Scott Sturgeon El Chingon - Kody's Country Review - by Kody McDowell
Scott Sturgeon El Chignon album review
I was lucky enough to be introduced to Scott Sturgeon Music when a friend sent me a video from Luckenbach, Texas of Scott singing a Jamey Johnson cover “In Color”. That’s when I knew I had to find out more about this talented independent artist.
At a very early age, Scott was introduced to music by his father who would crank up Elton John, The Mamas and the Papas, and The Bee Gees on his reel to reel. When Scott was around 17 he had a friend teach him to play some Skid Row and Bon Jovi songs on a six-string guitar. This would later lead him to join a heavy metal band Revolution of Knowledge where they frequented the Dallas area and also won Battle of the Bands 2003-2006.
Sturgeon has faced a few hiccups along the way, but hasn’t given up on his passion and drive for making great country music. In 2009 he began writing songs, this is where his release of Summertime EP came about.
This brings us to Scott’s 2019 release of El Chingon. The album consists of eight songs that are beautifully written and execute a humble, yet fun attitude that I find attractive in Country music.
Sturgeon wrote all of the songs on this album himself with no co-writer. He plays rhythm guitar, bass, and keys parts as well as vocals and backing vocals (that’s impressive). El Chingon is mostly a fast-paced collection that contains a few slower melodies. While this whole album is a treasure, there are a few that stuck out to me such as Suitcase Sam which is a very upbeat song that features Justin Ross (Big Casino and Justin Ross Band) on lead and slide. The next song that caught my attention and one that hits home for many of us, is The Light which tells the story of drug addiction and the cries for help that go unheard. The way Scott has paired his vocals with these lyrics is just magical. I love a good true to life country song and he executed this song to be just that. Another song in the lot that Scott meets the mark on is Virginia. This song to me is about a State of Mind and Virginia is used as a metaphor for various moods and feelings of wanting something/someone that is unobtainable, but once you have it, you don’t really want it which we can hear in the lyrics “ Virginia was where I was told my heart would be ok, but not today”.
El Chingon is a damn good album and I highly recommend it for anyone who can truly appreciate great songwriting in real country music with a down-home Texas feel to it. El Chignon also features Michael Ross Fitch (Brandon Jenkins) on Drums as well as “Bobby Texas” Bobby Gardner on Steel Guitar. The album was co-produced by Scott Sturgeon and Justin Ross and was recorded at Lazy Brook Studios in Watauga, Texas.
Scott Sturgeon is currently back in SG Studios and is working with producer Greg White on a highly anticipated third album. I look forward to hearing much more from Scott Sturgeon Music. I hope you enjoy this album as much as I do.
Scott is an awsome musician
Good review enjoyed reading this nice capture and translation of his songs .