Scott Merritt is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

singer-songwriter and record producer.Scott Merritt
at canoe.ca's Pop Music Encyclopedia. Most prominent in the 1980s, he was a shortlisted nominee for Most Promising Male Vocalist at the

Juno Awards of 1986 The Juno Awards of 1986, representing Canadian music industry achievements of the previous year, were awarded on 10 November 1986 in Toronto at a ceremony hosted by Howie Mandel at the Harbour Castle Hilton Hotel. CBC Television broadcast the ce ...

. 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 independ ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, in the late 1970s Merritt launched a career as a

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has ...

singer-songwriter, performing both locally and on the

folk festival A folk festival celebrates traditional folk crafts and folk music. This list includes folk festivals worldwide, except those with only a partial focus on folk music or arts. Folk festivals may also feature folk dance or ethnic foods. Handicra ...

circuit. His debut album ''Desperate Cosmetics'', released in 1979, was engineered by

Daniel Lanois Daniel Roland Lanois ( , ; born September 19, 1951) is a Canadian record producer, guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. He has produced albums by artists including Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Peter Gabriel, Robbie Robertson, Emmylou Harris, Willi ...

. He followed up with ''Serious Interference'' in 1983, supported in part by a

cultural exchange Cultural diplomacy is a type of public diplomacy and soft power that includes the "exchange of ideas, information, art, language and other aspects of culture among nations and their peoples in order to foster mutual understanding". The purpose ...

tour of the United States with artists including

Brent Titcomb Brent Arthur Titcomb (born August 10, 1940 in Vancouver, British Columbia) is a Canadian actor and musician. He plays guitar, percussion, harmonica, and jaw harp. Music career Titcomb was the original member of the folk-rock group 3's A Crowd ...

and

Tamarack ''Larix laricina'', commonly known as the tamarack, hackmatack, eastern larch, black larch, red larch, or American larch, is a species of larch native to Canada, from eastern Yukon and Inuvik, Northwest Territories east to Newfoundland, and als ...

. However, the album was not particularly successful, and Merritt began to pursue a more

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

-oriented sound. He signed to

Duke Street Records Duke Street Records was a Canadian independent record label"Barren ground for Canada's gutsy record labels". ''Edmonton Journal'', May 10, 1990. established in 1984 by Andrew Hermant, but the record label ceased operating in 1994. The Universal ...

in 1985."Scott Merritt pleasing others en route to pleasing himself". ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and pa ...

'', June 27, 1986. The label rereleased ''Serious Interference'' in early 1986, released his song "Transistor" as a single, and sent him out on tour as an opening act for

Jane Siberry Jane Siberry ( ; ; born 12 October 1955) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, known for such hits as " Mimi on the Beach", "I Muse Aloud", " One More Colour" and " Calling All Angels". She performed the theme song to the television series ''Maniac ...

. He followed up later the same year with his third album ''Gravity Is Mutual'', which was produced by Roma Baran and included guest contributions by

Adrian Belew Robert Steven "Adrian" Belew (born December 23, 1949) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. A multi-instrumentalist primarily known as a guitarist and singer, he is noted for his unusual and impressionistic approach to ...

. That album's lead single, "Overworked and Underprivileged", became Merritt's most successful song on radio. In 1990 his fourth album, ''Violet and Black'', was released on Duke Street in Canada and

IRS Records I.R.S. Records was an American record label founded by Miles Copeland III, Jay Boberg, and Carl Grasso in 1979. I.R.S. produced some of the most popular bands of the 1980s, and was particularly known for issuing records by college rock, new wav ...

internationally. The album was produced by

Arthur Barrow Arthur Barrow (born February 28, 1952) is a multi-instrumental musician, best known for his stint as a bass guitar player for Frank Zappa in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Early life Barrow was born in San Antonio, Texas in 1952 and grew up in ...

. However, both labels soon folded due to financial difficulties, leaving Merritt without a label. He began at this time to concentrate on work as a recording engineer and record producer for other artists,"From factories to Ferris wheels". '' The Globe and Mail'', September 12, 2002. including

Stephen Fearing Stephen Fearing (born 1963) is a Canadian roots/folk singer-songwriter.

Grievous Angels Grievous Angels are a Canadian alternative country band, active since 1986."Street Beat". ''Toronto Star'', June 11, 1987. The band's name is a reference to the Gram Parsons album '' Grievous Angel''."Angels have Canadian roots". ''Edmonton Journa ...

Ian Tamblyn Ian Tamblyn (born December 2, 1947) is a Canadian folk music singer-songwriter and record producer, adventurer and playwright. Early life Tamblyn was born and raised in Fort William (now Thunder Bay), Ontario, and studied at Trent Universit ...

Lynn Miles Lynn may refer to: People and fictional characters * Lynn (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Lynn (surname) * The Lynns, a 1990s American country music duo consisting of twin sisters Peggy and Patsy Lynn * Lynn ( ...

, The Barmitzvah Brothers, James Gordon,

Garnet Rogers Garnet Rogers (born May 1955) is a Canadian folk musician, singer, songwriter and composer. He was born in Hamilton, Ontario with roots in Nova Scotia. He began his professional career working with his older brother, folk musician Stan Rogers, and ...

Suzie Vinnick Suzie Vinnick is a Canadian roots and blues singer-songwriter.Greg Quill"Suzie Vinnick: Why this songwriter rents her home" ''Toronto Star'', 10 January 2009. She performs as a solo artist and contributes to variety of band projects, including T ...

and

Fred Eaglesmith Frederick John Elgersma (born July 9, 1957), known by the stage name Fred Eaglesmith, is a Canadian alternative country singer-songwriter. He is known for writing songs about vehicles, rural life, down-and-out characters, lost love and quirky rur ...

. He continued to perform occasional live shows."Acoustic Waves series draws new faces". ''

Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as ''The Bytown Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris, it was renamed the ''Citizen'' in 1851. The newsp ...

'', September 21, 1995. In 2002, Merritt released ''The Detour Home'' on Universal/Maple Recordings, his first new album since 1990. His latest album, ''Of'', was released in April 2015 as a limited edition vinyl and CD set.

Discography

*''Desperate Cosmetics'' (1979) *''Serious Interference'' (1983) *''Gravity Is Mutual'' (1986) *''Violet and Black'' (1990) *''The Detour Home'' (2002) *''Of'' (2015)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Merritt, Scott Canadian male singer-songwriters Canadian pop singers Canadian rock singers Canadian folk singer-songwriters Musicians from Brantford Living people Canadian record producers Canadian audio engineers Year of birth missing (living people)