Scott Billington

Scott Billington (born October 27, 1951, in Melrose, Massachusetts) is an American record producer, songwriter, record company executive and blues musician.

Biography

Billington's career began in Boston in the early 1970s, when he managed the New England Music City record store and edited the music magazine Pop Top. He was a member of the Boston Blues Society, which staged concerts by Son House, Mance Lipscomb, Johnny Shines and other first-generation bluesmen. In the mid-1970s he joined the staff of Rounder Records, where he first worked in the record label's sales, promotion and art departments.

In 1978, he and author Peter Guralnick edited live Boston Blues Society tapes to produce the Johnny Shines' album, ''Hey-Ba-Ba-Re Bop''. He began producing for musicians in genres of music such as blues, Cajun, jazz and zydeco. His 1981 production of bluesman Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown won the first Grammy Award for Rounder Records. In the mid-1980s, he created the Modern New Orleans Masters Series for Rounder. Over the years, he has produced Charlie Rich, Solomon Burke, Johnny Adams, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Soul Rebels Brass Band, Irma Thomas, James Booker, Tangle Eye, Girl Authority among other artists on Rounder and other labels. His records have won a total of 3 Grammy® Awards and 11 Grammy® nominations.

As a harmonica player, Billington has recorded with Irma Thomas, Boozoo Chavis, Sleepy LaBeef, Johnette Downing, Theryl deClouet and others. He has toured with Nathan Williams & the Zydeco Cha Chas, a Louisiana-based zydeco band, appearing at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, the Efes Pilsen Blues Festival (Istanbul) and the Montreal Jazz Festival. He played harmonica on the soundtrack to the Henry Fonda/Myrna Loy ABC-TV film, Summer Solstice, and on the PBS-TV series Zoom and Nova.

Billington's writing has appeared in Yankee, the Oxford American, Gambit and The Boston Globe. He has also written liner notes for many of his recordings. He has lectured at Harvard University, the New England Conservatory of Music, and Loyola University, as well as at several Grammy in the Schools events. As a graphic designer and art director, Billington created hundreds of album covers for Rounder and other labels.

Billington is employed as vice president of A&R for Rounder/Concord Records. He lives in New Orleans with his wife, the children's musician and author Johnette Downing, with whom he performs as the duo Johnette and Scott.

Awards

* Grammy Award (co-producer of Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown's Alright Again!) 1982
* Communication Arts Magazine Award of Excellence 1984
* Appointment as Colonel on the staff of Louisiana Governor Edwin W. Edwards 1985
* Communication Arts Magazine Award of Excellence 1987
* Nominated as Producer of the Year, Boston Music Awards 1989
* Nominated as Producer of the Year, Boston Music Awards 1990
* Offbeat Magazine (New Orleans) Best Producer Award (shared with Allen Toussaint) 1996
* Keeping the Blues Alive Award for Producer, awarded by The Blues Foundation 2002
* Sweet Soul Music Award, awarded by the Porretta Soul Festival, Porretta Terme, Italy 2007
* Grammy Award (producer of Irma Thomas's After the Rain) 2007
* Grammy nomination (co-producer of Woody Guthrie's My Dusty Road collection) 2010
* Offbeat (New Orleans) Lifetime Achievement Award 2011
* Grammy Award (Producer of Bobby Rush's Porcupine Meat) 2017

References

External links

Official website

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1951 births
Living people
American blues harmonica players
Record producers from Massachusetts
Songwriters from Massachusetts
Grammy Award winners
Zydeco musicians
People from Melrose, Massachusetts
Songwriters from Louisiana