RealTracks Artist Bio: Scott Vestal

Bluegrass banjo virtuoso Scott Vestal began his professional career at the age of 18 when he moved from Texas to the East Coast to work with Larry Sparks. After performing and recording with Larry for a year, Scott struck out on his own and helped form Southern Connection, which toured the Midwest and East Coast for 3 years.

In the ensuing years Scott has toured worldwide, recorded, and won awards with Quicksilver, Livewire, Continental Divide, the John Cowan Band, and the Sam Bush Band.

Scott was awarded Banjo Player of the Year in 1996 by the International Bluegrass Music Association, and 1998 Banjo Player of the Year by the Bluegrass Now Magazine Fan′s Choice Awards.

Scott does a lot of session work around Nashville, TN, where he has his own recording studio. There he engineers and produces various projects including an award winning series of instrumental recordings for Pinecastle Records. He has worked with the likes of Bill Monroe, Sam Bush, David Lee Roth, John Jorgenson, Tim O′Brien, Jim Lauderdale, Rick Moranis, Shawn Camp, Ralph Stanley, Ricky Skaggs, Ronnie Bowman, Pat Flynn, Jerry Douglas, John Cowan, Tony Rice, Vassar Clements, Tony Williamson, and many others.

Scott has a web site at scottvestal.com and is also on myspace.com, YouTube, and www.allmusic.com.