from album 'Plain Simple Honesty' out 23.05.25 (digital) & 27.06.25
Telling the truth is sometimes the hardest thing to do, but it’s always worth the effort” LEDFOOT
'Plain Simple Honesty’ is the eighth solo album by Gothic Blues exponent Ledfoot (aka Tim Scott McConnell) and is exactly what its title suggests: a collection of brutally honest songs straight from the heart. They tell small yet powerful stories, guiding listeners through the darker corners of the human psyche where setbacks are constant, yet his characters endure despite it all.
The themes explored on the album feel especially relevant in the unpredictable and often dark present, with the title track and songs such as new single ‘Hard Times’ painting an unsettlingly accurate picture of everyday life for many in 2025. “About forty years ago, I wrote a song called ‘High Hopes’ about being working class and trying to stay optimistic despite hard times,” says Ledfoot. "The hard times haven’t diminished….but maybe some of the optimism has.”
‘High Hopes’ has a famous back story, first released on the Tim Scott McConnell solo album ‘High Lonesome Sound’ (1987), and then again on the 1990 debut album by his band The Havalinas, before Bruce Springsteen later released several versions of it, most notably as the title track of a solo album issued in 2014.
‘Plain Simple Honesty’ blends Ledfoot’s signature sound with the rich tradition of American singer-songwriters. In addition to 12-string guitar, he also plays baritone guitar, bass, percussion and banjo. The last of these was his first stringed instrument and displays the clear influence of early heroes Doc Boggs and Roscoe Holcomb. The album was recorded at Studio Nyhagen with Ledfoot co-producing with Kjartan Hesthagen and Markus O. Klyve, who also contributes backing vocals, keyboards and percussion, helping to create a sound that lies somewhere between Ledfoot’s Norwegian Grammy-winning 2022 album ‘Coffin Nails’ and 2024’s ‘Outsiders’
Ledfoot (Tim Scott McConnell) is an American musician and songwriter who has been based in Norway for the last three decades. Starting out in 1980 as a member of The Rockats while still in his teens, he then recorded two solo records in the mid-‘80s before co-founding The Havalinas, who also issued two albums and supported Bob Dylan on his ‘Oh Mercy’ world tour to promote the first of them. His 1987 solo song ‘High Hopes’ was subsequently covered twice by Bruce Springsteen, initially for the B’side of a 1996 single and again for what became the title song of a 2014 album that went to no. 1 in multiple territories, including both the US and UK.
In between those boosts from The Boss, McConnell had begun recording a highly distinctive brand of Gothic Blues as Ledfoot from his base in the Norwegian woods, with his first of seven albums to date under that name appearing in 2007. His thickly-strung 12-string acoustic guitar played with a brass slide and stomp box served as accompaniment to his weather-beaten voice, sounding raw and genuinely real. He has gone on to win the Spellemann Award (Norwegian Grammy) in the Blues category twice, including in 2023 for ‘Coffin Nails’. His 2024 album ‘Outsiders’ saw him accompanied by a full band for a set of songs redolent of Johnny Cash, Gram Parsons, Bruce Springsteen and Mink DeVille.