TIFTON — Ray Scott is set to play the Tift Theatre, along with Darryl Worley and Heath Deloach, on Feb. 16.

The stage is a familiar place for Scott, who spends most weekends out on the road.

“I’ve always been a traditional country guy,” said Scott. “We like to take it out there where the real listeners are, where people are hungry for it.”

Scott has been a tradition country fan since he was a kid, growing up in North Carolina.

His dad, Ray Scott Sr., introduced him to country music. Being raised on steady diet of 70s country, such as Willie Nelson, led to Scott wanting to try his own hand at it.

“The songwriting started speaking to me,” said Scott. “I was kind of lured into it and started when I was younger.”

Those early songwriting efforts don’t quite measure up to the tunes Scott is coming up with today.

“[Those early songs were] not very good,” Scott laughed. “But you gotta start somewhere. A little exercise, so to speak, a little repetition… A lot of time it takes years to kind of figure it out.”

After years of songwriting and music playing and after moving to Nashville and writing songs for Randy Travis and Clay Walker, Scott put out his first album, “My Kind of Music” in 2005.

That album was followed by “Crazy Like Me” in 2008, “Rayality,”  the self-titled “Ray Scott” in 2014 and “Guitar for Sale” in 2017.

His latest, a five song EP called “Honkey Tonk Heart,” is set to come out on March 1.

It’s in line with how Scott bills himself, a country musician more in tune with the outlaw/traditional country wing than the smoother, poppy sound that’s predominate on the radio today.

“They water it down. They try to make sure it’s more widely accepted. It’s more the mentality of McDonalds as opposed to making true art,” said Scott.

“Some of the sounds I love have gone away, too. As long as the music is good, I have no issue with it. But I think it’s turned into more childish writing, trite music for kids. I don’t hear the same level of passion, the same level of maturity, the same level of pain, the same level of heart.”

Scott will be joined by Darryl Worley.

Worley is perhaps best known for his 9/11 tribute ballad “Have You Forgotten?”

His latest single, “Lonely Alone,” is a cut off of a greatest hits compilation album he’s been working on.

The album will be almost evenly split between top hits and new songs, with eight classic tracks and seven brand new ones.

Worley has been working on it in Muscle Shoals, Ala. the same place his career started 20 years ago.

“I guess you could say now I’ve come full circle,” said Worley. “I love that laid back, funky vibe that’s down there. I feel more creative than I have in many, many years.

Growing up, music was a regular part of Worley family get togethers.

“I had family members in music in general,” said Worley. “On both sides of my family, that’s just what we did. There was a piano in everybody’s house. Everybody played something and everybody sang some part.”

“It was one of the things that kept us out of trouble,” Worley added. “There wasn’t much around here to do, so it also gave us something to do. It was just a hoot. We even had horn players on one side.”

Pre-orders for “Second Wind: Latest and Greatest” start March 1, with the album set to come out April 26.

There’s also a lost album of sorts. Titled “God and Country,” the album focuses on faith and patriotism, Worley said.

“It found its way to daylight in some small kinds of ways,” said Worley. “It was basically written in support of our troops.”

Worley still hopes it’ll see the light of the day, one way or the other.

Military service members in particular and patriotism in general is a theme Worley turns to repeatedly in his music, from “Have You Forgotten?” to “I Just Came Back from a War,” told from the point of view of a war veteran trying to adjust to being back home.

“It’s how we grew up,” said Worley. “I’m a very patriotic person. I can tell you for certain that our family, on both sides, were very passionate about it.

“We’re very, very blessed to be American and we should be very, very proud of that. We have the freedom and liberty and the things we enjoy because people have paid the sacrifice.

“I think more people should make their children aware of that kind of stuff. It feels like some generations are clueless.”

Worley and Scott take the stage Feb. 16 at the Tift Theatre. The show starts at 7 p.m.

Tickets are available at https://www.freshtix.com/events/an-evening-with-darryl-worley-and-ray-scott-with-special-guest-heath-deloach.