Dem Blues Has Got A Hold On Me

Hero Worship
by Scott Perry

I first saw Scott Perry at The Pine Tavern, Floyd, Virginia in the summer of 2000. Several of my friends had seen him hosting the Sunday night open mike there at the Pine, but none of them knew he played guitar. “Well I don’t know who he is,” I said, “but we’re fixing to hear one hell of a great show.”

“How do you know?” one of my friends asked before downing a shot. “Do you know him?”

“Never heard of him,” I replied.

“Then how do you know he can play?”

“’Cause, I explained, “nobody spends three grand on a National Steel Dobro like the one he’s totin’ unless they already know how to play the damn thing.”

Was I predicting the future or do I just happen to know a little bit about guitars? Okay, you’re right, I’m dumb as a mud fence when it comes to guitars but that night Scott Perry played the best acoustic blues show that I’ve seen to date.

Scott honed his blues skills playing over 200 gigs a year all over the nation opening for and playing with blues greats Paul Rishel and Annie Raines, Corey Harris, Otis Taylor, Roy Bookbinder, Ann Rabson, Anson Funderburgh and the Rockets, Deborah Coleman, Paul Geremia, and more while appearing at lots of the nation’s top clubs and festivals. These include the Chicago Blues Festival, Charleston SC. Blues Bash, Taste of the Blue Ridge Blues and Jazz Festival, Delaware Folk Festival, Chateau Morrisette Our Dog Blue, Blues Festival, Floyd World Music Festival and the Herndon Blues Festival.

If you ever get the chance to drop by Floyd, Virginia I’d suggest you look for Scott at any of the several live venues in Floyd that include The Pine Tavern, Oddfellas Cantina, and more. I promise you’ll see the best blues show you’ve ever seen. Scott plays old style, new style, Texas style, Piedmont Blues, Chicago, Memphis, and Jump as well as every other style of blues known to man and usually manages to do them all in the same show. Just look for a big guy in black tux and tails totin’ a shiny National steel-bodied guitar-- you can’t miss him and you wouldn’t want to.

Scott’s latest CD., Hero Worship is exactly as the title suggests, a tribute to Scott’s blues heroes and influences (click on the album cover to hear samples) It’s old style acoustic blues played the way the masters play it. Not surprising considering Scott is a blues master himself.

Scott has trimmed back his gig schedule in recent years preferring to spend time doing the married man thing with his wife, Lisa, sons Spencer and Emerson, and the chickens (I don’t know the chicken’s names.) they raise on their farm in the highlands of Floyd County, Virginia, but Scott is doing gigs and recording CDs, as well as guitar lessons and helping to produce and promote other great musicians. I’d suggest you check him out tonight.

Comments

[Laurie]

I'm heading to Floyd tomorrow, so I appreciate the tip.