Like a warm blanket, Rick Scott's Snooze Music encircles you in the love from a grandfather's heart to his seven grandchildren.
Beloved local children's entertainer Rick Scott releases his latest album this Sunday, Mother's Day. Late Thursday, Scott found out the album was awarded a Parents' Choice Recommended Award in the U.S. This is his fourth Parents' Choice Award.
The CD sleeve includes the compelling story behind Snooze Music. Gathered at his son Sebastian's bedside, holding little hope after he suddenly lapsed into a coma, the family sang songs and stories to soothe, drowning out the urgent noises of hospital life.
"In the melodic journey the comforter was comforted and Snooze Music was born," Scott writes. (Sebastian miraculously awakened and continues his recovery.)
Scott and his partner Valerie Hennell live in the Protection Island log cabin where Snooze Music was written, recorded, and mixed with the help of local musicians.
Hennell says that recording engineer Anthony Maki moved to the island with vocalist Andrea L'eureux, "at precisely the moment we decided to record." The partnership, "turned out to be totally brilliant."
And by another stroke of providence L'Heureux gave birth to a daughter on the night of her very first vocal session on the album.
Almost equally split between vocal and instrumental tracks, the Juno-nominated Scott's classic dulcimer tones join in lush arrangements with string and brass instruments.
While a children's album could be seen merely as required listening for daycare centres there's a much broader appeal here; a more universal draw enfolds these gentle songs that are more akin to Cat Stevens than The Doodlebops. Listening to this album you can't help but feel swaddled (in the best possible way.)
Snooze Music, Scott's fifteenth album (sixth for children) is available locally at Pumpkin Pie and Mothers' Wellness Centre.
More information, mail order, and song samples are online at www.rickscott.ca.
- With over a decade in the trenches of the music industry, we're reasonably sure Alexandria knows what she's talking about: [email protected].