Episode 142: Scrote

There are an awful lot of guitar players in the known universe. Indeed, part of the instrument’s popularity can be attributed to its accessibility. Pick up a pawn shop six-string, learn a few hackneyed chords, throw a few words together, dime out your amp and you’re fronting a band in a matter of months. Even some of the most well known performers possess not much more than a remedial understanding of the guitar’s capabilities. But some guitarists devote their lives to this enigmatic instrument and they not only master it, but they keep pushing boundaries as far as what it is capable of doing. Scrote is just that sort of gifted guitar player. He’s based in Los Angeles, but he has toured the world and worked with artists like Jackson Browne, No Doubt, Benmont Tench, Reeves Gabrels, Van Dyke Parks and myriad others. Scrote is a searcher, playing multiple styles of music in different ensembles as well as producing albums and working as a musical director for tours and other projects. One of his current bands is called Double Bari Sax Attack!, and it sounds just as you might imagine it might - avant garde guitar, high energy vocals, driving drums and a pair of guttural baritone saxophones that play rhythmic and melodic figures as well as wailing solos. And if that’s not enough badassery for you, Scrote sometimes scalesup the lineup to a Quadruple Bari Sax Attack!