Scott McKeon

Scott McKeon

g, eg, acg, GB
Musician of Rock

Scott McKeon has given a lifetime of dedication to his craft as a guitarist. Initially inspired by his dad’s love of blues, soul and rock music he took up the guitar at the age of four and has developed a reputation as one of the UK’s most in-demand guitarists, both in the studio and performing live. Scott was raised in Dorset on a diet of Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran, Chuck Berry, Gene Vincent, Hank Marvin, and other 50s rock n roll music through that his Dad, Geoff McKeon. Geoff was a successful guitarist in his own right, with his band The Diplomats opening for The Beatles and Gerry and the Pacemakers in the early 60s, with offers to go to Germany to perform. By the time Scott was eight, he was playing a full-size Strat and was the face of a Fender ad campaign to inspire a new young generation of guitarists. Around the age of ten, a friend of Geoff’s showed Scott and his Dad a video tape of Stevie Ray Vaughan performing at Austin City Limits. This ignited Scott’s love of the blues and set him on a path to discover more about Texas musicians such as Freddie King, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Doyle Bramhall Sr and Jr, The Fabulous Thunderbirds. This led Scott to listen to artists including Jimi Hendrix, Albert King, Eric Clapton and BB King, all of which were influences on his playing in these formative years. In 1998, Scott was the winner of Guitarist Magazine’s “Young Guitarist of the Year”, writing and performing his own song at Wembley Arena. Shortly after this time Scott’s father sadly passed away, when Scott was just 13 years old, by which time he was fronting his own blues band and playing most weekends in pubs and clubs around the south coast of England. At 18, a CD was passed onto Paul Crockford, Mark Knopfler’s manager, who started representing Scott which culminated in the release of his debut album “Can’t Take No More” an energetic and raw take on modern electric blues rock, produced by Jesse Davey of UK blues band The Hoax. To promote the album Scott toured extensively in the UK, Europe and US, sharing performance space with Eric Clapton, Derek Trucks, Arc Angels, John Mayer and Sheryl Crow at Hard Rock Calling, Buddy Guy, Johnny Winter, BB King and Joe Bonamassa, as well as playing at The Montreal Jazz festival, Mont Tremblant Festival, Glastonbury and making various U.S. TV appearances. In 2010, Scott released his second album, “Trouble”, on Mascot Provogue Records and again toured extensively to promote the record. This self-produced album crossed over to the rock/pop genre, with emphasis on song-writing coming to the fore after spending time in Nashville writing and hanging out with fellow guitarist Tyler Bryant earlier that year. The album featured guest performances from David Ryan Harris from John Mayer’s band and legendary UK session guitarist Robbie McIntosh. The release of the album led to Scott touring and opening shows for Derek Trucks, Gary Clarke Jr and the Arc Angels and made his first performance at the Royal Albert Hall supporting Joe Bonamassa. Scott also wrote music for Robert Knight’s “Rock Prophecies” Documentary which won him a RIIFF award for “Best Soundtrack”. The makers of Guitar Hero Five also sought him out in order to have a track from “Trouble” on their game, as did the makers of the TV show LA Task Force. After moving to London in 2010, Scott found himself in demand as a session player, both live and in the studio, working with many artists including Zigaboo Modeliste, James Arthur, Lana Del Ray, Van Morrison, Andreya Triana, Ed Sheeran. Working outside of the blues genre widened Scott’s musical palette. In 2014, Scott got a call to play in Sir Tom Jones’ band, alongside Robbie McIntosh and Pink Floyd drummer Gary Wallis. The blues, rock n roll and gospel orientated set allows Scott to call on his early influences and travel the globe, recently completing the fourth year of working with Sir Tom. Performances so far have included four European tours, two tours of the US and South America, and tours of Australia and the Far East, as well as TV appearances including Later… with Jools Holland, TFI Friday and playing the halftime set at AFL Grand Final in Australia. Scott founded his own band Rufus Black in 2017 with UK blues/soul singer Gavin Conder, guitarist Ben Jones, drummer Russ Parker and bassist Leighton Allen. Their debut album ‘Rise Up’, influenced by British Blues bands like Cream, Free and The Faces, was released the same year and was met with critical acclaim. The band have been growing their following and packing out venues and festivals across the UK and Europe. The start of 2018 saw Scott playing with one of his musical heroes, Eric Clapton, as part of the house band (also featuring pianist Paddy Milner and guitarist and singer Marcus Bonfanti of Jawbone) for a charity event, Paul Jones and Friends, which also featured Van Morrison and Sir Tom Jones.