About
Well friends my story starts on October 15th 1980, i was born in a small house in Brasstown North Carolina. My Parents were young F25, M18 and when i was in utero my mother listened to lots of music. When I was 6 I recieved my first instument a fiddle made by Gordon Parris. When i was 9 or 10 I entered my first songwriting contest. The contest was held at the now world famous Clay’s Corner home of the New Year’s O’possum Drop and celebration. I came in second place behind Irons In The Fire. When I was 11 or 12 I recieved my first guitar an acoustic Alverez. I played in church for a while then i started writing my own songs. I wrote songs about my life in the mountains or the girl I loved at the time. I later saved up and bought my first electric guitar. In 1994 I was in the 8th grade and I started my first band with a guy from school. I also recieved a Karaoke machine that year and made my first recordings of my songs. That summer we were playing parties. In high school I was playing music with guys with that were much older than me. We had a gig most every weekend and in 1997 John Scroggs became Johnny Scroggs. I lived two lives. I just went to school to see my friends. In 2001 I discovered a program that would let me record music on a computer. So I bought one and in 2002 I recorded my first cd. It was just me and a guitar with some sound effects but it was fun for me to make and it was the spark that started my fire for making music. By late 2003 I had a place with a full studio, it was basic but i recorded all the time. I would record my music but also my friends . My good friend Karl Engelman moved in with me and we started making music together. We later formed a band with Tony Prince and Eddie Sylvester and called ourselves Minimum Payment as a joke about our credit card debt. In the late summer /early fall of 2004 Karl invited me to play one of my songs on a recording project he was doing with some of his old band mates from Chicago. I accepted and told him that they could stay at my house while they were in town. They showed up and for 3 days we recorded “Rock Stars and Lawnmowers” at The Box in Brasstown. That’s how I met Jake Cinninger, Steve Krojineiwski, Bryan Williams and with Karl Engelmann they are Ali Baba’s Tahini (ABT). Not long after that I met Seth Young and we started playing acoustic shows together at local places like Doyle’s Restaraunt. By the summer of 2005 The Johnny Scroggs Band was formed and consisted of Eddied Sylvester, Matt McRay, Seth Young and Johnny Scroggs. We played hundreds of shows. Since then I have recorded and produced over 150 of my own songs. Now in 2008 I founded Scroggs Music Studio. A studio dedicated to the preservation of contemporary Appalachain music whether it be Folk, Bluegrass, Punk, Jazz, Metal, Reggae, country or just story telling. Now I am looking see what happens around the next corner. I just hope that i am surrounded by those whom i love so much and I’ll enjoy my life. Now you know – Johnny Scroggs.