We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jennifer Deann Scott a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Jennifer Deann, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
Between 2020-2021, I built a solo music performance project, Jennifer Deann Scott, or JDS Live for short. The concept was a live, multi-media, luxury listening experience comprised of mostly electric violin over backing tracks that I produced in my home studio, accompanied by Lightform projections*, and adorned in rhinestones and spandex costumes. I designed my costumes to embody sensuality with a quasi-superhero flare. While developing the music, comprised mostly of pop, indie-folk, and industrial music covers, with a few originals, I collaborated with ARWorks Motion Picture Company to produce a music video of one of the covers I produced in my studio, “Hurt” by Michael Trent Reznor. Both my first performance of this project and the public premiere screening of this music video premiered at Globe Hall on October 29, 2020.
This project, Jennifer Deann Scott, is the evolution of not only my skills but my self-confidence and the courage to be seen for who I really am, sharing the strength I’ve gained with others who may be facing struggles that mirror my own.
From May 2020 to April 2021, I tested out the concept during set breaks while performing with Twenty Hands High by performing solo violin over my tracks, with handmade LED arm guards**, for one or two songs each gig, walking through the crowds or playing on bar tops.
By January 1, 2021, I was able to perform a full 90-minute solo set, kicked off by a Livestream at a brewery. From there, I started performing solo at other breweries and wineries throughout Denver as well as cocktail hours for weddings with Denver’s The Radio Band at various resorts, hotels, and other event spaces. By the end of September, I was traveling to places like Chicago, playing The Cubby Bear as a traveling soloist and even was featured on WGN 9 News during daytime television.
During 2021, I painstakingly took three accelerated online courses at Berklee Online to master Pro Tools and learn Ableton Live basics so that I could mix and master my own tracks as well as sync and trigger videos for the next evolution of JDS Live. This further built my confidence and helped me to expand my set list.
By April, 2022, this project evolved from a solo violin project to a full band concept with more technical advancements: adding bass, lead guitar, rhythm guitar, and drums; with synchronized music videos* instead of light projections; click and cue tracks with in-ear monitors; the addition of hand-sewn illuminated costumes*; and most notably, a transition to me singing lead on a handful of songs. I performed twice at Wild Goose Saloon in 2022 with this full band version including 4 x 55” television monitors mounted on trussing for the synchronized music videos.
Why this project means so much to me, is because I have finally found an outlet to express the parts of me that no one sees otherwise. This project is only the tip of the iceberg of what I envision for the future; I have so many stories I’m dying to sing, so many emotions to express, production concepts to explore, and I have this pressure building inside of me, prodding me to get it out into the world. I know that I have champions out there rooting for me to succeed if only I can believe enough in myself that I can take it to the next level.
You see, I was originally afraid for my voice to be heard for most of my life, so I hid in the background. First it was singing quietly in choirs, then taking group voice lessons. Eventually, I took private lessons and started doing backing vocals with any and every band that asked me to fiddle or violin for them. I’ve grown a reputation for being the local fiddler who can do pretty decent backing vocals at the same time and occasionally take lead on a song or two, if the band is feeling generous. It’s garnered me a lot of performance opportunities. I’ve played so many big stages as a fiddler and backing vocalist since 2015. In fact, I used to play with a house band at Grizzly Rose several times a year, and sat in with numerous other country acts there, among other places. Bands like RadioBand, Buckstein, and Dan Hochman have taken me to places like Mission Ballroom, The Fillmore, The Fox, Dillon Amphitheatre, and too many more to name. I was performing anywhere from 80-120 gigs a year since 2015. But my heart wants me to share more of my original music and, more importantly, my voice. And, as much as I enjoy playing country music, it’s not the genre of my soul. I lean towards melancholic electronic dance music with haunting vocals, layers of harmonies, pads, and violin.
As this project continues to evolve, I am building it to have more vocal tunes than violin-lead tunes, more original music, and expand my instruments to include playing guitar, keys, and/or midi controllers in addition to violin with more of an indie-folk flavor. I am migrating away from the illuminated costumes and transitioning more to an earthy, sensual persona, which is more in alignment with my true nature. I will need collaborators in my corner to fully realize the dream.
Keep an eye out for the premiere of this project’s next evolution. Learn more or request to collaborate at https://www.JenniferDeannScott.com.
*Video, lighting, and illuminated costume credit: Erik Fox, Silver Fox Productions, Colorado; “Hurt” music video produced by ARWorks Motion Picture Company.
**LED leather arm guards hand-made by Michael Purcell.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I am a performer, a musician, and a dependable office employee with high attention to detail. As a performer and musician, I love to dance, sing, act, play violin, guitar and piano, and compose and produce music. I possess a Master of Music Composition from University of Colorado at Boulder, a Bachelor of Music: Violin Performance with a minor in music composition, minor in vocal performance, and minor in dance from University of Idaho. I completed audio engineering courses at Berklee Online and received Certified Pro Tools Teacher status with Avid. I also completed several acting courses at Colorado Film School and workshops in the local acting community.
