Rusty Scott

Every once in a while, a guy with an acoustic guitar comes along whose guy-with-an-acoustic-guitar thing makes you hate the genre a little less. Langhorne Slim and William Elliott Whitmore come to mind as two recent examples, and now we can add Lawrence's Rusty Scott to that list. Scott's debut full-length, Yonder Goes the Light, is right on the money with its unscripted blend of back-porch folk and Americana. Scott's nasally voice is more Rufus Wainwright than Bob Dylan, and it can really hum when it reaches for those high notes. The album's best numbers, "Ghost" and "As She Goes," are immediately memorable and would make any songwriter worth his or her salt mutter, Damn, why didn't I think of that? Engineered by Chris Crisci of Old Canes and the Appleseed Cast, Yonder is a warm, airy-sounding affair that affirms the power of well-written folk songs.>