Poet of the bar room, thoughtful musician and ceaselessly rolling stone, Scott Bywater is probably one of the most extraordinary ordinary guys around. That’s not what he tells people, of course; ‘(kind of a music guy)(writes a bit)’ his card advertises apologetically. “I got sick of reading on everyone’s cards ‘CEO this, Master of the Universe that,’” he says in explanation. “That’s what I am, and it doesn’t get anyone’s hopes up too much.” His musical style is multifaceted enough to encompass different gigs, redolent of chansonniers like Jacquess Brel as well as Anglophonic troubadours Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan. Bywater of course sidesteps such laudatory comparisons: “It’s not like I see any link at all between what I do musically and Dylan. People see the harmonica rack and the guitar and assume my stuff is like Dylan, but I don’t think it’s anything like him.” And like Dylan he delights in not playing by the rules, experimenting with electronica and dub, then going back to his acoustic roots before jumping off into spoken word poetry. “I’ll give everything a shot; there aren’t any rules. I’m just as comfortable playing solo at Riverside Bistro as I am playing rhythm with the Cambodian Space Project.” Joining Scott for tonight’s acoustic session is fellow Phnom Penh-based muso, Andre Swart.
WHO: Scott Bywater and Andre Swart
WHAT: Acoustic night
WHERE: ARTiller, Street 240½
WHEN: 7pm July 12
WHY: Scott Bywater is a poet of the bar-room, thoughtful musician and ceaselessly rolling stone