Austin Scaggs is an American music critic and a contributing editor for ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' magazine. He's also written for ''

Men's Journal ''Men's Journal'' was an American men's lifestyle magazine focused on outdoor recreation and comprising editorials on the outdoors, environmental issues, health and fitness, style and fashion, and gear. It was founded in 1992 by Jann Wenner of ...

''. His father is musician

Boz Scaggs William Royce "Boz" Scaggs (born June 8, 1944) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He was a bandmate of Steve Miller (musician), Steve Miller in the Ardells in the early 1960s and a member of the Steve Miller Band from 1967 to 196 ...

Early life

Scaggs was born to Boz and Carmella Scaggs.

Jann Wenner Jann Simon Wenner ( ; born January 7, 1946) is an American businessman who co-founded the popular culture magazine ''Rolling Stone'' with Ralph J. Gleason and is the former owner of '' Men's Journal'' magazine. He participated in the Free S ...

(the eventual editor and publisher of ''

'') served as their witness at their wedding. Austin was born in San Francisco and grew up, along with his brother Oscar, in Presidio Heights. He attended the Town School for Boys. His parents divorced in 1980, and after a three-and-a-half-year battle, they were awarded joint custody. Carmella would bring her sons to

Tower Records Tower Records is an international retail franchising, franchise and online music store that was formerly based in Sacramento, California, United States. From 1960 until 2006, Tower operated retail stores in the United States, which closed when ...

on Tuesdays to peruse the newly-released music.

Career

Scaggs read ''Rolling Stone'' as a child, but never planned to go into

music journalism Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary o ...

.(September 12, 2007
"The Smoking Section Answers Your Questions"
RollingStone.com Retrieved November 29, 2007 At 19, he moved from

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

to play guitar in a band, and began interning at ''Rolling Stone''. He loved it and eventually began picking up small assignments. After two years, he began receiving travel assignments.Fong-Torres, Ben (January 25, 2007)
"He was from Rolling Stone -- he can tell you what it's really like"
SFGate.com Retrieved November 29, 2007 Four years into his job, he was assigned the section "Random Notes", which, incidentally, had been his favorite section as a child. He has interviewed many prominent musicians, including

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English musician. He is known as the lead singer and one of the founder members of The Rolling Stones. Jagger has co-written most of the band's songs with lead guitarist Keith Richards; Jagge ...

, and

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential musicians in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Gen ...

. Scaggs will sometimes get inebriated with the artists he interviews; he did ecstasy with

James Blunt James Blunt (born James Hillier Blount, 22 February 1974) is an English singer, songwriter and musician. He is known for his songs "You're Beautiful" and "Goodbye My Lover". As a British Army captain in the aftermath of the Kosovo War, Blunt ...

. In regard to his interviewing style, he has said that he does not "write to stir up controversy, make tabloid headlines, or get someone busted". Since 2001, Alex Levy and Austin Scaggs have planned annual tribute nights to various artists, along with their Cabin Down Below Band, in the East Village in New York City and Nashville. Scaggs plays bass. He is an avid

poker Poker is a family of Card game#Comparing games, comparing card games in which Card player, players betting (poker), wager over which poker hand, hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, with varying rules i ...

player and occasionally plays in celebrity tournaments.

Personal life

His brother Oscar died of a heroin overdose in 1998 at 21 years old. He is married with two children.

References

External links

"The Smoking Section Answers Your Questions"
an interview with Scaggs about his time with ''Rolling Stone''.
"Dave Matthews Band: Audio Interview Outtakes, Video Premiere, Tour Photos and More"
audio of Scaggs interviewing Dave Matthews in August 2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:Scaggs, Austin American music critics American music journalists American poker players Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Jewish American journalists 21st-century American Jews