontiac" and the more traditional "Leavin' Tennesee," then later he offers up the two-steppin' hillbilly mandolin-dobro driven "Yardbird." Scott delivers a pair of fun old timey hickabilly tales with "Run Carl Run" and the bluesy "Sweetie Pie." He slides over to country-folk mode with the outstanding mid-tempo ballad "The Color Of Rain" with it's Tex-Mex melody, the mournful steel driven "Down Here" and the old timey "Sunshine." The smartly written "The Best Of Me" is a country ballad in a more contemporary vein. Scott offers us something a little different with a slinky rocking country-blues with a cha-cha beat in "The Other Side" and "Pray For Rain" is a first rate, slow burning rockabilly tinged blues. For good measure, he includes two top notch instrumentals, the steel driven swing "Jake Brake" and the honkabilly "Peckerwood."

Scott Fant is another one of Texas' best kept secrets- a triple threat singer/songwriter/musician who excels at it all. Both he and The Black Dirt Chronicles are the real deal as far as country music goes and fans of the 'real thing' would be very wise to seek them out. 

Stand Out Tracks: "Long Hard Song," "The Color Of Rain," "Leavin' Tennesee," "Down Here," "The Other Side," "Pray For Rain"

On The Net: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/scottfant2

AnnMarie Harrington TakeCountryBack June 2004