We recently connected with Scott Womer and have shared our conversation below.

Scott, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

Growing up on 40 wooded acres, outside of Albany NY, all I had to keep me occupied was my bmx bike and my drum set. Fortunately, my parents were both musicians, and my father was a local school music teacher and church choir director. (I still take the blame for my mother’s hearing loss, due to the immense volume of my basement drum kit in our small ranch home).

All of my childhood activities and friendships were centered around music. And it’s not surprising that after college I went on to direct music at various non-profits and churches. And it was leading music in churches for two decades, that gave me the passion to help others grow in their creativity, and do it as part of the artistic community we had in the city of Troy NY.

I not only worked within the church with local musicians, but filmmakers, painters, poets, and graphic designers. It became my mission in life to work in a community of artists, and help them grow individually, and more importantly, in relationship with each other. What I didn’t know was how important that passion and skill would be later in life when I returned to Troy.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

In 1995, I moved from Albany to Nashville, in hopes of getting more music opportunities. Many of my local musician friends had moved there before me, hoping to make it big, only to realize it’s not that easy. It’s a humbling experience to move from a small music scene to one of the premier music cities of the world, where there are thousands of people doing what you do, and doing it much better. Having seen that happen multiple times, I decided to alter my goals, and instead look for opportunities to learn. Over the next 5 years I had tremendous experiences working at a record label, doing session work, learning to write songs, forming a band, and recording an album.

The greatest thing I learned in Nashville was the power of a song. Beyond techniques, abilities, and trends, the song is what changes lives. Much of this lesson happened at a venue called The Bluebird Cafe. A staple in Nashville, the Bluebird featured weekly showcases, featuring 4 local songwriters, mostly known for their writing of songs by all our favorite country stars. This is also the venue where artists such as Taylor Swift and Keith Urban were discovered. Although I found the intimacy of the venue and the stories of the writers completely captivating, I honestly found myself bored fairly quickly. The weakness of the Bluebird at that point in their history, was that they were a single-genre showcase. Not only does that lack in variety, more importantly, it conditions the audience to think that this is the only style of songwriting. At the time I had no idea how that observation would affect my future.

Years later, when I moved back to Troy NY, and was so energized by the talent and variety of the local music scene, I felt compelled to do whatever I could to help it grow. In November of 2022, I launched Song City, a monthly, local music, songwriter showcase, inspired by the Bluebird Cafe. This showcase featured 4 songwriters each month, in the traditional “song circle” format, in which we rotate around the circle, with each artist talking about their songwriting and playing three original songs.

I took what I had experienced at the Bluebird, and expanded it to include all genres. Some of our greatest writers are hip hop artists, jazz artists, alternative and avant-garde artists, and they deserve a place at the table. This not only creates respect for all styles of songwriting, but expands the audience’s experience and musical taste.

We now sell out each monthly Song City showcase and have featured 60 local songwriters to date.

We have also expanded to hosting a monthly gathering called The Open Floor, for local songwriters to gather and share songs they’re working on. And also Ink, a yearly songwriting retreat in the Adirondack Mountains, for local artists to write, learn, and collaborate.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

For a music fan, the creation of music streaming services has been monumental. For $10 a month, we can now listen to every song every artist has ever recorded! What an amazing time to be a music listener!

Unfortunately, this excitement is not shared by the recording artists, and even less by local musicians. They are literally making a fraction of a cent from the songs we listen to. They can no longer make a living as a recording artist based on album sales.

So if you truly want to support your local music scene, buy hard copies of their albums, CDs, vinyl. Buy their merch. Pay to go to their concerts. Join their Patreon.
Book them for a concert. Support the artists and watch as your community comes alive!

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

For me as an artist, and someone who works with artists, community changes everything. Local music is beneficial to both the city you live in, and also to the individual artists.

No one truly flourishes on their own. Creating a music “scene” begins by establishing a community of artists who not only seek to grow and fulfill their dreams, but to help others do the same. To not only promote your show, album, podcast, but to promote other’s as well. To not only seek to write great songs, but to write with others. To give honest, healthy input. To encourage. To wear their t-shirt and post about their show. Have enough confidence in your art, that you can freely promote other’s art.

Know your weaknesses, and find others that have that strength. Be so confident, that you can be humble. And in doing so, we all grow.

Collaboration is king.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.songcitytroy.com
• Instagram: Instagram.com/songcitytroy
• Youtube: @songcitytroy

Image Credits
Kiki Vassilakis