The Makers Out sets the stage to create a labyrinth of sound and vision with their debut album
Bloodlines/Hope
Out on June 14
Cinematic folk music that absorbs the listener’s mind, ears, and soul
“When you listen to Scott Bell and The Makers Out, you are emerged into a sonic landscape that makes you feel like you are on the inside of a film score. The songs are painted in lush images that beckon you to close your eyes and listen.” – Jeff Sloan – (Three-time Grammy Award-winning Producer, Engineer & Percussionist, Tom Waits)
“Bloodlines/Hope is about ancestral reverence and integration, land-honoring, flower culture, Indigenous European and American music, landscapes, death, rebirth, and shocking colorful textures of sound and light,” said project leader Scott Bell (vocals, lyrics, guitar). “This project is about ceremony and opening portals to other dimensions of the self.” Ahead of their June 14th release date, The Makers Out have released a few singles over the past few months to appease their fans who have been clamoring for this music for a while, including “Emerald Fireflies” (reaching over 10K streams) and “Holy Water” (reaching over 8K streams).
It has been a studio project from the start, then evolved to the stage. The Makers Out is a musical project born in the tallgrass prairie of America’s heartland, channeled through a Tulsan, with vibrations that are made to extend to the farthest reaches of space and time. “I feel like my music is spiritual in nature,” Bell said. “Through my own practice, I do not write songs regularly but wait for them to write themselves through me.”
“This album calls to mind the broad sonic landscape that artists like Alan Parsons, Coldplay, Bon Iver, Tangerine Dream, and Pink Floyd worked with, but is also wholly different in structure and tone.” – Jeff Cook/Coherent Music (John Hiatt, Jason Isbell, Grateful Dead)
For The Makers Out’s debut, Bell recruited an impressive supporting cast that includes John Fulbright (Turnpike Troubadours), Jake Lynn (Jason Boland and the Stragglers), Chris Combs (COMBSY), Mat Maxwell (Luke Combs), D. James Goodwin (Kevin Morby, Bonny Light Horseman), and many more, to create a dreamy, cinematic Americana soundscape that feels delicate and immersive as well as effortless. “I also love the cohesion in each section and hearing new voices introduced so seamlessly,” beams Maxwell.
The album’s ideas began to emerge a few years ago and took shape as Scott Bell learned new production and instrumentation skills that allowed him to expand his musical horizons. Bell could take those skills and return to the studio to create songs like “Stillborn,” a dark depiction of loss and grief. The song “Religion” is a call for reconciliation with each other; “My mission in voicing this song was to question why we cling to beliefs and actions that harm others and why we persist in being judgmental towards our neighbors and potential friends instead of embracing acceptance of the way humans are.”
“The sonic design of the record is thoughtful at every step, every note. The frequency and resonance of every musical decision made on that record was executed with purpose and spirit. These are the bits I mean when I say vision. An artist simply cannot fake this. Try as they may, it is obvious that some artists are trying on clothing. Scott is not trying it on. He lives in it. He draws it. He sews it by hand and cuts all of the seams himself. This is the work of true art, and it was truly my honor to help him see this record through in the ways that I could.” – D James Goodwin (Kevin Morby, Bonny Light Horseman, Hold Steady)
After a career spent playing a multitude of roles in music – Scott Bell has been a producer for dozens of regional artists and records, production manager for live shows for crowds of thousands, touring partner with Julianna Barwick on her ‘Nepenthe’ tour, and even opening for Sigur Ros across the U.S. His involvement with the Tulsa musical community includes the Live From Cain’s radio show via the legendary venue. It is carried on 59 stations from Alaska to Texas, hosted by Fats Kaplin and the house band led by Paul Benjaman. Bell is the broadcast producer who records, edits, mixes, and delivers the shows. He also works with Guthrie Green and Gathering Place, two award-winning event venues that thrive on focusing on diversity, education, and entertainment. During the 2023-2024 event season, Bell has produced shows for Kurt Vile, Washed Out, and Tank & The Bangas.
With the release of Bloodlines/Hope, Bell now adds ‘Cosmic Folk Frontman’ to that list. Listeners will be thankful for this role, as he has learned to embrace it after years of playing behind the scenes. The Makers Out are looking forward to bringing the music from the studio to the stage this summer, so keep a look out via their website and socials.
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