Scott Merritt

Scott Merritt is a singer and a musician, accomplished on the guitar, mandolin, and keyboards. He was raised in Brantford, Ontario, Canada, and didn't stray too far from home when he first began performing at small gigs in the '70s, where he polished his musical skills playing acoustic folk numbers in clubs and coffeehouses.

In 1979, Merritt completed a debut album, Desperate Cosmetics. The offering went generally unnoticed by those in the music world. In 1983, he recorded a sophomore record, Serious Interference, but it didn't make any larger of a splash with critics than the first full-length had.

Merritt didn't give up on his musical dreams. In 1986, he landed a deal with the Duke Street Records label, which reissued his second album, and put him to work on a third, Gravity Is Mutual. Some of the artists who helped out on the recording included keyboardist Doug Wilde, percussionist Jimmy Bralower, guitarist Adrian Belew, and drummer Bob Disalle. Two singles were released from the album, and music videos were completed to accompany them. The third time was the charm, and Merritt got his first hit song with one of those singles, "Overworked and Underprivileged." It was the last work he did with Duke Street.

In 1990, Merritt recorded Violet and Black under the IRS Records label. After that last push for a successful recording career, Merritt faded from the front lines. A few of the singles fans can sample from his recordings are "No Shirt No Service," "Goin' to the Movies," "Raise a Ship," "Music in the Attic," and "Power of Invention."