“Middle Class Middle Child” began as a last-minute addition to Bill Scorzari’s recording schedule.
“After finishing my parts for 19 tracks at my studio, I found I had some extra time on my hands before the final recording sessions were scheduled in Nashville,” says the New York-based singer/songwriter. “I decided to look through unrecorded songs again and see if I could get one ready before leaving.”
As luck would have it, Scorzari wound up with a defining moment on the second installment of an ambitious double album. Due September 25, the self-released Sidereal Days (Day 2) completes an expansive musical statement kicked off last fall with Sidereal Days (Day 1). Scorzari took his sweet time tracking his vocal and instrumental performances for the project at his First Thunder Recording studio in Huntington—two years, to be exact. He finally headed to Easy Nashville’s Skinny Elephant Recording, where he worked with producer Neilson Hubbard (Mary Gauthier, Kim Richey, Glen Phillips) and a seasoned studio lineup that included Erin Rae, Danny Mitchell, Juan Solorzano, Chelsea McGough, Eamon McLoughlin and the Shoals Sisters.
A former trial lawyer, Scorzari made an abrupt midlife shift to music in 2008. Citing Justin Townes Earle as a primary inspiration, he released his debut LP, Just The Same, in 2014. Since then, his richly detailed, poetic style has earned comparisons to everyone from Leonard Cohen and Bruce Springsteen to Kris Kristofferson and Townes Van Zandt.
Yet it wasn’t just the lyrics that made “Middle Class Middle Child” a keeper. “There’s something very gratifying about its drop-D-tuned acoustic-guitar part,” says Scorzari. “I’ve always been drawn to playing it, and I’m glad I decided to record it.”
Once in Nashville, the song’s arrangement kept growing. “What started as an afterthought wound up being one of my favorite tracks on both albums,” says Scorzari. “The creative energy in Nashville was incredible.”
We’re proud to premiere of Bill Scorzari’s “Middle Class Middle Child” video.
—Hobart Rowland
