Scott Blasey | |
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 Blasey performing solo at Peterswood Park, 2015 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | October 31, 1964 Connellsville, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Genres | Rock, alternative rock, garage rock |
| Instrument(s) | Guitar, vocals |
| Years active | 1986–present |
| Website | www |
Scott Blasey is an American rock musician best known as the lead vocalist for The Clarks, a position he has held since the band's inception in the mid-1980s. Blasey has also released three solo albums.
Born in Connellsville, Pennsylvania in 1964, [1] Blasey graduated from Connellsville Area Senior High School in 1982. [2] He then began attending Indiana University of Pennsylvania. There, he met guitarist Rob James, bassist Greg Joseph, and drummer Dave Minarik. Blasey, James, and Minarik first began playing together as "The Administration." When Joseph joined the three in 1986, they became "The Clarks." Initially a cover band, the quartet soon started writing and performing original material, with much of the writing output produced by Blasey and Joseph.
Blasey graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 1987. [2] Soon afterward, The Clarks began recording their music. Their first studio album, I'll Tell You What Man... , was released in 1988. The song "Help Me Out" received some radio airplay on Western Pennsylvania stations. I'll Tell You what Man... was followed by The Clarks in 1991, which introduced "Penny on the Floor." Love Gone Sour, Suspicion, and Bad Debt (1994) and Someday Maybe (1996) followed, introducing "Cigarette" and "Mercury", respectively.
In 1995, Blasey's first solo album, Don't Try This at Home, was released. It was recorded at Studio L in Weirton, West Virginia. [3]
Blasey's second solo album, Shine, was released in 1999. Blasey appeared on Donnie Iris and the Cruisers' ninth studio album, Together Alone , on which he sang guest vocals on "Amazing Grace." [4]
Over the course of the 2000s, Blasey recorded six studio albums with The Clarks: Let it Go (2000), Another Happy Ending (2002), Fast Moving Cars (2004), Restless Days (2009), Feathers & Bones (2014), and Madly in Love at the End of the World (2018). He continues to play with The Clarks as well as solo shows, mostly throughout the Pittsburgh region. In 2007, he released his third and most recent studio album, Travelin' On, recorded in Dallas with producer Salim Nourallah. [5]
Blasey also plays acoustic shows with fellow Clarks members Rob James and Greg Joseph as "Scott, Rob and Greg of the Clarks." The three originally played acoustic shows as "The Infamous Dicks," but that name was phased out.
Scott Blasey has been married to Denise Blasey since 2004. They moved to Dallas later that year, and returned to Western Pennsylvania in 2007. [6] They have three daughters. [7]
The Clarks are an American rock band from the Pittsburgh region, originating at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Over the course of thirty-plus years, they have produced eleven studio albums, two live albums, 2 compilation albums, an EP, and four solo releases, selling near to a half-million copies.
Donnie Iris is an American rock musician known for his work with the Jaggerz and Wild Cherry during the 1970s, and for his solo career beginning in the 1980s with his band, the Cruisers. He wrote the #2 Billboard hit, "The Rapper", with the Jaggerz in 1970 and was a member of Wild Cherry after the group had a #1 hit with "Play That Funky Music." He also achieved fame as a solo artist in the early 1980s with the #29 hit "Ah! Leah!" and the #37 hit "Love Is Like a Rock."
Let It Go is the fifth studio album by Pittsburgh band The Clarks, released on June 20, 2000. The album outsold many major national releases in the Pittsburgh area and generated huge local radio hits. The release was the band's first on Razor & Tie, the New York-based minor rock label. Let It Go has been critically acclaimed, despite being unknown to rock fans in most parts of the country. However, the success of the album's singles in the Pittsburgh market led to their spread to audiences in nearby Cleveland and Central Pennsylvania.
Bill Deasy is a singer-songwriter, recording artist and author born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In the late 1980s, Deasy's musical start blossomed at open stages in and around Pittsburgh. Within a few years Deasy and his band, Shiloh, outscored Rusted Root to win the 1991 Graffiti Rock Challenge, a local Pittsburgh competition. By the mid-90s, with Shiloh defunct, a new group emerged and Deasy became the lead singer-songwriter of The Gathering Field, whose regional hit "Lost in America", from an album by the same name, led to a deal with Atlantic Records in 1996. After parting ways with Atlantic, The Gathering Field released three more albums: Reliance, the self-titled The Gathering Field and So Close To Home. During that time Deasy also released a semi-acoustic solo album, Spring Lies Waiting. The Gathering Field did not record for several years during which time Deasy continued to record and perform as mostly a solo act. In 2014, The Gathering Field reunited for their release Wild Journey and in 2017 Deasy and Gathering Field band-mate Dave Brown released Glory Bound.
I'll Tell You What Man... is the 1988 debut album by Pittsburgh band the Clarks. The album was the band's first release, created while the musicians were still in college at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. The fast-paced song "Help Me Out" gained some airplay on Western Pennsylvania college radio stations, but at this point, the Clarks had yet to achieve success.
The Clarks is a 1991 eponymous second album by Pittsburgh band The Clarks. Like their debut album, it was an independent release, but the album quickly gained a cult following in Western Pennsylvania and became a popular album in Pittsburgh. When WDVE, Pittsburgh's largest rock station, began playing "Penny on the Floor," the band achieved instant local fame. It was actually surprising at the time that radio stations would pick up "Penny On the Floor", a mandolin-driven song, as opposed to one of the band's more up tempo rock songs.
