Scott Sharrard (born December 28, 1976) is an American musical artist widely known as the lead guitarist and musical director of the

Gregg Allman Band The Gregg Allman Band, also known as Gregg Allman & Friends, was a Southern rock/ blues rock group that Gregg Allman established and had led since the 1970s, during periods when Allman has been recording and performing separate from the Allman B ...

. A prolific songwriter and talented singer, he has also released several soul-influenced albums of his own including three with his first band, The Chesterfields, followed by three solo albums and, most recently, the eponymous release by his current band, Scott Sharrard & the Brickyard Band, in 2013. In 2020, Sharrard was announced as a new member of

Little Feat Little Feat is an American rock band formed by lead vocalist and guitarist Lowell George and keyboardist Bill Payne in 1969 in Los Angeles. George disbanded the group because of creative differences shortly before his death in 1979. Surviving ...

following the death of

Paul Barrere Paul Barrere (July 3, 1948 – October 26, 2019) was an American musician most prominent as a member of the band Little Feat, which he joined in 1972 some three years after the band was created by Lowell George. Career Barrere recorded and per ...

Early life

Born and raised in

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, Scott Sharrard often cites his father, also a guitarist and singer-songwriter, as his earliest influence. He began his musical career studying jazz at the High School for the Arts in

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

during the day and earning his stripes by playing and singing with local and visiting leading musicians such as

Clyde Stubblefield Clyde Austin Stubblefield (April 18, 1943 – February 18, 2017) was an American drummer best known for his work with James Brown. A self-taught musician, he was influenced by the sound of natural rhythms around him. His drum patterns on Brown's ...

, Willie Higgins,

Harvey Scales Harvey Scales (September 27, 1940 – February 11, 2019) was an American R&B and soul singer, songwriter, and producer. Scales had been active in the music industry since the 1960s, and composed songs for groups such as The Dells, The Dramatics, a ...

Buddy Miles George Allen "Buddy" Miles Jr. (September 5, 1947February 26, 2008) was an American composer, drummer, guitarist, vocalist and producer. He was a founding member of the Electric Flag (1967), a member of Jimi Hendrix's Band of Gypsys (1969–197 ...

Luther Allison Luther Allison (August 17, 1939 – August 12, 1997) was an American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist. He was born in Widener, Arkansas, although some accounts suggest his actual place of birth was Mayflower, Arkansas. Allison was interested ...

, and

Hubert Sumlin Hubert Charles Sumlin (November 16, 1931 – December 4, 2011) was a Chicago blues guitarist and singer, best known for his "wrenched, shattering bursts of notes, sudden cliff-hanger silences and daring rhythmic suspensions" as a member of Howlin ...

by night.

New York

After high school, Scott Sharrard and core members of his band ''The Chesterfields'' moved their home base to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and eventually garnered critical appraise for their live shows and studio recordings. After they disbanded in 2002, Sharrard continued to write and record on his own as well as collaborating in the New York City and

Hudson Valley The Hudson Valley (also known as the Hudson River Valley) comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in the U.S. state of New York. The region stretches from the Capital District including Albany and Troy south to ...

areas with a tightknit group of musicians that includes bassist Jeff "The Claw" Hanley, drummer Diego Voglino and multi-instrumentalists Moses Patrou and Jay Collins, longtime saxophonist for the

who eventually got Scott an audition. In 2013, they went into the studio and recorded an album as "Scott Sharrard & the Brickyard Band" and play around New York and other places along the East Coast when Scott isn't working with the

. In 2011, Scott Sharrard also joined forces with drummer/vocalist Randy Ciarlante (The Band, Levon Helm) and Hammond B-3 player Bruce Katz (Gregg Allman Band, John Hammond, Delbert McClinton) to form a blues/soul/rock'n'roll power trio called CKS and played several shows in the New York City and Hudson Valley areas.

Gregg Allman Band

Scott Sharrard joined the

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

ist in 2008 after auditioning by sitting in with the Allman Brothers Band at a show in

Camden, New Jersey Camden is a city in and the county seat of Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Camden is part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan area and is located directly across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the 2020 ...

. Two of Scott's original songs have been performed by the Gregg Allman Band, "Endless Road" and "Love Like Kerosene". With

Gregg Allman Gregory LeNoir Allman (December 8, 1947 – May 27, 2017) was an American musician, singer and songwriter. He was known for performing in the Allman Brothers Band. Allman grew up with an interest in rhythm and blues music, and the Allman Br ...

, in 2017 Sharrard co-wrote the song "

My Only True Friend ''My Only True Friend'' is the first track on '' Southern Blood'', the last studio album by the American singer-songwriter Gregg Allman, released posthumously on September 8, 2017, by Rounder Records. It is the only original song on the album an ...

", the first track of Allman's last and posthumously issued studio album ''

Southern Blood ''Southern Blood: New Australian Tales of the Supernatural'' is a 2003 speculative fiction anthology edited by Bill Congreve Background ''Southern Blood'' was first published in Australia in June 2003 by Sandglass Enterprises in trade paper ...

''. It was also issued as a single. Sharrard wrote the song in the voice of Gregg's late brother,

Duane Allman Howard Duane Allman (November 20, 1946 – October 29, 1971) was an American rock guitarist, session musician, and the founder and original leader of the Allman Brothers Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in ...

, as if speaking to him.

Discography

*''Dawnbreaker'' (2005) *''Analog/Monolog'' (2008) *''Ante Up'' (2009) *''Scott Sharrard & The Brickyard Band'' (2012) *''Saving Grace'' (2018) *''Rustbelt'' (2021)

References

External links

Scott Sharrard official websiteScott Sharrard Interview
on Guitar.com
Scott Sharrard Video Rig Tour on Guitar.comScott sits down with Ira Haberman of The Sound Podcast for a feature interview
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sharrard, Scott Living people People from Ann Arbor, Michigan American male guitarists American rock guitarists 20th-century American guitarists 21st-century American guitarists Guitarists from New York City American male singer-songwriters Music directors 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians 1976 births Singer-songwriters from New York (state) Singer-songwriters from Michigan