Scott Huckabay is an American composer, acoustic and electric guitarist, pianist, handpan player and poet.

Background

Huckabay is a world touring musician and composer known for his live guitar performances and original music. On August 16, 1987, during the weekend of the

Harmonic Convergence The Harmonic Convergence was the world's first synchronized global peace meditation, coinciding with an exceptional alignment of Solar System planets on August 16–17, 1987. The event was organized by spouses José Argüelles and Lloydine Burri ...

, he was involved in a high-speed collision with a truck while riding his motorcycle in

Tempe, Arizona Tempe ( ; ''Oidbaḍ'' in O'odham language, O'odham) is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, with the Census Bureau reporting a 2020 population of 180,587. The city is named after the Vale of Tempe in Greece. Tempe is located in t ...

. Allegedly, after waking up in the hospital recovery room, a

steel-string acoustic guitar The steel-string acoustic guitar is a modern form of guitar that descends from the gut-strung Romantic guitar, but is strung with steel strings for a brighter, louder sound. Like the modern classical guitar, it is often referred to simply ...

was found at the foot of the bed left by an unknown source. Huckabay says that on touching the guitar he discovered that creating sounds on the guitar helped relieve the pain from his injuries. He immediately began developing his own unique style of playing. In that same year, a

Michael Hedges Michael Alden Hedges (December 31, 1953 – December 2, 1997) was an American acoustic guitarist and songwriter. He was known as a virtuoso who used unorthodox playing techniques, and much of his output was classified as new age music. Hedges ...

concert was a major influence for Huckabay. While living in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

in late 1991, Huckabay continued refining his guitar technique. Huckabay claims that while swimming in the ocean he developed a form of sound with

telepathy Telepathy () is the purported vicarious transmission of information from one person's mind to another's without using any known human sensory channels or physical interaction. The term was first coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Frederic ...

, which he believes enables him to communicate with the

dolphins A dolphin is an aquatic mammal in the cetacean clade Odontoceti (toothed whale). Dolphins belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontopori ...

and

whales Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully Aquatic animal, aquatic placental mammal, placental marine mammals. As an informal and Colloquialism, colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea ...

on a daily basis. There is no documentation of this claim and no scientific literature supporting this type of communication. According to Huckabay these sounds became an integral part of his music. He started performing live shows in Hawaii at the Hawaii Slam, West Coast including California, Washington, Oregon and Arizona and touring the rest of the world. Scott is a descendant of

Chiricahua Apache Chiricahua ( ) is a band of Apache Native Americans. Based in the Southern Plains and Southwestern United States, the Chiricahua historically shared a common area, language, customs, and intertwined family relations with their fellow Apaches. ...

Nde Nation. CrystalFrequency

Music career

In 1991, Huckabay won the BAM magazine 'Guitarist of the Year' contest held at the

Roxy Theatre (West Hollywood) The Roxy Theatre (often just the Roxy) is a nightclub on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, California, owned by Lou Adler and his son, Nic. History The Roxy was opened on September 20, 1973, by Elmer Valentine and Lou Adler, along with o ...

. November 11, 1992, Huckabay joined an all-star line up for the free Kauai Hurricane Iniki survivors concert, which also included Crosby, Stills and Nash, Bonnie Raitt, Jimmy Buffett, Jackson Browne and Titus Kinimaka and the Kauai Boys. CSN, Bonnie, Jimmy and Jackson had just played two nights on Oahu, with the Pahinui Brothers, raising money for the victims of the hurricane that swept Kauai two months earlier. Huckabay had been living on a secluded beach when the massive

Hurricane Iniki Hurricane Iniki ( ; Hawaiian: ''iniki'' meaning "strong and piercing wind") was a hurricane that struck the island of Kauai on September 11, 1992. It was the most powerful hurricane to strike Hawaii in recorded history, and the only hurricane to ...

hit the island during a full moon on September 11, 1992. In 1995, Huckabay produced his debut album, "Virtual Altar", recorded live on the boardwalk in

Venice Beach, California Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

. In 1996, he recorded, "Peace Dance", and in 1999, "Alchemy", which won the 2000 Independent Visionary Award. He currently records various production projects with Soundings of the Planet, their motto, 'Peace through Music'. In 1999, Huckabay performed at various ancient sites in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

and claimed to have found a harmonic and spiritual affinity with an ancient site called

Dendera Temple complex The Dendera Temple complex (Ancient Egyptian: ''Iunet'' or ''Tantere''; the 19th-century English spelling in most sources, including Belzoni, was Tentyra; also spelled Denderah) is located about south-east of Dendera, Egypt. It is one of the be ...

that resonated with musical frequencies. On December 31, 1999, Huckabay performed a concert inside the

Great Pyramid of Giza The Great Pyramid of Giza is the largest Egyptian pyramid. It served as the tomb of pharaoh Khufu, who ruled during the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt, Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom of Egypt, Old Kingdom. Built , over a period of about 26 years ...

. Two months later, Scott released the album, 'Temple of Dendara'. Scott tunes his guitar intuitively to one of the Solfeggio frequencies which are claimed to affect or improve various aspects of physical or mental health. In 2006, Huckabay released the album, Secret Portal, produced by

Sylvia Massy Sylvia Lenore Massy is an American record producer, mixer, and engineer. Her first major breakthrough occurred with 1993's ''Undertow (Tool album), Undertow'', the full-length triple platinum-selling debut for Los Angeles alternative metal band ...

at RadioStar Studios in Mt Shasta, California.

