Scott Olson Music

The purpose of this site is to promote myself as a musician, inform people of the music services I provide(music teacher, recording engineer ,musician), promote my recorded music, display my professional resume , list my musical influencesinform people of my musical ventures or gigs , share my hobbies , share useful musician links with my visitors, and share my philosophy of music .

I am a musician of 24 years performance experience. I was born and raised in rural Iowa I lived there until 1992. I moved to Colorado's San Luis Valley in the Fall of 92. There I taught music for nine years while remaining active in various band and solo musical ventures.

I have been a free-lance music teacher and musician in San Diego since November of 2002.

My site is basically for musicians, fans of music, and people curious to see a small glimpse of what "Oly" is all about.

How I became a musician

The first 9 years of my life, I grew up in on a farm in Clarion, Iowa. My parents and my sister seemed to constantly have the radio or the stereo on. So, I was soaking up, and getting-off on the Beatles, Creedence, Smokey Robinson, Elton John, Chet Atkins, Buck Owens.

I remember plunking out the melody of Old McDonald at about the age of 5 on our cheesy organ in our living room. At that time, I don't think people were really as impressed with that sort of thing as they are these days. Today the same type of kid would be labeled "gifted". (Which is a crock, because what does that make the rest of the kids?)

I have an unusual influence to give credit to; my kindergarten-through-third-grade school bus driver. His name was Don Bowman, and I he was probably in his early sixties. We were the first stop on that particular country route. Every morning he would have the coolest tunes of the day blaring over the radio. The Doors, Guess Who, George Harrison, Paul McCartney, Lots of Classic Soul, etc.. I would listen to many of these songs and get chills; I'd almost be in a trance. I swear Don's hands barely touche the steering wheel because he was so busy tapping out the beat on it! Thanks for the great tunes Don.

More Family Influence and my First Ventures into Music
In '73 we moved to Marshalltown, Iowa. My sister had graduated High school and had moved away. My brother was then my main source of tunes. He was rocking out to Nazereth, BTO, Commodores. Also, at that time I had my own radio which I would play when I went to bed. It was playing the rock, R&B, and soul hits ofthe day.

When the age came for "beginning band" in school came around, I heard nothing of it and was left out of it. Actually I think that that was a good thing. I probably would have ended up with an agg head teacher and may have ended up dependent on reading music as the only way of learning.

My first "instrument" was a drum set I made out of plastic icecream tubs and coffee cans.

In 1976 we moved again to Allison, Iowa. The kids were brutally cruel to me. Xenophobes. I had begun to develop an odd sense of humor back in Marshalltown. I had a friend named Greg who turned me on to Monty Python's Flying Circus, The Goodies and other various British comedy shows. SOOOO, in order to deflect the attacks of my "peers", I began letting my bizaar sense of humor surface. I began to be accepted(or at least tolerated by these idiots) at least as a clown.

My brother was continuing to expose me to more rock and roll. The Kiss craze was in full force. Oddly enough, in Allison ,Iowa , at that time, the popular High school boys were all into country music. I do like country music, however, their view of anyone who listened to rock and roll or especially Kiss, was a "burn-out."(druggie) That's all I needed to rebel from more of these podunk morons who welcomed me to their town with jeers and taunts. If I could listen to something that they hated, all the better for me!!

There were some kids in town that my mom did not want me to hang around with. (partly for good reasons) They had a rock band called "Black Diamond." The "red-necks" as we not so affectionately called them were not fond of them.,.....COOL! So, I started hanging around them.

They were Kiss fans too, so I thought I might want to be like Gene Simmons and play the bass. I purchased my first bass at the age of 14 in 1978. I paid for it myself because my mom said she would not buy one because, "You will play it for two weeks and then it will sit in the corner". Well, she was wrong on that one but her and my dad have been very supportive of my music since. I took 3 months of bass lessons ,then the music store closed and I was on my own.I started my first band, "Jupiter" after playing the bass for three months. (3 to 8 hours a day)We played alot of kiss tunes, Van Halen, Sammy Hagar, one Devo song, pretty easy stuff, but realistcally within our abilities. We learned it all by ear.

My parents had been having problems for some time and things were getting worse. I would go to the basement after school and practice for hours and hours. I had two good reasons for doing this. The first was that I loved playing, the second was that by turning up my amp I could drown out the sound of my parents yelling at each other. I really feel music saved my life.

In 1980 my dad bought me a Mosrite of California "Ventures Model." Thus began my guitar career. I didn't give up the bass, I just put it on the back burner

Soon after, I hooked up with a drummer; Donny Miller. We would go out to this little red shed in the back yard and jam our brains out. On a 95 degree day, it must have been over 100 degrees in there . We didn't care, we were having fun.

In highschool, I played in jazz band. My junior year I played bass. My senior year I played the guitar. Throughout high school I continued to put in hours a day at my music.

After graduating, I attended college; one year full-time and two years part-time (for music). During and after this time I was in Various heavy rock groups, jazz groups, and played various other music
jobs while holding down part time employment as a cook and as a guitar instructor.

I took 3 years off of college and continued my part time status as a musician, cook, and guitar teacher. My mother encouraged me in a letter she wrote, to finish my degree in music

From Fall of 1988 to Summer of 1992, I attended Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa. There I recieved a Bachelor's Degree in Music Education and a Bachelor's Degree in Music Therapy. During this time I played in varios jazz combos and big bands on and off campus and payed for my books and such by playing with some pretty raunchy country bands on the weekends.

For the past 9 years I have been a public school music teacher. All the while, staying active in music groups ranging from jazz, country, rock, blues, soul, and funk. I also played solo performances and studio recording.