Villagerrr - Tear Your Heart Out [CD]

As villagerrr, Mark Allen Scott's patient songs are mesmerizing and unmistakably Midwestern. On his latest record, 'Tear Your Hear Out,' the prolific Ohio artist pinpoints quiet, mundane experiences and imbues them with disarming emotional clarity. It's a record for long drives dappled with sunlight and small-town get-togethers. Chalk-full of home-recorded songs of tasteful indie rock with understated twang, the record solidifies Scott as an essential voice alongside the rising tide of his peers and collaborators. Originally released in 2024 by Darling Recordings, 'Tear Your Heart Out' was warmly received and thrived on the undercurrent, rippling out into a handful of sold out tape runs, tours with Real Estate, Horse Jumper of Love and Momma, and most recently, a record deal with Winspear, the LA-based label that has issued breakout records from Slow Pulp, Barrie and Wishy. The label will be issuing the LP on vinyl for the first time, and will also be releasing a Digital Deluxe Edition of the LP featuring five previously unreleased recordings. Now based in Columbus, Scott was raised in Chillicothe, Ohio alongside the Scioto River. It's a rural town that he says felt small and stifling growing up but, for all it's faults, now feels like home. "I want to wear where I'm from and my family on my sleeve," says Scott. "I'm proud of the twangy influence in my music from corny country songs I'd hear on the bus rides to school. I feel like I'm reclaiming where I come from and making it my own." villagerrr took form in early 2022 as a way for Scott to make music on his own terms by writing, recording, performing, and releasing everything himself. It was the start of an exceptionally prolific period for Scott. He released three albums, 'Brain Pain', 'Ohioan', and 'Like Leaves' as well as an EP, 'Something or Somewhere Else'. Initially, these releases were shared as quiet uploads on Bandcamp and streaming services, but once Scott started to perform the songs live, they began to resonate beyond his circle. Villagerrr's current lineup of instrumentalists coalesced through a steady stream of chance encounters at house shows and festivals, and the band began hopping on bills with a groundswell of up and coming bands like Merce Lemon, feeble little horse and Greg Freeman. On translating songs written in solitude to a live band, Scott says "It's kind of cool that the band feels pretty open-ended and free form. The music and presentation of it changes depending on who can play and who's feeling good about things and what instrument they're on. It's pretty tricky to recreate the sound of the recordings on most songs, so sometimes we don't even try to do that and just lean into what serves our skill sets as a group and go from there." It's reminiscent of the time when Scott sent Merce Lemon a song he was working on called "Neverrr Everrr" while 'Tear Your Heart Out' was first taking shape. Her enthusiastic response sparked a collaboration on the song between the two, which fired Scott up to hammer out the rest of the record. "Meeting artists who are a few steps ahead of you who are encouraging of your art is so validating," says Scott, reflecting on the influence that community and collaboration has had on villagerrr's growth. For Scott, revisiting Tear Your Heart Out ahead of it's digital reissue and vinyl release has helped him to appreciate the ways in which it's making helped him through a turbulent time in his life. There's a lot to celebrate and certainly even more to look forward to. "It's exciting to give the songs a bit more life with a vinyl record and see them resonating with more people," says Scott, peering into the rearview. "It's interesting how old songs can feel to me, even though most people are just hearing them for the first time."