Make no mistake, Scotty Campbell does not want to be lumped into the alt-country category. "When I think about what's happened to Country Music. I feel kinda like the guy who's been in love with the same girl since grade school, and all of a sudden in high school she becomes hugely popular," writes Campbell in the liner notes of his 1999 release Damned If I Recall.
"Country music has been one of the great loves of my life, and I hope this record wipes away some of the lipstick she's bin' wearing lately."
Based in Hamilton, Ont., Campbell continues to play country music with all the soul of the honky tonk circuit circa the '50s and '60s. His gritty, authentic originals stand toe-to-toe with his covers of songs done by Ray Price ("Heart Over Mind" and "Rose Colored Glasses") and Ernest Tubb and George Jones ("Biggest Fool Of The Year"). This devotion to real country has made Campbell something of a renegade amidst a sea of acts that consider country more of an inspiration than a genre unto itself.
Reared on the songs of Ernest Tubb, Lefty Frizzell, and Hank Thompson, Campbell is a self-admitted purist. His parents were die-hard country fans and when the radio wasn't blaring the hits of the day, their vast LP collection was spinning Buck Owens, Ray Price and Bill Monroe. In a particular touching anecdote, Campbell told CANOE writer Paul Cantin just how special it was growing up in such an environment.
"My dad took me to very show within driving distance. I got Ernest Tubb's autograph," he said. "Before going to those shows, the whole day was planned around it. Mom always had a new dress and dad had a fresh white shirt. And you could smell the Brylcreem. It was a really big night for us. I never forgot it."
Scotty Campbell has two releases, the six-song EP Pitchin' Woe (1994) and a full length CD Damned if I Recall (1999). |
