BILLSCORZARI

by Hugo Simoes"Part two of Bill Scorzari’s double-album project has him weaving from love lost to love kept and on the go.

Bill Scorzari is a former New York trial lawyer with a Walt Whitman beard that extends past his chest. In 2008, after witnessing a performance by Justin Townes Earle, he had a change of heart and [in 2016]  became a full-time musician.

To date, he has five releases under his belt. This review covers the sixth: as it happens, it is the second half of a double album, Sidereal Days (Day 1), first released last year, and which received high praise from the likes of famed critic Robert Christgau and our own AUK. ...his lyrics are often spoken rather than sung. Both quietly and loudly roared is an apt description. At his best, such as in I Think It’s Gonna Rain, he evokes landscapes and moments: on the one hand, through lightning-speed description; on the other, tight weaves of acoustic guitar, piano, pedal steel. ... There is wisdom about love lost, and love kept. Writing about the album’s first half, Robert Christgau relishes yet laments that Scorzari’s meditations linger mostly on failed romance, but Sidereal Days (Day 2) also highlights a gentle closeness, a knowledge of intimacy, ...There’s no fear in this collection of musical monologues. And but for the less-than-occasional words that ring too loud and too clear, the album is better for it."

Click here for the full Americana UK Review by Hugo Simoe with Featured-Track player.

by Jeff Burger, September 27, 30 and October 2nd, 2026

"Bill Scorzari, Sidereal Days (Day 2). Like Sidereal Days (Day 1), which came out last October, this companion disc was entirely written and arranged by the New York–based Bill Scorzari and was produced by him and Neilson Hubbard. It adds to the already substantial evidence that the singer/songwriter is a one-of-a-kind, must-hear artist.

As this column has previously noted, his sandpapery vocals ... this writer considers them a perfect fit for Scorzari’s earthy, poetic lyrics, which sometimes sound like journal entries and other times like remembered dreams. They also offer a perfect counterpoint to his richly textured music..."

This article appears in the following publications (click to read the full article): BLOGCRITICS, AMERICANA HIGHWAYS, JEFFBURGER.COM, and THE AQUARIAN

Tom Hull
September 25, 2026

“…With most of my demo queue still slated for future release, and my email still screwed, I struggled a bit to find new albums. I did get a boost when Robert Christgau posted his Consumer Guide: September 2026. I broke this down into four lists:

1. Albums I hadn’t heard…
2. Albums I’ve heard that he likes more than I do… 
3. Albums I’ve heard that I like more than he does: Jeff Evans Porkestra (A− vs. ★), Bill Scorzari (A vs. B+), Vince Staples (A− vs. ★).
4. Albums I’ve heard where we’re pretty close…

I assume the higher grades (group 2) represent more listening… But group 3 bothers me more, because I’ve spent enough time with those albums to rate them higher. He’s consistently rated Staples higher than I have, so we may be tuning into different things. He’s topped me with two A− grades for Evans’ EPs. I tend to grade EPs down a bit… it takes a while to settle into an album, and EPs don’t offer that time. But the Scorzari mismatch is the one I find unfathomable. I reviewed the album a couple weeks ago, but I didn’t include it on Substack because it wasn’t out yet. It’s out today, so I wanted to show it off here. It’s currently my number two album of 2026, just behind the live Laurie Anderson, Let X = X. ...

…Bill Scorzari: Sidereal Days (Day 2) (2022-24 [2026], self-released): New York City attorney… decided to try out as a singer-songwriter around 2015, his productivity and skills picking up after retiring from his day job. Second batch of songs saved over from the sessions that produced his 2025 Sidereal Days (Day 1). His scratchy voice is approaching Tom Waits territory, but he’s made good use of a chorus. The electric guitar has depth and resonance. The pace is moderate: no need to outrun the songs, which are deeper than ever. 'And my mind’s inclined to fix on only things I truly need.' A"

Read the full review and Music Week (9:4) post HERE

by John Apice

"This is a well-rooted & expressive album with a lived-in voice. Rich tones & convincingly sung. ...

If America has a fatherly sound, it’s probably people like Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, Woody Guthrie & in the charred artistic voice of Bill Scorzari (vocals/acoustic & electric guitars/mandolin/banjo). The NY-based singer-songwriter offers his 6th independently released studio set – 2nd of 2 in a series of Sidereal Days (Day 2) (Drops September 25/ Independent/53:32).

Self-produced with Neilson Hubbard (drums/percussion) & recorded in Huntington, NY & Nashville, TN, the 11 tracks are superbly pensive, troubadour sharp, & what’s especially notable is Bill’s ability to conjure storylines relatable to listeners’ mental acuity & not just their toes, feet & hips. Bill has a Kris Kristofferson ideal set in his rural lyrical alchemy, Tim Hardin finesse, & Guy Clark edginess. All patched together into Bill’s imagery, laced with cinnamon melodies. Splendid on “So Much To Say on Rainy Days” & “That’s a Good Thing.”

