New Confusion: R. Scully's first solo release, and a 2020 quarantine masterpiece 9 November 2020
Ryan Scully has been a vital voice in the vibrant New Orleans music scene for multiple decades now, working on everything from writing children's records/books, throwing community based block parties and promoting eclectic NOLA artists at BJ’s over the last three years.
His most recent endeavor finds him capturing the current Covid lockdowns early daze with his first truly solo album New Confusion on Houma/Nouvea Electric Records 11/20/2020. The self-recorded and produced album addresses lingering questions and unstable emotions with oddball gallows humor and the rage that has been percolating in our collective societal mind during 2020.
A veteran of chronicling the debauched nightlife of New Orleans with the cult party punks Morning 40 Federation before turning to the gutter gospel rock redemption of The Rough Seven, and the country/Americana tinged Ten Gallon Tinfoil Hat, Scully has weathered the storms figuratively and literally. Shifting dive bar drunken babble, late night epiphanies and the emotional weightiness of coming clean in a dirty world into song, Scully possesses an interpretive eye, an open soul and a raconteur wit that serves him well during these tumultuous times.
While locked down during the early days of Covid quarantine Scully shut himself off in his Bywater attic, writing and recording his most personal songs to date, surprising even himself with the 10 tracks presented on New Confusion. Regarding the writing and recording process he stated, “Once I started working on this album, everything just flowed out”.