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Article published Nov 2, 2007 Singer-songwriter puts it all on the line for love of music
By Steve Wildsmith of The Daily Times Staff
Balance has never been one of Scott McMahan’s stronger points, the singer-songwriter readily admits.
But as life goes on and his music begins to take a front seat to the other peripherals in his life, he’s getting better at it.
“I’m still kind of in the same boat personally as I was a year ago,” the last time McMahan sat down for an interview with The Daily Times, he said this week. “I’m staying with my brother right now in Jefferson City, and he’s helped me out a lot. I’m still at the point where I’m sacrificing just about everything to make this happen. But I’m definitely happier than I was a year ago.
“So much has happened over the past year. I’ve gone through the whole custody thing with my boys, that kind of stuff. I still see them as much as I can, which is not enough, but overall, I’m happy. I’m more secure and more confident in my songwriting, and I’m more focused on accomplishing what I want. I’m in a lot better shape in those areas than I was a year ago, as far as the music goes.”
The music — it’s been the wind in McMahan’s sails for as long as he can remember. The Sevier County High School graduate grew up singing, mostly R&B and soul songs — Otis Redding’s “(Sittin’ on the) Dock of the Bay” and songs by Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder. When he was 15, he got his first guitar and started teaching himself to play.
He credits local singer-songwriter Kirk Fleta for giving him the shove he needed to begin sharing his music with others. It was a little more than a decade ago when he approached Fleta in the parking lot after one of Fleta’s gigs. McMahan played a few songs, and Fleta recognized the kid’s natural talent.
At subsequent performances, Fleta would urge McMahan to get up and play during his breaks. It was intimidating at first, but by the time Fleta made a fateful phone call to McMahan one day, he was ready to step out from his mentor’s shadow — the former couldn’t made a gig, and he didn’t ask McMahan to fill in; he told him he was going to do it.
It wasn’t always easy, however. He found himself trying to balance his love, his need, to perform with earning a living through more traditional methods. The financial strain led to the dissolution of his marriage and to periods where he lived in a van. Even today, he struggles with a burning desire to make music for a living, instead of making a living to play music on the side.
“The stress of trying to be creative and trying to carve out a normal life — trying to fit into a normal job, and a normal schedule — I think that’s the part that actually hinders me as far as my writing goes,” he said. “I can make more as a musician, but the work’s not steady enough right now, so I’m forced to work these $6-an-hour jobs. I really want to get to the point of just being creative and writing full-time.”
After performing with a backing band — the Overnite Lows — for much of the spring and summer, McMahan is back to playing solo. He’s been on the road more over the past several months, making his local gigs more and more infrequent. But the opportunities he’s had over the past year — from opening up for Junior Brown and The Everybodyfields to branching out to venues in Atlanta and Johnson City — have made up for the minor setbacks he’s experienced along the way.
“I’m doing my own material at this point, and I’ve gotten a lot more confident in my songwriting,” he said. “I’m listening to the right people, I guess. I’m going out to live shows a lot more, and that broadens by palette more. Songwriters like Ray Charles and Tom Waits are the two biggest for me, and The Everybodyfields are one of my favorite bands in the world right now.”
Over the past year, McMahan has weaned himself off of the cover songs that were the bread-and-butter of his early career. He’s performing all originals now, and both peers and fans are taking notice — he’s competing for a songwriting competition at Eddie’s Attic in Atlanta, and if he wins (he came in third back in June), he’ll share a bill with such luminaries as Lyle Lovett, Emmylou Harris, Shawn Colvin and Edwin McCain.
“It’s the second time they’ve offered it, and when I went down in June, I was three people from winning it,” McMahan said. “I’m going back, and I’m gonna get it right this time.”
Getting it right — that’s the eternal struggle for a lot of people, and McMahan feels it more keenly than most. Fatherhood … music … life itself — all are part of that pendulum. It’s a one-step-forward-two-steps-back game, but McMahan refuses to give up, especially when his dreams seem within his grasp.
“It’s there — I know 100 percent that I can do it; it’s just the getting there that I’m sometimes confused about,” he said. “I’m not sure how to make it happen, but I know it’s going to happen. I’m very confident about that. You have to be, I think — you have to know for sure that you can do it, and I know that I can. It’s just figuring out all of the little details.”