While some singers are able to express deep truths about their lives, and the world they live in, while performing a song, that unique and transparent ability doesn’t always translate easily into conversation about their artistic work. I was reminded of this surprising truth while recording the most recent Fresh Wind session with Albuquerque-based singer Dakota Hall Scott of the group Tarantula Hawk. In conversation, most of my questions were only answered obliquely, if at all.
Dakota’s songs evoke the heartbreaking world of Townes Van Zandt, Jason Molina, and Phosphorescent’s Matthew Houck. And, perhaps it’s the surprising depth of pathos in his work that makes it difficult for him to speak about what he’s up to directly. A light, and easy-going person in conversation, I met him at the tail-end of a recent tour of the southwest, just a few hours before he performed at the opening night of the recently opened Goathead Collective here in Taos. You can read an interview with the founders of the space that I recently conducted for Taos News here.
I had heard tell of Dakota as a musical force in three of my previous Fresh Wind session interviews - those with Robert Quijano, Megan Wood, and Tara Zorthian. Once I heard the first song from the session, “All You Do Is Take”, I immediately understood why all three of those songwriters had mentioned Dakota as an influence. Written while working the “graveyard shift” at local Taos hotel The Sagebrush Inn a few years back, the song documents the mixed feelings toward a friend or lover who only appears in moments of deep need. A catalog of the lyrics would do no justice to the heart wrenching tone in Dakota’s voice when he sings the song, and the cumulative effect of his circular choruses.
Though that song was released on a 2022 record named after his hometown of Bakersfield, CA, the four other original songs on this Fresh Wind session are currently unreleased. I’m grateful to have the opportunity to share them with you here, alongside a cover of the aforementioned Robert Quijano’s song “Thicket O’ Trouble”. It’s rare that my search for words to describe a song or songwriter comes up short, but Dakota Hall Scott is one of those rare artists that needs to be heard to be believed.
8: Fresh Wind Session No. 29: Dakota Hall Scott of Tarantula Hawk