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Dylan Scott‘s seven-song tribute to Keith Whitley, titled An Old Memory, is new today.
While the legend is almost universally revered for his vocals and his songwriting, Whitley died more than a year before the “Nothing to Do Town” hitmaker was born.
So for Dylan, his first exposure to Whitley is literally An Old Memory, one he shares with his father, who was also a touring musician.
“It was with my dad,” Dylan says of hearing Keith for the first time. “My dad had a single-cab Toyota pickup truck that had a tape player. And we’re from Louisiana, so we would ride back roads, and we’d roll the windows down and my dad would just play that tape over and over again.”
“It was ‘Don’t Close Your Eyes,’ and ‘When You Say Nothing at All,’ and ‘Ten Feet Away.’ That’s my first memories, just riding around with my dad listening to Keith Whitley.”
Dylan covers all of those songs on his tribute. He says Whitley’s appeal to him evolved over time.
“In the beginning, when I was a small kid, it was the tone of his voice,” he remembers. “That’s what got me first, and then the older I got, it was his melodies. And then when I started writing and understanding, it was his lyrics.
“You know, it was just the whole package,” Dylan continues. “But in the beginning, it was just his voice and the tone of it, and just how smooth his voice was. Even as a kid, I could tell he was such a great singer, so that’s what did it for me.”
Dylan Scott’s An Old Memory is available to stream or download now. It also includes a duet with Keith’s widow, Lorrie Morgan.
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