I’ve been doing this Uncle Scotchy thing for a long time now. By that, I mean performing as a one man band. I used to be just the singer and harmonica playing front man for my band, Juke. I messed around some on the guitar too to help me write songs.
Everything changed for me one night when I saw a guy named Ben Prestage perform. He was incredible. He was playing a pretty elaborate and well engineered drum set with his feet, while also playing guitar, harmonica, and vocals at the same time. None of that looping stuff.
Not only did he play everything at once, but at a super high level.
I figured that I would never be that good as him at everything, but it looked fun. I figured it would help me write music for my band if I tried it.
Plus, being an only child and living alone at the time made conditions perfect.
I soon discovered that there is a whole world-wide population of these kind of niche performers. With the help of the internet, everyone kind of knew everybody too. The coolest thing was that everyone had their own set up and style. Some guys played standing up. Some sitting and inventing their own percussion, instrumentation that fit their style and personality. All over the world these one man (and woman) weirdos were bravely doing there thing. Mostly at street corners, but some did very well and toured constantly.
I also noticed that they usually went by an alias. Just a regular people name wasn’t really able to capture the magic and vibe of each of these characters. A buddy of mine once jokingly called me “uncle Scotchy” on account of my love to partake and I guess the fact that, well, I’m not a young man anymore. It kind of stuck. I figured it sounded a lot more fun than some guy named Eric Garcia playing anyway!
My first gig as Uncle Scotchy was actually at Churchill’s….of course.
It was 2009.
That night, there was another one man band playing his first show as well and needed to borrow some of my equipment. He went by the name “Lone Wolf OMB” (one man band). He and I became fast friends. I actually was looking for a roommate at the time, and he needed a place to live. So he moved in with me for a few years.
Two one man bands in one house!
I’ve had tons of fun and written countless songs as Uncle Scotchy over the years. Sometimes I would stop performing as a one man band for a while. My focus would shift to my full band, Juke. Moving in with a girlfriend (everyone wants to date a musician until they do) would also definitely get in the way of practicing regularly.
But coming out of the pandemic, I was dying to work. Tobacco Road by Kush in Brickell offered both Lone Wolf and I our own weekly night. Mine being every Sunday. For a musician, weekly gigs not on a Friday or Saturday are gold. So Uncle Scotchy was back in business.
The end of the pandemic also was a time that I needed to find a new guitar player for my band, Juke. As luck would have it, a young and terribly good guitar player had just moved back to Miami and was looking to play with somebody. His style was flashy, musically acrobatic, & unique. But also in a genuine way. Just what Juke needed. He fit right in and we all liked him immediately.
His name, Harold Trucco.
Harold started showing up for my Sunday gigs. He’d bring his guitar and I’d bring a little amp so he could sit in. That gig comes with a free meal, but I usually don’t eat when I play. So Harold would get a free burger and it turned into a hang.
Part of being a good musician is having “big ears.” That means you listen to the people you are playing with and adapt accordingly. Well, Harold definitely had big ears. It wasn’t long before he was adding his style and sounds to my songs in a cool way that meshed really well. People dug it a lot.
Fast forward two years later.
We’re still playing together every Sunday. We wanted to capture the energy of our shows on a recording. That’s when we discovered the Relic Sound Lab.
This not very well known studio in Davie is camouflaged by some random building right next to I-95.
Once inside, the place is like a museum come to life of amazingly cool vintage gear and recording equipment.
The resident recording engineer there, Nick Romanelli, is basically the curator of all those treasures. He likes to keep a low profile. But he’s a master of his craft.
We decided that the best way to capture what we do live, in that studio.
We set up just like for a live gig, had some whiskey, and in the words of the great Dan Marino “Pick a guy, and let it fly.”
That’s exactly what we did.
Since Nick was recording us on 2” reel to reel tape, we played all six songs straight through. Never more than two runs of each song.
Later on, as I listened back, there’s so many imperfections. So many things that weren’t clean or I’d maybe do differently.
But the raw energy is there. That’s “the Blues”. Or at least our adaptation of it.
I called Harold to tell him just that and see what he thought.
He put it perfectly, “It sounds like us.”
It does indeed.
I hope you like us.
But if you don’t, that’s cool. We’re just doin our thing….Scotchy style.
Album release is Sunday, October 15th 9-11pm at Tobacco Road/KUSH Brickell
