Scott Whiddon Photo credit: Brian Connors Manke
Scott Whiddon, a writer, teacher, and musician living in Lexington, Kentucky, releases his new record, Sometimes Just Isn’t Enough, in late September 2026 (on all digital streaming platforms with a limited vinyl release). The album was produced, engineered, and mixed by multi-instrumentalist J. Tom Hnatow (John R. Miller, Ringo Starr, Horse Feathers, Mynabyrds, These United States).
Today, Whiddon shares the first single from the album, “It Might Sound Better That Way,” featuring long time Lexington music veterans Blake Cox and Brandon Judd.
Whiddon explains,
“Sometimes when I write and know that something will be part of a larger body of work, I often conceptualize parts like a screenplay — scenes, key details, even phrases of dialogue, and they all end up in the notebook to cut up and sort later. ‘It Might Sound Better That Way’ kinda began like that — and, like all of Sometimes Just Isn’t Enough, there’s a disaster involved, too. Ten songs about ten disasters. That said, I hope that there’s a sense of grace underneath it all.
“I had a wonderful time working with producer/engineer/mixer J Tom Hnatow on this tune especially — we tried all kinds of great classic amp combinations, digging deep into some classic rock sensibilities. We also had the good fortune of working with two amazing folks on the video side of things — Brian Conners Manke, who also did the art for the vinyl insert, and Brian Powers, host of one of my favorite podcasts, ‘American Esoterica.’”
Over the course of his musical career, Whiddon has shared stages with artists ranging from jam band stalwart Jerry Joseph, to indie rock legends Elf Power, to critical darling Lucy Dacus. His 2023 single, “Maybe That’s Enough For Now,” featured keyboardist Jay Gonzalez of the Drive-By Truckers and also premiered via The Big Takeover.
From 2012-2016, Whiddon served as music director for the Harry Dean Stanton Fest while developing grant-supported film scores for Richard Knox Robinson (Smithsonian, National Geographic, etc.) and Brian Frye (Tulane University). He also composes instrumental and ambient music for Archipelago (a recording project shared by educators across Kentucky colleges that raises awareness for Lexington’s Central Music Academy), and occasionally wrangles his friends into one-off cover band sets.
His 2023 solo acoustic tour included stops at Louisville Listening Room Series, Chattanooga’s Woodshop Listening Room, Knoxville’s WDVX/Blue Plate Special and Pilot Light, and Athens Georgia’s Flicker Theater. Since then, Whiddon has released two LPs with Letters of Acceptance – sharing stages with Mike Watt (Minutemen, Firehose) and Richard Lloyd (Television), and others.
Whiddon is currently booking both full band and solo acoustic shows to support Sometimes Just Isn’t Enough.
New music on the way? Pitch Big Takeover Exclusives.
