Ray Scott‘s new video delivers a shot of pure country heartache. The fiercely traditional country singer-songwriter keeps it simple in his new stripped-down live video for “As Long as the Bar’s Open.”
The singer shows off his rumbling baritone over a very simple acoustic arrangement in the new video, in which he accompanies himself on acoustic guitar. Light percussion and an acoustic guitarist playing fills are the only other instruments, which allows the classic country feel and lyrical narrative to carry the mid-tempo song.
The timeless country themes of heartbreak and booze are front and center in Scott’s lyrics: “As long as the bar’s open / And there’s whiskey flowing / And good country music from a jukebox or a band / Long as my heart’s broken / It feels good knowing / As long as the bar’s open / I’ll be all right, man,” Scott sings in the chorus.
“As Long as the Bar’s Open” appears on Scott’s upcoming album, Cover the Earth. Scott wrote the majority of the songs for the project, his ninth studio record, himself.
“Although I do enjoy co-writing some, over the last few years, I’ve been writing more and more alone,” he explains. “This past year, that approach proved itself pretty damned vital. It wasn’t like folks were getting together to write a lot outside of quarantine, and I’m not much of a Skype/Zoom kinda guy.
“The ability to be effective as a songwriter outside of the typical Nashville mold is pretty liberating, and it was a huge reason this album was born,” Scott adds. “There are only four co-writes out of the 12 tracks, so I get most of the blame here. As they say, live and die by your own sword.”
Cover the Earth is set for release on Sept. 17.
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