Teri Scott
Vocals & Keyboards

I was born on June 5 to my parents, Claude and Ruby. I usually only admit to being thirty (if pressed, I might admit to 39), but age is totally a state of mind. What is most important is that I started crawling up on the piano bench almost as soon as I could walk, and I started taking lessons at around age seven. I was pecking around on the keys playing by ear, but everyone told my parents I needed lessons so that I could learn to read music. I had by that time been immersed in music at church, singing in what was known as Beginner Choir. I remember my first performance with the other kids, standing with my finger in my mouth about to cry, but the next time we performed, I was belting the songs out like I had been singing for years. Singing was okay, but I wanted to play the piano. My parents found me the first of three different piano teachers I had the privilege of studying with, and I never looked back. Mom and Daddy were the best and shelled out heavily for piano lessons for the next twelve years. The only thing I hated was recitals, because I was “up there” all by myself.

In my early teens, I remember becoming fascinated with bands like the Beatles, Paul Revere and the Raiders, and many others who appeared on “Where the Action Is” every afternoon after school and thought how cool it would be to become part of a group like that! I continued to be heavily involved in choral singing at church, and was fortunate to have some of the best vocal teaching and inspiration that I could have hoped for. I continued studying music and taking piano lessons through school and into college. My piano lessons were interrupted during a time I thought maybe I wanted to be a nurse. (Not sure what I was thinking there!) Sometime after college, I became a church pianist. Again, the only downer was playing by myself. I had an opportunity to become part of a contemporary gospel group known as the Covenant Quartet, and I was privileged to be part of that endeavor, playing keyboards for more than seven years and working with people who are still very dear to me. Regretfully, it became clear that for a number of reasons the group would be splitting up, and I began to wonder if I could play in a band and actually get paid for it. I auditioned for a country band, got hired, and very quickly decided no matter what else I might do to earn a living (sometimes referred to as having a “real job”), that I am a musician, and somehow I would be playing music as much as possible for as long as possible. My husband, Mike, took over as my biggest fan and supporter, and I am truly blessed to be married to a man who has done so much to encourage me, especially when it was necessary to invest in equipment. He also understands completely and respects the fact that, no matter how much fun I appear to be having playing music, it involves an incredible amount of work. He is always ready to help me any way he can.

I guess the value of training in the classics lies in learning to “express”. (Play it once more, with feeling!) There is nothing like playing Chopin, Liszt, Schumann, and Tchaikovsky to develop that particular ability, and those would be some of my earlier influences. Although my roots go deeply into gospel and country music, I love blues and rock also. My favorite artists are Restless Heart and The Eagles. Contemporary influences include David Innis, Bruce Hornsby, and Gregg Allman. Bands I have been privileged to be associated with include No Way Out, Doing Justice, New Evidence, and Point Blank. I have done session work, including playing keyboards and performing some production duties for several gospel artists. The bands I played with performed country, classic rock and blues in a variety of venues in and around the Kansas City area and throughout the four-state area. I had the great privilege to be part of opening acts for major artists Jerry Jeff Walker, David Allen Coe, Diamond Rio, Perfect Stranger, Lone Star, David Kersch, Deana Carter, and Collin Raye.

How did I get involved with the Allied Saints? I had the great privilege and pleasure of playing with Mo Burks several years ago, when we were involved in a (believe it!) country band backing up a local artist. Mo is, hands down, the most skillful drummer I have ever worked with, and he is no slouch when it comes to vocals either. He had called me a number of times to let me know where the Allied Saints were playing and wanted me to come out and hear them. I always seemed to be occupied with playing, involved in a personal project of one kind or another, and nursing a sprained ankle, among other things, and I never seemed to be able to make it out to hear the Saints play, even when they were playing in Liberty, my own “back yard”. It was always good to hear from him and he was always so excited about what he was doing with the Saints. He called me at a time when I had decided to take a break from playing so that Mike and I could devote more time to some major projects we wanted to accomplish. Mo told me that Rick was going to be leaving the band, and asked if I was available. When I went out to hear them, I could not help but get excited about the opportunity to work with such accomplished musicians who obviously knew what they were doing. In the few months I have been associated with them, I have concluded Martin Zander is the best guitarist I have ever worked with, Missi Lehr has no equal vocally, Mo Burks is still the most skillful drummer and consummate vocal stylist around, and our new bass player, Ken Ess, is, after just a few gigs, firmly in charge of that awesome five-string bass he plays. Do I want to play with the Allied Saints? DUH!

Other things in my life I love besides playing music—my “real job” working for Discover Vision as an optician, my recently departed Pug Lucy, my spoiled-rotten Boston Terrier Millie, all my nieces and nephews, my wonderful husband Mike, and my Father God Who gives us all good things.