Love Gone Sour, Suspicion, and Bad Debt is the third album by the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, band the Clarks. The first single, "Cigarette", makes reference to Fayette County, the rural county located 35 miles south of Pittsburgh from which lead singer Scott Blasey hails. "Treehouse" and "Madeline" were local radio hits.
Someday Maybe is the 1996 fourth album by Pittsburgh band The Clarks. The record constituted both the band's first and last major label release. After two successful local records on a self-created label, MCA signed a deal with the band, giving them at least a shot at national success. However, MCA was in financial disarray at the time, due to it being bought out by a larger corporation. In turn, many struggling or newly signed bands were cut from the label. Before 'Someday Maybe' received any promotion, The Clarks were one of many bands that saw their contracts with MCA be terminated in 1997. Despite this heartbreak, the album did perform well in Pittsburgh. 'Stop!', a song that could draw comparison's 'For What It's Worth' by Buffalo Springfield, was intended to be the band's first nation single. Instead, it was relegated to only local success. The traditional rock love song 'Caroline' and the Southern rock influenced 'Mercury' were also major hits in the Pittsburgh market. The Clarks' problems with MCA nearly ruined their careers, and it certainly left them disillusioned with the recording industry. It would take 4 years for the band to release their next album.
Another Happy Ending is the sixth album by Pittsburgh band The Clarks. The band's popularity continued to spread following the release of this album, as rock stations in Buffalo and Reading, Pennsylvania begin playing the record's lead single. However, Pittsburgh remained as the band's core fan base. The first single, "Hey You," was a highly emotional, beautifully constructed song. Its sad, yet hopeful lyrics were inspired by the horrors of September 11, specifically the many World Trade Center workers who dove to their deaths from upper floors of the building. The other two hit songs were more upbeat—the mid-tempo "Boys Lie" and the excellent rhythm guitar song "On Saturday."
Fast Moving Cars is the seventh album by Pittsburgh band The Clarks. The album is more optimistic than previous Clarks albums, mainly because the band members were becoming increasingly satisfied in their personal relationships. The band remained a force in the Pittsburgh market and in several surrounding areas, but still failed to break out into the national scene. This was despite a much hyped performance on the Late Show with David Letterman. Singles from the album still had regional popularity. "Hell On Wheels" became an instant classic in terms of driving songs, while "Shimmy Low" featured an excellent hook and optimistic lyrics. However, the band was not ready to give up on its long history of depressing songs just yet. The third single, the title track "Fast Moving Cars," invoked the feelings of drunkenness and loneliness.
Between Now and Then is the 2005 retrospective album by Pittsburgh band The Clarks. The interesting fact about this album is that it is a greatest hits compilation for a band that never achieved national prominence. However, this album allowed the band to combine all of their biggest songs with the intent of drawing in casual listeners. Fifteen of the band's hits were included in this collection, with the former singles "Boys Lie" and "Hell On Wheels" notably absent. Two new songs also were featured, including the upbeat single "Bona Fide." For this album, the band also did a rendition of the 1970s Badfinger classic "No Matter What."
Together Alone is the ninth studio album by American rock singer Donnie Iris, released in 1999.
Restless Days is the eighth studio album by Pittsburgh band The Clarks. It was released on June 9, 2009.
Live is the first live album by Pittsburgh rock band the Clarks, released in 1998.
Still Live is the second live album by Pittsburgh rock band The Clarks, released in 2006. It was released both as a live CD and as a concert DVD.
Strikes and Gutters is an album by Pittsburgh rock band The Clarks, their first outtake album. It was released in 2001.
Strikes and Gutters 2: Doublewide is an album by Pittsburgh rock band The Clarks, their second outtake album. It was released in 2004.
Feathers & Bones is the ninth studio album by Pittsburgh-native band, the Clarks. Released on July 8, 2014, the album marked their first studio effort in five years, since 2009's Restless Days. Additionally, it was the band's first release of any kind in four years, following 2010's downloadable-only EP Songs in G. Feathers & Bones was first announced in early 2013, and soon thereafter, the Clarks began a PledgeMusic campaign to help fund the album's production. The campaign succeeded beyond the band's expectations, achieving 317% of their desired goal. Upon the album's release, the song "Take Care of You" received steady airplay on Pittsburgh-region radio stations, such as WDVE.
Rewind is the tenth studio album by Pittsburgh-native band the Clarks. The album, released June 9, 2015, came less than one year after the band's previous studio release, Feathers & Bones. Like its predecessor, Rewind was produced partially by crowdfunding on PledgeMusic. However, unlike any of the band's previous efforts, the album contains only covers of other bands' songs. The bands covered on the album heavily influenced the Clarks when they were founded at Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 1986, and many of the songs were played live during their initial years as a cover band.
Madly in Love at the End of the World is the eleventh studio album by Pittsburgh-based band the Clarks, released on June 8, 2018. Aside from being released to streaming media and on compact disc, the album was additionally released on vinyl, the band's first to be released as such since their debut release I'll Tell You What Man... thirty years prior.
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