Debut rock album is ‘A Taylor thing’
At age 55, Scott Abrams humorously chose “The Dunning/Kruger Effect as it applies to Rock and Roll” as the title for his debut album, but others would call it a testament to what a deep love of music coupled with hard work and determination can do.
“(The Dunning/Kruger effect) is someone greatly overestimating their abilities in any given field thinking they are way better at doing what they are doing than what they really are,” said Abrams, a Taylor transplant of seven years. “I just thought that was a funny name for my first record because the truth is I really had no idea what I was doing the whole way through.”
But a small group of accomplished Taylor-area musicians, who not only collaborated on this album but also encouraged Abrams in his years-long quest to learn guitar, write music, sing and record it, are saying otherwise.
Fellow musician Ryan Dale, owner of Mixtape, said Abrams’ album, which was released Sept. 28, has an uncommon sound that inspires him.
“I think it’s amazing,” said Dale, who contributed backup vocals. “I admire how much he has stuck it out, and there is not a whole lot of DIY artists that are doing it at home and doing it for the love of music, and he definitely does that.”
Scott Abrams practicing the guitar at his home on Porter Street. Courtesy photo
Though Dale enjoys the music, he said Abrams’ songwriting is what truly stands out.
“He writes poignant lyrics,” Dale said. “I just think it’s a unique genre that’s unto himself. I think it’s very different than a lot of the stuff that is coming out now.”
Taylor folk artist Brooke Ashley Eden also sang on the album and said she too was inspired by Abrams’ music and accomplishment.
“I think Scott has done some really dope work,” Eden said. “It’s so cool to see someone really diving into every aspect of what it takes to write, record, produce and release an album all on your own. Most folks only really dive into one part of the process and that’s it. Scott did everything, which has been the grooviest thing to witness. Instead of waiting for someone else to come along and say, ‘Okay, yes, you can do this. You have our permission,’ Scott took everything into his own hands and cranked out something killer.”
Abrams, who currently works as a realtor, said he came of age in the Pacific Northwest during the height of the grunge scene and worked in his youth as a promoter for Mudhoney, the Melvins and other top names in his hometown of Yakima, Washington.
“I grew up in exactly the right time and place (for that scene),” he said. “The first drummer for Nirvana went to junior high and the first year of high school with us.”
However, Abrams said he only started playing music seriously less than a decade ago.
“My mother passed away when I was in my mid to late forties, and I don’t know, the switch just went off in my head that I was getting too old, and I always kind of was jealous of my friends that had those bands that I was helping out,” he said.
Abrams said after he started trying in earnest, he had several frustrating experiences attempting to put a band together.
“I couldn’t find a whole lot of interest in people wanting to start a band with a mid-fifties guy who never sung before, and never made a record before,” he said. “Not a lot of people wanted to hitch their cart to that horse.”
But he was not deterred, “practicing, practicing, practicing” and working six days a week to make an album on his own.
“That really lit a fire under me to get to the end of this goal,” he said. “So I had to learn a bunch of different things.”
Luckily, Abrams, who also serves as a DJ for the local digital radio station KBSR, found during the pandemic a creative community in Taylor that encouraged him and nurtured his quest as he began to try to record things at home.
“I probably couldn’t have kept going without these people saying ‘Hey, keep going. This is pretty good, man,’” Abrams said. “That’s kind of a point I would like to emphasize about all of this: It’s a Taylor thing. It was made and recorded here. Everybody that appears on this record is from Taylor. This is my attempt, with so many people around here that I respect artistically, to be a spoke on that creative wheel of Taylor, Texas. So I just dove into it.”
Scott Abrams released his debut rock album Sept. 28. Courtesy photo
