SCOTT SPEARLY - ARTIST ARCHIVE
Interviews, Bootlegs, Bands, Projects, Writings, and more...
Scott Spearly has always been more than a talent in his roots band The Knuckle Dusters. This page will link you to the many convergences and friendships made across his life's creative endeavors. Musician, studio head, writer, educator, and craftsman... here you can find all of the off-the-beaten-path treasures.
Scott Spearly at Archive.org
A great one-stop clearing house of full-length videos without ads, newspaper articles, radio interviews, letters, print programs and more... the Internet Archive hosts original content and source information. Several individual archive items are arranged and presented below by Spearly himself, or you can browse catalogued archive items using the link provided.
SCOTT SPEARLY IN "ZOMBIE TRAIN"
TIN CAN SIMS & THE CORPS CADAVERS
Comic-Con at The Pennsylvania College of Technology. Scott Spearly joins Dave Sims – a former associate professor of English at Penn College, a Wildcat Comic Con panelist and an early champion of graphic novels in the classroom. Both take to the stage for "Zombie Train," a multimedia punk-blues event featured during a Masquerade Ball in the Field House. (2012).
ARTICLE: https://www.pct.edu/news/article/2012/04/15/wildcat-comic-con
Zombie Train: Musicians, Cast, Storyline...
Train conductor "Perfectly Frank" (Dave Sims) races his train from a flesh-eating zombie apocalypse to "The Coldlands" --- so far north it's just too damn cold for zombies to give chase. Featured guitarists "Ace the Survivor" (Dave Pulizzi) and zombie cheerleader "Joanne" (Scott Spearly) lay leads and rhythm for the rest of the travelers: "The Hirsute Ape" on Euphonium (Kent Bunting), clarinetist "Licorice Boy" (Dakota Sims), the "Grave Undertaker" on bass (Matthew Spearly), and on drums "The Meatman" (Fred Green). A one-time B-Movie production of the highest order featuring blood, guts, romance, and redemption... ZOMBIE TRAIN remains the unsung should-be cult classic.
SCOTT SPEARLY & FRIENDS
Lana Donahue - Talent show - Ashoken Farewell (2017)
When Scott Spearly was still an educator at James Buchanan High School one of his students asked if he would back her in a talent show that was less than a week away. She had missed the tryouts, was nervous as can be, and had to audition in front of the school's band director. Spearly accompanied her to a rehearsal room over her lunch period to meet with him --- where he was floored with her skill. He said "yes, you're in!" Lana would go on to take 2nd place over a dozen or so contestants... one of the judges told Spearly after the show that "she would have taken first, but since you helped her, and the winner, the daughter of a school board member performed solo, well, you know how it goes."
But three years later Lana Donahue...
would join Scott in 2020, on a gorgeous October day , to play a gospel set on his back deck. Over the years Lana neglected to tell Scott she can sing, and when he asked if she would sing some harmonies with him one afternoon it was Scott that was floored instead of the ol' band director. Turns out Lana sings regularly in church, and for the first (and only) time here she not only helps Scott singing some strong backup vocals along with her fine violin work, she takes a sweet lead vocal of her own on "Treasure's Unseen." Use this link for gospel goodness.
Scott Spearly & Lynn Troutman - Downpour (2020)
Scott Spearly spent 25 years in education not as a traditional classroom teacher, but as a specialist who on the back end ran an assortment of stressful programs K-12. His last 10 years at the high school level were taxing him, retirement was near... enter Lynn Troutman. Scott worked with her for years not knowing her little secret, she plays and sings! As a child she took piano and dance, and her other secret was that she was a skilled figure skater, but at 5' 7" Lynn was too "gigantic" for the world of professional skating. Thankfully she also possesses a giant heart, getting Spearly through his final two years of education with song.
Scott Spearly & Lynn Troutman - The Nearness of You
Scott Spearly continues to work periodically as a substitute teacher in the school district where he resides. He had a chance to connect musically with Lynn Troutman again over their lunch hour in 2021. Before Scott retired, one of the songs they would often sing in the hallway between classes as students passed by was the great jazz standard "The Nearness of You." Spearly initially thought to teach it to her, putting a simple country spin on the Ella & Louis classic from long ago, but Lynn was already familiar with the song from a more recent version by Nora Jones. Here is their shadowy and serene lunchtime take.
Milk & Water Road Sessions - Gary Peck & Scott Spearly
Gary Peck (left) has been making music with Scott off and on since 1994, before The Knuckle Dusters. He spent some time gigging with the band, but the best of Scott and Gary has been heard at pig roasts, parties, and as documented here in these live "kitchen sessions" at Gary's home on Milk & Water Road. One of Spearly's favorite and most influential albums called "Alone & Acoustic" was recorded at an impromptu session in France with Buddy Guy and Junior Wells. These recordings capture a similar unrehearsed spirit, fun, and on-the-spot improvisation. AUDIO: When the End Comes Down, Whistle Blow, So Gay, I See Stars, Banana Man, and At The Bar.
Scott Spearly with The Six Suede Men (1993)
Before Scott played anything with strings he had been blowing harmonica for only a year or so when close friends Dave Sims and David Pulizzi formed the Six Suede Men, with bassist Jimmy Lovcik and Shaun Gilmour on drums. Pictured here as a group of 5 the band played the Valley Rockfest in Williamsport, Pennsylvania --- Spearly's adopted home of 30+ years. Then along came 6th man Dave Lennon on lead guitar and harmonies. The band strived to perform original music with rock & blues covers. For the first time ever Spearly would sing a lead with the band bellowing out Clifford Gibson's "Keep Your Door Locked Baby (and keep your windows pinned)." Click below for Six Suede Men audio.
The Hellbenders - Spearly with "Madman" Dave Richards
Dave Richards & Scott Spearly go back to 1994 when Scott tried to sell an old archtop guitar at Zinn's Music shop, where Dave worked. Freshly booted out of the army, after attending audio engineering school, Richards went on to own his own shop and build the studio known as Bluebarn in Lemasters, PA. He was into hardcore captaining several bands: The Mother Brains, R.C., and Pigeon. One of Dave's former drummers (Shannon Larkin) went on to play for Godsmack. Scott & Dave experimented in the studio as The Hellbenders over several sessions between 2007-10, mentoring Scott on the art of recording. Much of their work went incomplete with life's twists and turns. Dave passed away in 2019.
Tin Can Sims - American Strange
Between 2008-2010, 17 years after the Six Suede Men, Dave Sims, Scott Spearly, David Pulizzi, Jimmy Lovcik, and Shaun Gilmour would reunite over several sessions yielding a double-disc bootleg dubbed Tin Can Sims - American Strange. Indeed, the music was both original and strange from this grouping of past band mates. One winter session yielded a video for the song "Chrylser," shot by Sims' daughter Casey who was studying film at the time. Short-lived hope the group would reconvene and gig on a regular basis never materialized, but the recordings survive as testament to the creative power of their combined friendships. Shredding, linguistic, ethereal, genuine, true... this is Tin Can Sims.
Purdy & Mosely Excitable!
The Excitable Boys acoustic duo exemplifies the spirit and fun shared between "Purdy Excitable" (Scott Spearly) and "Mosley Excitable" (David Pulizzi) over their three decades of friendship. Appearances are rare dating back to 2005 at the former Java & Juice in Williamsport, PA ... but in 2024 the duo made their presence and talents known again at an intimate party in Front Royal, VA. Check out their unique spin on Americana music!