Scott Bradshaw, who records as Scott B. Sympathy, is a Canadian

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

and

alternative country Alternative country (commonly abbreviated to alt-country; also known as alternative country rock, insurgent country, Americana, or y'allternative) is a loosely defined subgenre of country music and/or country rock that includes acts that diffe ...

musician."Scott B.'s songs so good you'll want to steal them". ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...

'', 16 December 1993. He released several albums with his eponymously named band in the 1990s, and subsequently became a member of Stratochief following the 1999 death of that band's singer Greg McConnell."Scott B. Sympathy lets in a little light". ''

Brantford Expositor The ''Brantford Expositor'' is an English language newspaper based in Brantford, Ontario and owned by Postmedia. It provides the readers with coverage of local news, sports and events to the community as well as coverage of provincial, national ...

'', 23 May 2002.

Background

Originally from

Brantford Brantford ( 2021 population: 104,688) is a city in Ontario, Canada, founded on the Grand River in Southwestern Ontario. It is surrounded by Brant County but is politically separate with a municipal government of its own that is fully indep ...

, Ontario, Bradshaw moved to

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

at age 20. He began performing on the

Queen Street West Queen Street is a major east–west thoroughfare in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It extends from Roncesvalles Avenue and King Street in the west to Victoria Park Avenue in the east. Queen Street was the cartographic baseline for the original eas ...

club scene in the 1980s, both as a solo artist under the name Scott B. and with the band Scott B. Sympathy. The name "Scott B. Sympathy" was originally intended as the name of the band, with his own stage name simply being "Scott B." However, this was so frequently misunderstood by fans and music journalists that when crediting the band's 1996 album ''Long Way Down'' to "The Sympathy" still failed to resolve the confusion, Bradshaw eventually relented and adopted "Scott B. Sympathy" as his own stage name.

Career

The band began as a regular act at Elvis Mondays, a regular alternative rock club night in Toronto organized by William New; Bradshaw also played as a supporting musician in New's own band Groovy Religion. The band's debut album, 1990s ''Neil Yonge Street'', was titled with a

pun A pun, also known as a paronomasia in the context of linguistics, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from t ...

combining Toronto's

Yonge Street Yonge Street ( ') is a major arterial route in the Canadian province of Ontario connecting the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto to Lake Simcoe, a gateway to the Great Lakes#Geography, Upper Great Lakes. Ontario's first colonial administrator, ...

with the name of one of Bradshaw's idols,

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, forming the folk rock group Buffalo Springfield. Since the begi ...

. At this time the band had a rotating lineup, with Bradshaw as the only consistent member; ''Neil Yonge Street'' included contributions from

Ian Blurton Ian Blurton (born 1965) is a Canadian musician and record producer. Early life He was born in Champaign, Illinois in 1965, and moved to Toronto in 1973. Musical career He has been a part of Toronto's indie music scene since the early 1980s. He ...

, Gord Cumming, Terry Carter,

Don Kerr Don Kerr is a Canadian multi-instrumentalist and record producer. He is the drummer, lead singer and front man of Toronto band, Communism. He plays in Ron Sexsmith's band,John Borra and

Willie P. Bennett William Patrick "Willie P." Bennett (26 October 1951 – 15 February 2008) was a Canadian folk music, folk-music singer-songwriter, harmonica player, and mandolinist. Bennett was part of the 1970s folk music scene in Canada, and wrote and recorded ...

."'Electrified' Scott B.'s latest unit is more Sympathetic than ever". ''

'', 20 May 1993. The band followed up with ''Drinking with the Poet'' in 1993, garnering radio airplay on alternative rock and

campus radio Campus radio (also known as college radio, university radio or student radio) is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. Programming may be exclusively created or produced ...

stations and

MuchMusic Much is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. It is headquartered at 299 Queen Street West in what was o ...

with the album's title track."For the musical maturity, Scott B. deserves Sympathy: Long Way Down was a long time coming, but worth the wait". ''

'', 26 September 1996. By this time the band had a more stable lineup, including guitarist Gary Robertson, bassist Ron Bock and drummer Dave O'Sullivan. The same lineup remained in place for the band's 1996 album ''Long Way Down'', which was credited to The Sympathy. The band's final album, ''Unfinished Sympathy'', was again titled with a pun, referencing Schubert's famous "

Unfinished Symphony An unfinished symphony is a fragment of a symphony that is left incomplete. The reason as of why and the state of the sketches themselves can vary considerably. The death of the composer is the most common cause for a symphony to be left unfi ...

". (The album title bears no relation to

Massive Attack Massive Attack are an English trip hop collective formed in 1988 in Bristol, England, by Robert Del Naja, Robert "3D" Del Naja, Daddy G, Grant "Daddy G" Marshall, Tricky (musician), Adrian "Tricky" Thaws and Andrew Vowles, Andrew "Mushroom" ...

's 1991 single "Unfinished Sympathy", which Bradshaw was unaware of at the time of the album's release.) The album included contributions from

Ashley MacIsaac Ashley Dwayne MacIsaac (born February 24, 1975) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter and actor from Cape Breton Island. He has received three Juno Awards, winning for Best New Solo Artist and Best Roots & Traditional Album – Solo at th ...

, Bazil Donovan, Tyler Yarema,

Michelle Josef Michelle Josef (born March 21, 1953), formerly Bohdan Hluszko, is a Canadian musician and transgender activist. Under her former name, Josef was already established as one of Canada's leading session drummers, and has continued her career in music ...

, Oh Susanna and

Cindy Church Cindy Church (born 1958) is a Canadian country and folk artist. Church released three studio albums on Stony Plain Records and was nominated for Best Country Female Vocalist at the Juno Awards in 1995 and 1996. She is also a member of the awar ...

."Unfinished Sympathy". ''

'', 13 February 1999. Following the band's breakup and McConnell's death, Bradshaw joined Stratochief for a number of years, recording two albums with that band. In 2010, he was playing in a duo with Cumming under the name "Massey Harris".

Discography

Albums

* ''Neil Yonge Street'' (1990) * ''Drinking With the Poet'' (1993) * ''Long Way Down'' (1996), as ''The Sympathy'' * ''Unfinished Sympathy'' (1999) * ''Home Movies'' (2006), as ''Scott Bradshaw''

Other Releases

* ''El Seven Nightclub'' ( Big Sugar, 1993), track 13: "

Sitting On Top Of The World "Sitting on Top of the World" (also "Sittin' on Top of the World") is a country blues song written by Walter Vinson and Lonnie Chatmon. They were core members of the Mississippi Sheiks, who first recorded it in 1930. Vinson claimed to have co ...

", as ''Scott B.'' * ''Elvis Monday Vol. 1'' (Various Artists, 1994), track 5: "Distress" * ''Changed: A Tribute To Change of Heart'' (Various Artists, 2001), track 5: "Winter's Over"

Stratochief

* ''Turbines for Speed'' (2001) * ''In Search of the Seven Foot Woman'' (2002)

Massey Harris

* ''Massey-Harris'' (2020) EP

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sympathy, Scott B. Canadian country singer-songwriters Canadian rock singers Canadian alternative country singers Canadian male singer-songwriters Living people Musicians from Brantford Year of birth missing (living people)