D. Scott Riggs – Somewhere Not Here
Pure Panhandle Music
15 Tracks – 57 minutes
D. Scott Riggs is a resident of Pensacola, Florida. He has played throughout the peninsula in various bands and as a solo artist. On this album, he is playing as a solo artist. He plays resonator guitars, acoustic guitar, 12-string guitar and banjo and provides all vocals. The album contains all original songs he wrote to deal with the unexpected loss of Cheryl, his wife. He decided the best way to deal with his grief was to write songs to express his loss, the loneliness, regrets and grief.
He declares to God on the opening track that it is “Hard, So Hard Sometimes” ‘to understand your plan sometimes” as he is backed solely by his resonator guitar. He then cries “Lord, I long to be “Somewhere Not Here”. He continues his pleas with “Lord, Did You Hear Me Moan”, a brief instrumental. On “Troubled, Troubled”, he states that “Lord, I am lost, I can’t seem to find my way. She is gone Lord, help me live another day”.
He finds “Just Enough to Face the Day” in another brief instrumental which then shifts into his proclamation that “No One Knows the Pain in My Heart” and “your words won’t set me free”. He says, “These Walls Don’t Own Me” but they hold me back just the same”. “The memories still linger inside our home”. He then laments the “Things I Never Said”.
“In My Darkest Hour”, he prays “to get me through the day”. “Will you help me understand, please take my hand, lead me through this pain”. “The Breaking of the Day” is another instrumental leading into “I Will Rise Now You’re Gone” offering a slightly more upbeat sound as he starts to look forward even as ” I will always hold you dear”. “Pray For Another Day” is another short musical interlude.
“In The Crescent City with You” is a remembrance of a good time and a wish that he could spend another day like that with her. “Repose of The Soul” is another short instrumental leading into the closing song “Goodnight My Angel, Good Night” as he sings, “It is hard to let you go”.
Riggs voice is a deep bass growl, that does serve the music well reflecting the pain and grief he is expressing. The music is old school pure gospel associated blues. While I can appreciate the intent of the album and can express the hope that it did serve to release some of the loss he feels, it is not an album that I would likely to turn back to myself. His loneliness and grief are transmitted in the music and could serve others that might be in similar times of despair, but those feelings reflect back to other times and losses that many of us probably have had and are not ready to return to.
