Carey Ott is nothing if not prolific. He hails from Chicago, and he’s a multi-instrumentalist, a producer and engineer and a performer. He’s released seven albums to date as well as numerous singles. In my music collection, I have amassed around 150 of his tracks, and they’re almost all sure-fire classics. He’s worked with the likes of The Silver Seas, The Greencards, Rebecca Roubion, Jack Tempchin, Eric Pasay, Iain Archer, Lincoln Parish, Steve Albini, Brian Deck, Ray Kennedy, and Chris Gelbuda, to name but a few. He has his own personal studio, Velvet Shoreline, and his songs have been used in numerous films and TV series, including Grey’s Anatomy, The Killing of John Lennon and Make It or Break It.
His knack for writing infectious, catchy and memorable songs is second to none, and his output is incredibly consistent. He grew up in Ottawa and then moved to Texas, and currently resides in Nashville. He’s also a vocal coach and mentor working with aspiring musicians, poets, singers and songwriters. The Chicago Tribune got him exactly when they said: “Recommended for audiences who are starved for something fresh yet uncannily comfortable and familiar. The kind of artist whose gifts are seen rarely in any given generation“.
His recording career started in the mid 1990’s in the band Torben Floor, where Ott wrote all the material for their debut album, but a record deal eluded them. This is when Nashville producer Ray Kennedy heard some of Ott’s material and managed to help him get a deal with Dualtone, and his debut solo album Lucid Dream was released in 2006. It was a superb, accomplished debut of twelve memorable songs, with an unnerving knack for catchy melodies and a warm and engaging feel, including this track, I Wouldn’t Do That To You.
It took Ott four years to get his second album out, Human Heart, but that break meant his creativity went into overdrive, as this album had twenty tracks on it. This is a truly epic album, where he performed almost every instrument on the album, writing all the songs and producing it. There’s everything from catchy foot stompers to beautiful, heartfelt ballads, and there isn’t a dud track on the whole album. A perfect example is the glorious Be Honest.
And the more relaxed but equally impressive Getting Through.
In 2012, Ott released his third solo album, again independently, Muddy Water, with Neilson Hubbard helping out on production and on various instruments, and he collected eight other musicians for another stirring set of ten high-quality songs. His ability to write instantly memorable tunes and exceptional lyrics continued unabated.
In 2016, he released Nocona, another winner and here’s an album highlight: the up-tempo Til The Well Runs Dry, a track about drinking lots of beer! The album’s title was inspired by the faith of the Comanches in the small town of Nocona, Texas and some of the lyrics for the album were written by fellow musician Ryan Culwell.
In 2020, he released two albums, Pink River and Work and Love, and from the latter, here’s another beautiful song, Unwind.
Ott has also released a slew of great singles in recent years, continuing his prolific songwriting mindset, and he paired up with a band, Carey Ott and the Hard Ways, with an EP including this rocker, Whenever I Say Go.
Ott’s recording output hasn’t diminished; he has a Bandcamp page where you can listen to many of these albums, and his ethos “tell better stories, write better songs” continues undimmed. I can’t think of another artist who’s recorded so much high-quality material in such a wide range of styles and who never allows the quality threshold to falter. This is a master musician and songwriter.
