My name is Scott Garred.  I am a songwriter, performer, and music therapist.  I call San Francisco home.  I just finished my first official full-length LP called Little Tiny Things,  a special project because it reunites a very dear group of friends. Shawn Camp and Tom Hudson (both of Silver Scooter) met up with me at the beautiful Idler Recording operated by Tyler Mallory (also ex-Silver Scooter) who recorded and mixed most of the songs. Dave McNair (Bob Dylan, David Bowie, Los Lobos, Willie Nelson, and of course Silver Scooter) mixed a few songs and mastered all the material. The album sounds amazing and I couldn't be happier.

    The songs feature guitars, bass, and drums with a heavy splash of vintage keyboards.  Some rock and bounce along while others quietly strum.  The songs range in subject matter from the personal to what it might be like to live with Alzheimer’s Disease, as some of my music therapy clients do.  A deceptively simple keyboard drumbeat opens the album on the title track, but the songs’ lyrics disintegrate into the profound fears haunting memory loss: “What if you no longer can sing? What if your heart only knows darkness?”

    I was in a band called Silver Scooter from 1995 - 2001.  We released three critically acclaimed albums, and dozens of singles and E.P.’s.  Touring extensively and sharing stages with Death Cab For Cutie, Kristen Hersh, Unwound, and Olivia Tremor Control to name just a few, we frequented the SXSW Music Festival as well as CMJ.

    My former solo music project, Super XX Man (pronounced “double x”) released a total of 17 volumes of music plus various E.P.'s and compilations - about 20 releases in all.  Most were released largely in obscurity with the exception of Vol. X (2005), a collection of previously released songs re-recorded through the lens of a new band after I moved to Portland, OR. This one release seemed to garner more praise than usual.  The Vol. X version of “Collecting Rocks” became a favorite at a half dozen or so weddings.  Bob Boilen, host of NPR’s All Songs Considered, said this about Super XX Man: “If we’re going to choose ten songs every week, let it be Super XX Man.” Amy McCoullough, former editor of the Willamette Week in Portland, OR said, “If love had a sound this would be it.”

    I toured nearly 10 years of Super XX Man’s existence, traveling through Canada, Japan, and the U.S.  Over the years I played some of the nation's more notable clubs including San Francisco's Bottom of the Hill, Make-Out Room, Purple Onion, Hemlock Tavern; Knitting Factory and Brownie's in New York; Howlin' Wolf in New Orleans; Schuba's and Empty Bottle in Chicago; and Spaceland in Los Angeles. I shared bills with Courtney Barnett, John Vanderslice, Songs Ohia, Julie Doiron, and Karl Blau.

    A career highlight of mine was performing at Bob Boilen’s Tiny Desk.  Another career highlight includes singing a duet with Julie Doiron at SXSW.  We shared the bill and spontaneously collaborated on the Eric’s Trip song, “Allergic to Love.”  

    Oregon Public Broadcasting’s Oregon Art Beat featured both my music and my work as a music therapist at the Oregon State Hospital.  The award-winning program followed me to the hospital, filming intimate sessions with patients, and tagged along to hear Super XX Man rehearse and perform at the historic White Eagle Pub.  

    Super XX Man also recorded two full-length albums in Australia while living in Melbourne from 2011 - 2015.  Vol. XIV Sorta Heavy Metal was released on Courtney Barnett’s acclaimed Milk! Records in 2012.  A successful crowd funding campaign, which brought together fans from all over the world, made this release possible.  The album garnered much praise.  Crispian Winsor, former morning host of “The Breakfast Spread” on PBS radio in Melbourne, called it the #1 release of the 2012 year.  The second Australian album, Vol. XVI Talk About, was released quietly in 2015 via Bandcamp after Garred moved back to the states.  It features country sweetheart Devon Sproule singing harmonies and a duet on the stand out track “Sparrow.”  A bonus included on the digital release features Courtney Barnett and Jen Cloher covering “Box Store,” originally released on Vol. XIII White Bed.