I’m originally from Seattle, WA, raised in Kennewick, WA. Professionally, I perform as an electric violinist and vocalist both solo and with various bands throughout the Midwest from 80-120 shows each year since 2015.
I started in choir in elementary school, at which time I taught myself how to play the piano. I learned the viola in fifth grade, then switched to violin by eighth grade. I played classical music throughout high school in orchestra and learned bluegrass after school. While in high school, I joined jazz choir, color guard, dance team, track, cross country, tennis, and art classes. I was obsessed with performing, the arts, and physical fitness. Due to financial hardship, I couldn’t afford lessons, yet quickly progressed to concertmaster. I received a scholarship to go to college for violin performance which led me down a path of performance that has led me to where I am today.
In addition to studying classical violin performance, I began to develop my voice at University of Idaho, taking lessons, vocal master classes, singing in jazz choirs, and writing vocal pieces that I recorded on a 4-track tape recorder. I built my compositional voice as well and began writing for chamber ensembles, choir ensembles, and dabbling in recording arts.
After completing my performance degree, I decided to study composition at CU Boulder for my master’s degree. I studied chamber ensembles and electronic music. I fell in love with layering improvisations and processing audio, resulting in over 30 original compositions. At the end of my masters, I took an internship with Walt Disney World® and performed in the ENCORE Cast Choir and Orchestra. Since completing my masters, I’ve performed professionally all over Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, Utah, New Mexico, and Chicago.
Though classically trained, I’ve adapted to learning various fiddling styles while performing in the Celtic Rock band Indigent Row in 2008, a Metal Orchestra called Wither Without, numerous Country bands since 2015, and most recently Top 40’s music with a corporate/wedding band called Denver’s The Radio Band. I even studied briefly with the fiddle player from Gaelic Storm, Jessie Burns. I’ve learned from all this experience how to quickly memorize violin parts that I hear on tracks (you will find that most country music is not transcribed with the fiddle parts.). I have Buckstein to thank for getting me off-book during live performances. Coming from an orchestral background, I was used to reading music. But being in a country band, we were all expected to know our music by memory which was a brutal transition that I was more than willing to undertake.
Because of my eclectic background and experience, I bring several great assets to the music industry. For one, I can quickly and easily learn and memorize violin/fiddle parts you hear streamed online and perform it live by memory with high accuracy. Two, I am also a trained singer and can similarly learn harmonies and lead vocals quickly by ear, or even sing harmonies on the fly. These two skills together are an invaluable asset to local cover bands trying to sound like the original. I’ve made a great career of this so far. Add to this my character traits of reliability, responsibility, harmony, discipline, and focus—you have a musician who shows up knowing their part, on time, with all their gear in hand and knows how to use it. And because I like to take care of my appearance, I could say, combined with my energy, enthusiasm, sensuality, and hard-earned confidence, I bring an appealing visual element to the stage. I’ve actually been called a “triple threat” due to being able to play violin, to sing, and being easy on the eyes.
I have also had the privilege of recording violin parts for many original artists including, but not limited to, Buckstein, Twenty Hands High, Woodland Park, Jordan Schoch, Ryan Chrys and the Rough Cuts, Eric Golden, Junebird Echo, and Matt Marcum.
I am very proud of the fact that I no longer have to look for work in the music industry. The work comes to me. I am so grateful that my reputation precedes me. Just when I think things are slowing down, I get pings from various artists asking for fiddle sub opportunities or recording sessions.
I suppose I am most proud of my solo project, Jennifer Deann Scott (aka JDS Live) which is continuing to evolve. This project began as an idea in 2019 from which I started building backing tracks to perform solo violin over. I started producing covers in my home studio with the intension of performing them live starting in 2020. I collaborated with filmmakers to produce music videos. I completed online coursework to build my audio engineering skills. I learned to sync and trigger live music videos to accompany my performances. I performed solo at several breweries, wineries, and during cocktail hours at weddings. Eventually, I turned it into a full band concept with synchronized videos for a 90-minute show which was witnessed twice at Wild Goose Saloon in 2022 with the addition of live bass, guitars, and drums. This required building click and cue tracks to sync the band with the backing tracks and videos, learning how to route signals to send in-ear mixes and provide technical riders to sound engineers.
EDM influences: DJ Tiësto, Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails, and VAST.
Pop influences: Madonna, Lady Gaga, REM, Tori Amos, INXS, Roxette, Richard Marx. Other influences: Tangerine Dream, Arvo Pärt, epic concert band music, Loreena McKennitt, ENYA, and various other New Age artists popular in the 90s. I perform mostly popular upbeat/dance music but compose darker electronic composites of processed violin and vocal tracks with trance beats. I am drawn to current artists like Bear’s Dean, Trifonic, Mighty Oaks, Koven, Morgan Page, and The Weeknd. I’ve been compared to Lindsey Stirling but with a darker, more sensual persuasion.
