Bio
Nominated for a 2022 Detroit Music Award for Outstanding Americana Song, in 2021 for Outstanding Americana Vocalist, in 2020 for Outstanding Americana Vocalist, in 2019 for Outstanding Americana Vocalist, in 2014 for Outstanding Acoustic/Folk Recording for The Long Way Home, in 2012 for Outstanding Acoustic/Folk Vocalist, and in 2011 for his CD, Begin Again, which was characterized as “a stunning collection of songs” by the Detroit Free Press, Jeff Scott is redefining the notion of the singer-songwriter for today’s adult listeners.
In 2018, Jeff released his third CD, Nola To New York, a return to his pop-jazz-soul roots, and performed shows in support of the material throughout the metro Detroit area. His last live performance, pre-pandemic, was in January 2020 at the Farmington Civic Theater sold out–a bright start to a year that would bring the COVID pandemic and closed venues. In January 2021, Jeff wrote, produced and released “Some Better Days,” a pop-soul collaboration with his musical brothers in Detroit, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta, and received significant media attention as well as the award nomination. Jeff recently returned to performing live with a sold-out show in metro Detroit in September 2022.
It has been a long road for the metro Detroit native, who grew up surrounded by the melting pot of singer-songwriter pop, R&B, jazz and rock that defined the clubs and airwaves in southeastern Michigan. Jeff developed an early affinity for music, and discovered at age 8 he had a natural ability to both play the guitar and sing, as well as write songs. School bands led to more serious efforts, and from the age of 15 to 19, Jeff and his groups were booked most every weekend for weddings, school dances, society events and corporate shows. His love of writing was noted at the University of Michigan/Ann Arbor, where he received his degree in creative writing and was honored with Phi Beta Kappa membership.
The culmination of Jeff’s initial creative efforts came in the early 1990’s, following winning a “Best Singer” contest sponsored by the former WNIC radio in Detroit, with his original song, “Show A Little Faith” in heavy rotation. After touching the edge of success with The Big Picture (national winners of the Marlboro Music Talent Roundup) and a CD produced by Andre Fisher–Chaka Khan and Natalie Cole–along with festival appearances and opening act duties at major stages for Hall & Oates, Richard Marks, Eddie Money and Smokey Robinson), Jeff walked away. For 17 years. Worn down by the juggling act of creating music and the business of music, Jeff chose to devote himself to an existing corporate career, albeit on the creative “side” of business. Ultimately he was disillusioned, and totally refocused on what was important in his life. Music.
With the release of Begin Again in early 2010, Jeff reentered the music scene with a definitive statement of life, love, hope and redemption, ending his self-imposed hiatus of 17 years. Given the interest in the work, he assembled a group of musicians to replicate the music live. With the release of The Long Way Home on Blue Boundary Records, Jeff moved to a new plateau of songwriting sophistication and honesty, reaching an even larger audience with his beautifully crafted songs, including collaborations with Sally Barris, a Grammy® nominated songwriter. A collection of powerful Americana and pop, its standout single, “In California,” was featured multiple times on WDET-FM 101.9. And in 2018, Jeff released “Nola To New York,” a beautiful ten-song celebration of his love of jazz, soul and pop.
Jeff has been a sell-out draw in listening clubs in metropolitan Detroit. He has performed at the area’s largest music festival–Ford Arts, Beats and Eats–multiple times, The Fillmore, The Magic Bag, The Ark, Cliff Bell’s, Dylan’s, Black Crystal Cafe, Boo’s, The Bluebird Cafe in Nashville and more, and has been featured in HOUR Detroit magazine, and on most metro Detroit television and radio programs.
At current, Jeff continues to write songs for himself and others, across a wide range of genres, and to record and perform live, summing up his motivation simply: “I write to help myself and others understand their lives, and I perform to help myself and others transcend those lives for a brief moment in time.”