Stylistically, on some songs, like “Middle Class Middle Child,” there are shards of Jon Dee Graham & for some reason certain songs & performances need that kind of vocal edge, growl, that rusty sparkle on the iron. It adds the authenticity that a more polished voice lacks. ... 

The most spirited song is “Time Is a River Now,” with its strong, soulful backup singers & well-accentuated lead guitar. You can’t say Bill can’t rock. The evidence is here... "          

Click HERE to read the full review.

Reviews of Terry Allen, Margaret Glaspy, The Rolling Stones, Neil Young, Open Mike Eagle, The Hobknobs, Lenny Kaye, Olivia Rodrigo, Bill Scorzari, Tom Ze, Jeff Evans Porkestra, FaithNYC, and more.

by Robert Christgau 
Sep 23, 2026

"...Bill Scorzari: Sidereal Days (Day 2) (self released) This former attorney who crafts singer‑songwriter albums on the side tends smart as he has to be plus lovelorn on the side. But on his sixth album he’s not just practicing law to finance his studio habit but concocting lyrics that might help him get on top of his mood swings. 'In the middle of my life mama found a better man,' he reports in a gravelly sprechgesang trademarked to suit his most painful lyrics to date, as in the one that boils down to 'Your love is all that I need to know,' but also 'Sometimes you take you take your chances and you hope to win/Sometimes you break, you break before you learn to bend.' B PLUS"      Review

Published by Donald Teplyske September 21st, 2026

"... Containing songs going back more than a decade, Bill Scorzari’s Sidereal Days (Day 2) (pronounced SIGH-DEER-ee-uhl Dayz) is the companion to Sidereal Days (Day 1) released last autumn.

Like all Scorzari albums I’ve encountered (The Crosswinds of Kansas, Now I’m Free, Through These Waves), the songs encourage listeners to absorb their depth and truly unique presentation without distraction: imagine that, an album that encourages us to put aside the electronics and actually listen.

While obviously songs, I tend to approach Scorzari’s compositions as miniature pieces of vocal and poetic theatre. And while the songs are not obviously connected as a narrative, they do contain thematic bonds unifying their performance—our interconnectedness, our community and reliance on each other as we seek meaning within our shared bonds. And our fragility within these relationships.

The thing about Scorzari albums is they work best as a whole: isolating songs as ‘singles’ or ‘feature cuts’ doesn’t really do justice to the individual songs or the album as a work of art. Just when one settles on a song as a highlight, the next song comes along and requires you to reconsider what the term means because each and every song is a highlight if one allows it to be—if you know what I mean, and I hope you do.

Individual lines from songs tend to linger:

“Just walk through this heart that’s broken, this heart that’s hopin’, this open door.” (“Open Door”)

“Are you ready to be different? Are you willing to be free? ‘Cause it’s the same as when I look at you as when you look at me.” (“I Know You Know”)

“I can feel the wind blow cold, and I can hear the whistle blow in the distance, with the whisper of your existence and persistence of this vision of your presence, someplace, somewhere, out there in this world.” (“It Keeps Me on The Run”)

“Time is a river now, all to its own. It’s come to crash and deliver now, and wash through my home where I’ve been a raging mess.” (“Time Is a River Now”)

“Sometimes you take…you take your chances and you hope to win. Sometimes you break…you break before you learn to bend. Sometimes you wake…you wake, and the morning light comes streamin’ in and you wonder if it’s too latee…to late to dream again.” (“So Much to Say on Rainy Days”)

All of these—and obviously more—are delivered in Scorzari’s talking-roots ‘n blues manner, reminiscent of troubadours through these recent decades: John Prine, Sam Baker, John Stewart, Otis Gibbs, Ray Wylie Hubbard to name a few. And I must comment on the inclusion of backing vocalists Marie Lewey and Cindy Richardson Walker; the voices of these Shoals Sisters elevates the arrangement whenever present.

If you dig the mentioned artists, if you are looking for someone quite a few steps away from the gloss of the “Americana” mainstream, if you are craving roots music that offers lasting appeal, I highly recommend Bill Scorzari’s Sidereal Days (Day 2)."

Click HERE to read the full review at Fervor Coulee

Bill Scorzari: Sidereal Days (Day 2) (2022-24 [2026], self-released): New York City attorney, ..., decided to try out as a singer-songwriter around 2015... Second batch of songs saved over from the sessions that produced his 2025 Sidereal Days (Day 1). His scratchy voice is approaching Tom Waits territory, but he's made good use of a chorus. The electric guitar has depth and resonance. The pace is moderate: no need to outrun the songs, which are deeper than ever. 'And my mind's inclined to fix on only things I truly need.' A [cd] [09-25]"

Tom Hull On The Web / Music Review