ABOUT SCOTT

Scott King has been writing songs since he was in high school first learning to play the guitar. Songwriting, recording, and performing has been and continues to be one of the most fulfilling aspects of his life, an expression of who he is to his core. 

Scott's first foray into professional recording was with Targan & King, the contemporary Christian rock duo he formed in college with his friend and fellow songwriter, Eric Targan. Not Built By Human Hands was released in 1986. Recorded at The Barn in Indianapolis, Indiana, the album features John Govro of The Bill Gaither Trio on guitar, Jeff Silvey of The Gaither Vocal Band on keyboards, and Dane Clark from John Cougar Mellencamp on drums.

Scott began his solo career in 1991 playing acoustic guitar and singing his songs at coffeehouses in the Boston area where he grew up. In 1992, he released his debut album, We Can't Wait To Dance, and headed to Denmark that same year on an invitation from Youth For Christ (YFC). He performed over 160 shows all over the country -- at festivals, in roadside cafes, pubs, schools, and churches -- and appeared on both Danish television and radio. A grueling gig schedule of between 5-8 shows a week between 1992 and 1993 taught Scott something about being a performing songwriter, and that tour prepared him for the next phase of his career in Boston. 

He entered the city's thriving Folk music scene in 1993 and wound up as a semi-finalist in the Boston Acoustic Underground Competition and a finalist in the WADN Riverbank Songwriting Contest before longtime friend, Allen Lynch, an attorney with a dream of forming a rock band and being its manager, convinced him to start a new project. With Allen’s backing, Xguru was born. 

Xguru released a 4-song demo tape and later a live EP on compact disc, followed by its first and only full-length album, Wonder of it All, produced by Tim O’Heir (Juliana Hatfield, All American Rejects, Sebadoe, Dinosaur Jr.) and recorded at the legendary Fort Apache in Cambridge, MA, and at Kissy Pig in Allston, MA between 1998 and 1999. As lead singer, guitarist, and principal writer for the band, Scott headlined many of Boston’s most iconic clubs, including The Middle East, Mama Kin, The Rathskellar ("The Rat"), and Bill's Bar. 

The band sold out its CD-release show at Bill's Bar while the Red Sox played under the lights across the street, and as the bouncer parted the crowd to lead the boys from the green room to the stage, with Soul Coughing cranked up on the house speakers ("Move aside and let the man go through..."), there was a line out the door of disappointed fans who could not get in. 

Xguru performed as the renowned WBCN's band of choice at events throughout the city and rocked numerous colleges and universities such as MIT, Emerson, and Northeastern. The band enjoyed regular airplay on AAA stations in Greater Boston including WBCN ("The Rock Of Boston"), WAAF, and WFNX, and was featured on college stations across the country.  

“Meteor,” the stress track from Wonder of it All, written by Scott and bandmate, Chris Rings, was included on the 1999 CD, Student Compilation, Volume 3, alongside “Rodeo Clowns” by G. Love and Special Sauce, featuring Jack Johnson. Another of King's songs, “Stranger As You Go,” was licensed to Lorimar Pictures in Hollywood but unfortunately never appeared in any of their movies or TV shows.

Throughout his career, here in the United States and in Europe, Scott has shared stages and co-billings with many acclaimed artists, including Bill Morrissey, Brooks Williams, The Nields, Ellis Paul, Pierce Pettis, Jonathan Edwards, Don White, Scott Alarick, Joel Cage, José Ayerve, Bryan Duncan, Per Erik Hallin, Allies (featuring Bob Carlisle and Randy Thomas), The Watchmen, Expanding Man, Evan & Jaron, Angry Salad, Johnny A, and Rick Derringer, to name a few. 

In 2000, Scott left Xguru and in 2002 reignited his solo career in Maine.  The Thomaston Sessions (2004) is an acoustic showcase for Scott’s exceptional guitar style, melodic choruses, and poignant lyrics. The record introduced Maine listeners to Scott when Portland’s WMPG, WCLZ, and Maine Public Radio all featured the talented newcomer. 

On Portrait (2005) Scott wrote "with clarity and honesty" (Northeast in Tune Magazine) and firmly established himself as an eclectic artist who comfortably and effectively draws from multiple genres -- including Folk, Rock, Blues, and Country. 

Scott followed up Portrait with Wrecking Ball (2007), a modern Gospel-rock album that includes a cover of Larry Norman's "The Outlaw." The album helped raise money for the poor in Haiti. That same year he released In Your Head, which New England Music Scrapbook called a "diverse, catchy new album." Over the summer of 2007, audiences all over New England and in New York were treated to those songs when Scott was favorably received at his own concerts and by fans of Pierce Pettis and Jonathan Edwards when he opened for each of them on a leg of their respective tours.

After a lengthy hiatus, Scott released The Ancient Diamond Sky (2020).  Recorded at his home studio, The Bunker, and mastered by Jeff Lipton and Maria Rice of Peerless Mastering in Boston, the album contains a wide variety of songs, with inspiration from U2, The Outlaws, The Beatles, James Taylor, and early Rock and Blues traditions.  Lyrically, Scott explores the theme of personal loss and the mystery that is part of the human experience, but these weightier topics are mitigated with the kind of whimsical relief his listeners are used to with songs like "Naked Noah" from Portrait, and “Down and Low” from In Your Head. On The Ancient Diamond Sky, that whimsical song is undoubtedly, “Driving Your Car,” a tale of a woman whose scoundrel boyfriend clearly isn't worth her time.  

Scott is currently hard at work writing and recording a brand new batch of songs, and he expects to release another record in late 2021. Stay tuned!