Don’t take that tone with me

For the last nine years I have had the pleasure of teaching at an incredible music school in Levelland, Texas: South Plains College. SPC is world-renowned and is the alma mater of Natalie Maines (The Dixie Chicks), Heath Wright (Ricochet), The Spring Creek Bluegrass Band, Jedd Hughes, Cale Richardson (former guitar for Honey Browne and now with Ryan James), Leann Wommack, A Road Less Travelled, and countless other talented and successful musicians.

I’ve served as the Director of Guitar Studies, Co-Director of the Entertainment Business Program and as the creator/producer/director of AlternaTV (an amazing live rock television show). I’ve also served on the scholarship committee, the video production technology committee, and on the Creative Arts Management Team. I’ve taught Performance and Promotion For the Independent Artist, Survey of the Music Business, Live Music and Talent Management and numerous rock ensembles. I’ve taught hundreds of students, met some incredible players (Johnny Highland, Eric Johnson, Ian Moore, David Brandon, Gary Hoey…) and made some amazing friends.

So it is bittersweet that I announce I won’t be returning to full-time service at South Plains College in the fall. For those of you attending this coming semester, don’t worry. I’ll still be around teaching part-time. But other demands in my life now have to come to the fore.

You see I have a secret. And it’s time to share it with the world. My wife Amy and I have always dreamed of working together creating art and music all day. We started our marriage that way… touring with a band called Rapunzel. We worked with kids and in recovery circles. I did sculpture, painting and teaching on the side. We had a daughter, toured with Curt Dubose, 100 Love Sonnets, Meltdown Morning and The HiFi Collective, and I did album covers. We created and shared everything together.

But over the last few years, life has seemed to get more and more complicated. We began to work together less and less. And with that, we created less music and less art.

So I’m announcing that Amy and I are pursuing our dream. We’re both dedicating ourselves full-time to the creation of great art and music. Our two companies will take a majority of our time (FarisWheel Productions and the Amusement Park Studio), along with playing in a new, as yet unnamed original band. Not to mention raising our amazing daughter and volunteering for Ballet Lubbock. Our plate is full. And all of it is love.

To those of you I’ve had the pleasure of teaching over the years, thank you. You have inspired me more than you know. To those of you that I’ve worked with and for at South Plains, I sincerely appreciate your support, friendship and the opportunity to work at an amazing place.

So if you’re out there and need a website, album cover, poster, business card, album recording, jingles, music production, car washed, etc… Drop me a line. We deliver amazing art and music.

Wish us luck. Here we go off the cliff!

Love, Scott & Amy

Man, it’s been an interesting summer, to say the least. My grandpa died in June. Luckily, we had time to say the things we needed to say. It was tough, but he knew we loved him. We cared for him at my parent’s house and I was with him when he died.

And now in August a dear friend of the family and one of my grandpa’s best friends has terminal pancreatic cancer. She’s a wonderful woman who became a part of our family. And she’s been an adoptive grandma for my daughter.

As soon as we found out, we took off for Colorado where she lives. On our first visit, we were able to spend time with her on a afternoon. She was alert and so thankful we had come… and so were we. She is a person of faith, and she knows where she is going. She is at peace, and it was beautiful.

Yesterday, we visited for the last time to say goodbye. That’s a really hard task when you know it’s for real. She had asked earlier if I would play guitar for her, so I took my acoustic and played. In the course of my life, I have played at the death bed of three people: my grandpa, my grandma, and now my friend. There is a lot to learn in that moment. And there is one piece of music that I played for all of them that will forever have new meaning for me.

It’s so important to let people know you love them while they’re here. So many times, we don’t get that opportunity. This summer, I was fortunate to get the chance to tell two people I loved them before they left this world. For that, I am grateful.