My performance aims to move listeners through music and celebrate empowerment for those who’ve felt repressed. What I compose, cover, or remix is designed to take listeners on a journey, as if listening to a story, building to a climax and gently bringing them back down. My solo project, Jennifer Deann Scott, is a live show consisting of live violin replicas of pop/dance/indie-folk music with added violin harmonies and background vocal embellishments, juxtaposed with my reimagined epic covers and originals, oscillating between the known and my unique interpretations of popular music. My show is slowly evolving to include more of my lead vocals. My elaborate costumes are a visual enhancement representing feminine power, energy, and sensuality with a subtle nod to comic book heroes.
The bottom line: I am a professional singer, violinist, composer, producer, and performance artist. I am eager to contribute to the world of music in every way I can or that appeals to my interests. I’m still searching for collaborators to help me take my project to the next level. In the meantime, I provide a beautiful, reliable, service to music artists in and around Colorado.
Have you ever had to pivot?
In March of 2023, I lost my business partner who was helping my solo project grow through the development of illuminated costumes, music videos, light projections, and stage production. He booked me gigs through his charismatic charm and outgoing personality taking me as far as Chicago and even on WGN9 News. We were romantic partners, too, since 2018, which, as you might imagine, was problematic. My project would never had seen a stage without his encouragement, his contributions, and his persistence at getting gigs on the calendar. But we had creative differences and I felt unseen, unheard, and invalidated. So, I made the crippling choice to leave both him and the project we’d built together. April 6, 2023 was the last live public performance of Jennifer Deann Scott, solo artist. I have since continued to perform solo violin over tracks during cocktail hours and dinner sets for Radio Band gigs on occasion, but no more videos, no more light-up costumes. Although I still have the trussing, monitors, cables, videos, and costume pieces, he kept the mechanism that illuminates the costumes and I have not bothered to replace them ever since. It was a difficult business decision to walk away from something I’d worked so hard to build.
I had hoped to write new music after hanging up the project and leaving who I’d originally thought would become my husband. But I’ve been focused on healing my heart over the last year, dealing with an autoimmune disorder that was triggered by the tumultuous relationship and unhealthy work environment. I’ve since changed jobs, now working for the City and County of Denver in the Environmental group by day, all the while performing on nights and weekends for several bands. I’m never bored, I can tell you that. When I’m not processing invoices and contracts for the city, I’m always either coming down from a gig, preparing for a gig, on my way to a gig, or performing on a gig. If not a gig, then a recording session. I am very fortunate that these opportunities seem to appear effortlessly. This, of course, is from a longstanding history of me saying “yes” to just about every music performance opportunity that has come my way. The moment I think I’m getting downtime, another opportunity knocks, and since I have never learned how to effectively say, “no,” I continue to stay fruitful as a performance artist, even if it’s not the project my soul is yearning to be realized. Due to my schedule being so full now, I have had to learn to say, “no” to some things. Most of the time, though, it’s to things I want to do, like going dancing, taking dance lessons, attending singles events, etc. Who am I kidding? I don’t have time for a relationship. And my soul keeps nagging at me to get back to the studio and write new music.
The takeaway here was that I had an obligation to take care of myself, support myself by whatever means necessary, yet stay connected to music. I plan to make time for my own music again, soon. This industry has not seen the last of my project, I assure you. I’m just on sabbatical. Meanwhile, I am contributing my gifts to established music groups in the area as time and energy allows.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
The most rewarding aspect of being an artist with my skills, talents, and experience, is the connection and community it provides. I can perform with anyone and everyone who invites me and it is always appreciated. I yearn for connection and community. This is how I meet the need; by performing with other musicians, actors, dancers, and other creatives. We connect through music, through art, through story. One week, I may be acting on a film set. Another week, I’m performing with a 12-piece band at the Mission Ballroom. The next, I’m performing with a 7-piece band in an upscale resort in Vail. The next, I’m standing in a recording booth, laying tracks for a new country song, followed by a session for a TV spot. The diverse opportunities I have as a creative make life enjoyable. And just for fun, I enjoy going dancing to live music and sometimes bring my violin in the car in case I get recognized and asked to sit in for a set. It happens! I love being an artist with skills that are valued within my community.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.jenniferdeannscott.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jennifer.d.scott
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jenniferdeannscottartist
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/JenniferDScott
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/Melimiti
- Other: https://www.soundclick.com/jenniferdeannscott
Image Credits
Malissa Chaplin, Bill Murf, Haitham M Kassab, Paige Hackathorn, John Ewing