Carrying on

Sage Merritt / News Virginian
Published: February 27, 2008

Scott, an acclaimed musician who has performed at such events as the National Folk Festival and the D.C. Blues Festival, is a practitioner of Piedmont blues, a style of playing that originated in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains and southward. It's one of the oldest forms of the blues, and according to Scott, a style that is unique to the region.

"The music might not sound like the blues you're used to," Scott said. "There's actually two types of blues. There's Delta blues, which started in the area of the Mississippi Delta. Then there's the style of music I play. Piedmont blues is where I play my own rhythm guitar and also play lead, with an alternating of the thumb and forefinger. Delta blues, they pick out each individual note. The everyday blues that you hear today, you're gonna hear that Delta rhythm."

Scott learned the Piedmont blues style from his uncle, Virginia blues legend John Jackson, who passed away in 2002 of liver cancer.

"I learned to play blues guitar from my Uncle Johnny and his brothers and sisters," Scott said. "And of course I listened to old records, and my mother played music, also. I basically learned from playing by ear."

Since learning from his famous uncle, Scott has been performing music as long as he can remember. He got his start playing in church, he said. "I can recall traveling to the White House and sitting on the lawn on Labor Day, playing for President Carter," Scott added.

Along with guitar, Scott also plays old-time-style banjo. He performs traditional blues songs, throwing in a few of his own tunes from time to time. The musician used to work in law enforcement, is now a mortician by trade and farms on land near Culpeper when he's not playing the blues. Scott's life experiences shapes the songs he writes, he said.

"The blues is a way for me to express myself and the experiences I have had in life," Scott said. "I have worn many hats. I was a police officer, but then I experienced a sudden change in life because I was in a near-fatal farm accident. I had to learn to walk again."

Scott will appear in Waynesboro as part of Stone Soup's activities in honor of The Big Read, a community initiative designed by the National Endowment for the Arts and sponsored locally on the Community Foundation of the Central Blue Ridge. The area celebration of The Big Read centers around Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird."

"He is one of the most upbeat, cheeriest, most wonderful musicians," said Dinah Ansley, of Stone Soup. "He's proudly carrying on his heritage as a blues musician. It'll be a wonderful evening. Jeffery is a really personable and really funny guy."

Scott's performance at Stone Soup, 908 W. Main Street, will take place March 7 from 6-8 p.m. This will be Scott's first performance in Waynesboro, and the musician is looking forward to sharing the power of traditional music with the community.

"Basically, the blues is a feeling," Scott said. "The blues doesn't have to mean bad news - it can mean good news. The blues just tells the story."

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