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Belinda Scroggins
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Local singer/songwriter Belinda Scroggins has two unusual touchstones in her musical life: Country diva Dolly Parton and Boston bad-boy rockers Aerosmith.
When Scroggins was growing up, she was a closet vocalist until an aunt overheard her singing along to one of her father's Dolly Parton records.
"I later heard her telling my grandmother that I had a great voice," Scroggins now says of the encouragement. "This was the first time that I gave singing any serious thought.
When she was 18, Scroggins joined a band in her hometown of Walton, Ky., called Paradise. The band, together for about a year, was a cover outfit, specializing in the Hard Rock songs of Steven Tyler and Co., which Scroggins was able to nail thanks to her versatile voice.
That voice can be heard on Scroggins most recent project, the CD Mystical Madness, which contains 11 well-crafted original songs. Scroggins -- who also spent time with the cover group Gold Rush in the late '70s and early '80s -- says she began writing songs when she was around 12 and, though she continued to write, her rockier cover bands didn't really fit with her mellower songwriting style.
When Gold Rush began to unravel, Scroggins was managing The Cupboard in Clifton, which had been getting heat from the city for "pandering obscenity." All of that, coupled with a bad relationship break-up, made Scroggins re-evaluate her life. She decided to go back to school and get her degree in -- of all things -- accounting.
The amount of time Scroggins had for writing and performing music became more and more limited. But she began to find more time for it when she started traveling a lot for her job as a CPA.
"As I sat in hotel rooms, I started to write again," Scroggins recalls. "My partner bought me a hand-held tape recorder that has by far been the best thing that ever happened to my songwriting. The ideas started to pour out. It was like a floodgate that opened up. All of a sudden music was alive again in me, stronger than it had ever been."
Knowing that she didn't have the flexibility in her schedule to join or start a band, Scroggins began to perform as a solo act in 1997, mixing in cover selections with her own material.
"Although having a band gives your performance more energy and depth, the freedom of playing solo is intoxicating," she says. "I can do what I want, when I want and on my own terms. I really like to see the reaction to my original material in a one on one situation. I think I will always perform if only for that reason."
Fans have been drawn to Scroggins originals, which are highlighted by her soulful voice (akin to a mix of classic Rock & Roll singers, with a touch of contemporary performers like Fiona Apple) and her personal, introspective lyrics. Scroggins -- whose influences range from Tracy Chapman and Don Henley to newer artists like Train and Tonic -- says that most of her lyrics come from her own experiences and the process of writing so revealingly, while therapeutic, can sometimes be unnerving. But the rewards make it worth it.
"I sometimes get too personal but I also think that is why my songs are emotional," Scroggins says. "I will never forget a performance when I was playing (the Mystical Madness track) 'A Thing Called You and I' and a woman in the audience started to cry. I don't think she knew that is what a songwriter lives for; the opportunity to connect with someone on a truly emotional level."
Scroggins says her current goals are to promote and sell her new CD and to fine-tune her musical abilities. She's taking guitar lessons from local artist Ryan Adcock, and she is always reading about and attending seminars on songwriting. She would also like to do more performances for charity; she recently opened for Blessid Union of Souls at a benefit concert. While she would like to try and sell some of her songs to performers, Scroggins doesn't have any illusions about becoming a jet-setting major-label superstar.
"I am 42 years old, and the music industry typically does not sign people at that age," she says. "They want 20-year-old performers so that they can get their money's worth out of their career. But I still have a lot of material that is in my head, and I want to keep improving my songwriting and guitar playing. As far as doing music full-time, I don't know if that would ever be possible in Cincinnati, but I would like to spend more time on music than I am currently able to."
BELINDA SCROGGINS performs at Wild Oats in Hyde Park on Nov. 23. For information on where to purchase her latest CD, check www.belindascroggins.com.
