Deviant Music: Keeping the crowd happy

Nov. 30—SALEM, N.H. — To get a good feel for the full talents of singer-songwriter-entertainer Steve Scott, you'd have to attend three very different shows on three different nights, probably in three different locales, maybe even different states.

Scott, a clinical supply manager at a pharmaceutical company by day, plays about 200 shows a year, mostly as Deviant Music, at corner pubs across the region or apre ski gatherings up north. But he's also the leader of Horsefly Glutch, a western-alt-rock trio that's taking off, and performs as Steven H. Scott, serving up thoughtful acoustic originals.

Last year, Scott opened for local hero and superstar Jay Leno in Worcester and warmed up the crowd at a Blue Oyster Cult concert. On weekend nights this fall and winter, Scott's Deviant Music will serve up the hits at Fody's in Derry, at Pica's Pub, Methuen, and at Mill 77 in Amesbury with more dates to come.

On a recent Saturday, Scott and his Horsefly Gulch bandmates Adam Cote and Paul Davidson, livened up the Apple Harvest Festival in Dover, New Hampshire, with their unique brand of original rock.

Alas, no dates are set for solo Steven H. Scott and his acoustic originals show, although there's always a chance he'll pick up a guitar and pull out a from-the-heart ode to love or some other gem from his back pocket.

"The original reason I started 'Deviant Music,' — why I call it deviant music — was because I wanted it to be a little deviant, out of the ordinary. The songs you wouldn't normally hear (on a) acoustic (guitar) were kind of my forte at that time and I still look at it like that. There obvious some classics that always work no matter where you go so it's nice to have the arsenal.

If you read a room and you think 'Brown Eyed Girl,' is gonna wake up the crowd, at this point, I'm OK with that. If you asked me that when I started, I'd be 'No way am I playing Van Morrison,'" he said.

"I've grown to accept certain things over the years, and I'm OK with that and I find it actually makes my set better because I'm a little bit more versatile in what I do."

And of course, there are the sing-alongs that come with the territory.

"I try not to be cheesy about it ... I'll try to interact with the crowd. I won't even say 'sing along,' I'll just kind of stop, then I'll put my hands in the air. I may say something like 'your turn.' I may throw in something so they have an inkling that you need to do something here," he said.

"And even if you don't know the words, it's OK to scream the wrong ones. I think I try to make people comfortable with that, too," he said.

"I think Happy Hour people and apre ski people are my favorite crowds to play. Let's be honest, alcohol and singing kind of go hand in hand. and there's nothing happier in life than people who just got off the slopes, pounded two beers and it's 3:30. Those are the happiest people in the world and I get it."

It's OK if crowds get a little bit rowdy, which Scott said can make for a great show.

"So I'm not going to tuck myself into a corner and try to be quiet for your entertainment. From a selfish perspective I try be loud, I want you to sing along, I want you to have a good time. You know, part of me wants you to get up on the bar and dance. I learned to separate over the years the fact that I'm not there to show off my guitar skills, I don't want to show you I can hit a certain octave. I'm OK with showing that stuff with my original (music), I'm not there to boast. I'm there to play songs and have a good time."

Deviant Music started on a whim. "I've been a musician all my life but never really done the cover stuff," Scott said. He and friends frequented a now-closed bar in Haverhill and conversations with the owner planted the seed for Deviant Music. That first show attracted the owner of another establishment in Lawrence who booked Scott.

"And it's been snowballing ever since." It's gotten to the point, he said, where Deviant Music is "almost self-reliant."

Scott said he knew early on that music was his calling. Fresh out of high school, Scott said he had a vision of being in the spotlight, rocking out for an arena of fans. Through the years, he's played with a number of bands, including Mindset X, and always moved forward on his musical journey.

"It's always been my passion and my dream to be a full-time musician from an original standpoint and it still is. I do have other projects that are my priorities, too, and the Deviant kind of became a funding for that stuff, a way to make a little bit of money and, at the end of the day, maybe put a smile on people's faces, to be honest with you," he said.

"I look at Deviant Music and I want us, in essence, to be sitting around a campfire, me playing some songs, everyone singing along and having a good time. I didn't want to over-complicate it," he said. "I really just wanted to make it about fun, make it about people having a good time.