Guitar gear

Huckabay plays a 2001 custom built 610CE Taylor Guitar (nicknamed "Oceana") with a combination of a Sunrise S-1 magnetic pickup and several custom Fishman piezo pickups embedded in various locations inside the wood of the guitar to capture percussive sounds built by

Bob Taylor (luthier) Taylor Guitars is an American guitar manufacturer based in El Cajon, CA, El Cajon, California. The company was founded in 1974 by Bob Taylor and Kurt Listug, specializing in acoustic guitars and Semi-acoustic guitar, semi-hollow electric guitars. ...

Taylor Guitars Taylor Guitars is an American guitar manufacturer based in El Cajon, California. The company was founded in 1974 by Bob Taylor and Kurt Listug, specializing in acoustic guitars and semi-hollow electric guitars. It is one of the largest manufact ...

. He is left handed and experiments with a variety of guitar effects pedals by

Boss Corporation Boss is a manufacturer of Effects unit, effects pedals for electric guitar and bass guitar. It is a division of the Roland Corporation, a Japanese manufacturer that specializes in musical equipment and accessories. For many years Boss has manu ...

. He also uses a

violin bow The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino pi ...

EBow The EBow is an electronic device used for playing string instruments, most often the electric guitar. It was invented by the American guitarist Greg Heet in 1969 and introduced in 1976. The EBow uses a pickup and a magnetic feedback circuit to ...

Morley Pedals Morley Pedals is the name of a guitar effects pedal company, famous for manufacturing wah-wah pedals and other treadle type effects for guitar. Morley pedals use electro-optical circuitry rather than a potentiometer to control the effect. ...

quartz crystal Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical fo ...

and an RC-20 Loop Station by

Roland Corporation is a Japanese multinational manufacturer of electronic musical instruments, electronic equipment, and software. It was founded by Ikutaro Kakehashi in Osaka on 18 April 1972. In 2005, its headquarters relocated to Hamamatsu in Shizuoka Prefect ...

to layer guitar rhythmic patterns. Making use of this equipment, he claims to equalize precisely the live sound from his instrument to achieve different sounds for every song within each concert venue. Scott has created over 300 alternate

guitar tunings Guitar tunings are the assignment of pitches to the open strings of guitars, including classical guitars, acoustic guitars, and electric guitars. Tunings are described by the particular pitches that are made by notes in Western music. By c ...

. Scott uses custom gauge

Ernie Ball Ernie Ball (born Roland Sherwood Ball; August 30, 1930 – September 9, 2004) was an American entrepreneur and musician who developed guitar-related products. Ball began as a club and local television musician and entrepreneur, building an inter ...

guitar strings.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Peace Dance'' (Soundings of the Planet) (1996) * ''Alchemy'' (Soundings of the Planet (1999)] * ''Virtual Altar'' (Sonic Alchemyst) (2000) * ''Temple of Dendara'' (Sonic Alchemyst) (2003) * ''Secret Portal'' (Sonic Alchemyst) (2006) * ''Synesthesia'' (Sonic Alchemyst) (2015)

Compilations (solo)

* ''Harmonic Reflections'' (Sonic Alchemyst) (2014)

Compilations (various artists)

* ''Healing Resonance'' (Soundings of the Planet) (2020) * ''Golden Spiral'' (Soundings of the Planet) (2016) * ''Harmonic Way'' (Soundings of the Planet) (2014) * 'State of Profusion' featured on Vapor Trails: The Echoes Living Room Concerts Volume 14 (2008) * ''Chakra Healing'' (Soundings of the Planet) (2008) * ''Eagle River'' (Soundings of the Planet) (2007) * ''Mountain Meadow Meditation'' with Dean Evenson (Soundings of the Planet) (2003) * ''Sound Yoga'' with Dean Evenson (Soundings of the Planet) (2003) * ''Sound Massage'' with Dean Evenson (Soundings of the Planet) (2002) * ''Healing Sanctuary'' with Dean Evenson (Soundings of the Planet) (2002) * 'DreamState' featured on Creative Independent Music Alliance CD Compilation (2001) * ''Spirit Rising'' (Soundings of the Planet) (2001) * ''Healing Dreams'' with Dean Evenson (Soundings of the Planet) (2001) * ''Native Healing'' (Soundings of the Planet) (2001) * ''Sonic Tribe'' (Soundings of the Planet) (2000) * ''Tao of Healing'' with Dean Evenson (Soundings of the Planet) (2000) * 'Neptune’s Forest' featured on NPR's Echoes Living Room Concert Compilation CD Volume#5 (1999) * 'Emerald Sea' featured on Natural Wonders Music Sampler (1998) * ''Sound Healing'' with Dean Evenson (Soundings of the Planet) (1998) * ''Healing Waters'' with Dean Evenson (Soundings of the Planet) (1997)

Poetry

* ''Angels of the Sea: Sacred Dolphin Art of Atlantis'' co-collaborated with Michelle Gold. Poetry book inspired by wild dolphins from around the world. Published by

Hay House Hay House is a publisher founded in 1984 by author Louise Hay, who is known for her books on New Thought. ''The New York Times'' dubbed Hay "The Queen of the New Age," noting that she became "one of the bestselling authors in ...

(1996)

Television/film

* "Dolphin Dreams" featured soundtrack on Templayed Vol 1 - Healing Through Temple Visuals (2007) * Huckabay's music was highlighted in the eighth season of MTV's reality television series Real World Hawaii (1999)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Huckabay, Scott American acoustic guitarists American male guitarists Fingerstyle guitarists Living people 1964 births 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians