Musician Matures

Internationally touring guitarist Taylor Scott will perform back-toback shows in Northwest Arkansas in celebration of his band’s latest release “All We Have,” out March 1. The new record marks the first time Scott has worked with an official producer, progressing from the self-production he’s relied on since beginning to record and release his own music around the age of 15. With the helpful eyes and ears of Los Lobos’ Steve Berlin, one of Scott’s musical heroes, he’s excited for listeners to hear the difference a professional producer makes.

“It’s freeing, because we get to try all these new ideas, and I don’t have to be in sort of the management/producer role,” Scott recalls of working with Berlin. “You can be more creative, and the experience allowed for this to be a much more dynamic record than we’ve ever made. There’s a pretty big variety of sounds on this record, and that was because of Steve.

“I used to be a little more of a bluesbased artist and now have turned into more of a songwriter,” he goes on. “And really, we haven’t released an album where that’s represented at all. So, I’m really excited for people to hear the songs themselves, rather than just the playing and the musicianship part of it.

“The story and the experience and the humanity of it is so important now,” Scott adds of his progression as a songwriter. “Figuring out what story you have to tell and kind of creating one as you go is really important to me. I’ve gotten to that point where I have a voice, and there’s some authenticity to what we’re doing, because I’ve built a little bit of a story that I can draw from.”