Scott Liss is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...

, multi-instrumentalist

Multi-instrumentalist

A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays a number of different instruments.The Bachelor of Music degree usually requires a second instrument to be learned , but people who double on another instrument are not usually seen as multi-instrumentalists.-Classical music:Music written for Symphony...

, and frontman of the Asbury Park, New Jersey

Asbury Park, New Jersey

Asbury Park is a city in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States, located on the Jersey Shore and part of the New York City Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was 16,116. The city is known for its rich musical history, including its association with...

-based band the Sixty-Six. His sound is known for its eclectic mix of alternative folk and psychedelic rock as well as its strong melodic content. His unique guitar technique and use of alternate tunings have been compared to Nick Drake

Nick Drake

Nicholas Rodney "Nick" Drake was an English singer-songwriter and musician. Though he is best known for his sombre guitar based songs, Drake was also proficient at piano, clarinet and saxophone...

 and Jeff Buckley

Jeff Buckley

Jeffrey Scott "Jeff" Buckley , raised as Scotty Moorhead, was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He was the son of Tim Buckley, also a musician...

. His introspective songwriting draws influence from Elliott Smith

Elliott Smith

Steven Paul "Elliott" Smith was an American singer-songwriter and musician. Smith was born in Omaha, Nebraska, raised primarily in Texas, and resided for a significant portion of his life in Portland, Oregon, where he first gained popularity...

 and Radiohead

Radiohead

Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...

. Liss has called his work "psychedelic electric folk."

Early life

Liss was born in Coram, New York

Coram, New York

As of the 2000 census, 34,923 people, 12,530 households, and 9,121 families resided in the CDP. The population density was 2,532.1 per square mile . There were 12,880 housing units at an average density of 933.9/sq mi...

 in 1982. He showed an affinity for music at a very young age, teaching himself piano

Piano

The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

 by the age of 6 and beginning to play the saxophone

Saxophone

The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...

 and guitar

Guitar

The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

 by age 10. Liss' saxophone teacher, Bob Luther, helped to encourage a strong interest in jazz and classical music

Classical music

Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...

, the latter of which has had a direct influence on Liss' songwriting.

By high school, Liss had performed in numerous New York state music festivals including the New York State All-State music competitions. In 2000, he was accepted to the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and awarded a full Linehan Artist Scholarship, a merit scholarship for art students.

Baltimore, Philadelphia, and NightOnlyVisual

In the fall of 2000 Liss moved to Baltimore, Maryland to attend UMBC to study music composition and recording. It was during this time that he first began to consistently write and record his original music in the university's recording studio. He also spent this time meeting other original artists involved in the Baltimore music scene. In December 2000 he formed the art-rock band Katrien with fellow musicians Evan Madden, Kresimir Tokic, Dan Smith, and Seb Roberts. The group played numerous shows throughout Baltimore and recorded a handful of demos before breaking up in 2002. Liss began performing solo. Around this time he began to write what would eventually become his first full-length studio album.

In June 2004, Liss graduated from UMBC and moved to New York. He immediately began to record his first album at Retromedia Sound Studios in Red Bank, NJ with producer John Noll and engineer Paul Ritchie of The Parlor Mob

The Parlor Mob

The Parlor Mob is a rock band founded in New Jersey in 2004 and named after a notorious 19th Century gang. The band consists of singer Mark Melicia, guitarists David Rosen and Paul Ritchie, drummer Sam Bey and bassist Anthony Chick.-Formation & Capitol Records:The original members of The Parlor...

. Liss released his first album, entitled Skylines

Skylines

Skylines is the first studio album by the American singer/songwriter Scott Liss, released under the moniker NightOnlyVisual in 2005. It was recorded from June through September 2004 at in Red Bank, NJ with producer John Noll and engineer Paul Ritchie...

, in June 2005 under the moniker NightOnlyVisual. Reviewing critics called the album "gorgeous and inspiring, as well as wholly characteristic and continually engaging" and "a strong fist in the air over the heads of hundreds of thousands of self-indulgent rock acts".

After the release of Skylines, Liss moved to Philadelphia to play music with his old drummer Evan Madden. Ultimately deciding to remain solo, Liss performed throughout Pennsylvania and gained a strong foothold in Philadelphia's indie folk

Indie folk

Indie folk is a music genre that arose in the 1990s from singer/songwriters in the indie rock community showing heavy influences from folk music scenes of the 50s, 60s and early 70s, country music, and indie rock. A few early artists included Lou Barlow, Beck, Jeff Buckley and Elliott Smith...

 music scene. Towards the end of 2006 he began commuting in to New York City to involve himself in the underground anti-folk

Anti-folk

Anti-folk is a music genre that takes the earnestness of politically charged 1960s folk music and subverts it. The defining characteristics of this anti-folk are difficult to identify, as they vary from one artist to the next...

 music scene.

New Jersey and the Sixty-Six

In early 2007 Liss moved to Red Bank, NJ with the encouragement of the rising music scene of the New Jersey shore. Teaming up once again with Paul Ritchie who was this time producing, Liss began recording new material at Retromedia Sound Studios. Through Ritchie, Liss met New Jersey-native alternative rock artist Nicole Atkins

Nicole Atkins

Nicole Atkins is an American singer-songwriter. She has been compared to Roy Orbison and singers from the Brill Building era.-Early life:...

. Atkins lent her talents to some of these new recordings singing backup vocals. Additional musicians during these sessions included David Rosen and Sam Bey (both members of the rock band the Parlor Mob) as well as Anthony Chick and Jef Plate (of the garage rock band Sikamor Rooney).

After spending the rest of 2007 developing himself as a solo artist within the Asbury Park, NJ music scene, Liss was given the opportunity to perform during the 2008 South by Southwest

South by Southwest

South by Southwest is an Austin, Texas based company dedicated to planning conferences, trade shows, festivals and other events. Their current roster of annual events include: SXSW Music, SXSW Film, SXSW Interactive, SXSWedu, and SXSWeco and take place every spring in Austin, Texas, United States...

 Music Conference held in Austin, TX. Liss assembled a band including drummer James Griffith and bassist Gianni Scalise. Though only intended to be a temporary lineup for the SxSW festival, the three musicians decided to remain a band and in June 2008 formed Scott Liss & the Sixty-Six.

As of September 2009, Scott Liss completed his second full-length album. The album, titled The Blackpool Letters

The Blackpool Letters

The Blackpool Letters is the second studio album by the American singer/songwriter Scott Liss and the first recorded with his band the Sixty-Six. It was recorded over a period spanning January 2008 through September 2009 at in Red Bank, New Jersey with producer and engineer Paul Ritchie...

, was recorded and mixed primarily at Retromedia Sound Studios, with additional tracking at Shorefire Studio in NJ, with tracks produced by both Paul Ritchie and Scott Liss.

The Blackpool Letters was released on June 11, 2010.

2011 - Present

In January 2011, Scott Liss & the Sixty-Six began performing as "The Sixty-Six". The trio took on a noticeably different style, one with a more aggressive rock edge. Shortly thereafter, in April 2011, the Sixty-Six as a live group parted ways. According to his website, Scott had begun working on new material and a new record apart from his band. As the sole songwriter of the Sixty-Six's music, Scott stated he had been "grateful to have been able to branch off towards a more "aggressive, progressive" style and write music for performers that could tear it up", but that once it ran its course he was focusing on a return to his roots in "acoustic music with greater dynamic range".

External links

• Scott Liss - official website.