Mike Scott

Mike Scott, once the lead singer and primary songwriter of the Waterboys, had already crafted what functioned as a solo project on the group’s final album issued under that moniker, the 1993 release Dream Harder, cut in New York alongside session musicians, although his first official solo album did not appear until Bring ’Em All In in 1995. After Dream Harder came out, he chose to depart New York, where he had lived for much of the decade, and moved to Scotland for an extended period at the Findhorn Foundation spiritual community. His time there directly shaped Bring ’Em All In, which he actually tracked, assisted by Niko Bolas, inside a 24-track studio he had installed beneath the community’s theater. After the harder-rocking Dream Harder, the new album signaled a return to Celtic folk influences; Scott performed every instrument himself on the largely acoustic set, arguably his most unguardedly personal statement to date. Still Burning appeared in 1997.