The Rise of Josh Scott

 Josh Scott is a rising country artist and you surely will not forget about him! He’s an Arizona native and has one incredible story! He is living proof that it’s never too late to chase after your dreams.

Pictured: Josh Scott

Josh discovered his love for music when he was thirty years old, he started singing karaoke which turned into him hosting karaoke. People were discovering how good of a singer Josh was that they asked him to be the lead singer of their band which led Josh to work in Las Vegas, Nevada, and singing three nights a week as a cover country artist at the Golden Nugget. With the job came some fame and making a very large amount of money. Josh had let a lot of people down and wasn’t being a good husband and father. He had gotten carried away into a different lifestyle and he didn’t know at the time how to treat it as a business. Josh turned to partying, drinking, drugs, gambling, and he had picked up every kind of problem you can pick up. A mixture of all of that ruined his music career, and he almost lost his family over it. 

Pictured: Josh Scott

Josh had to walk away from his singing career at the Golden Nugget to focus on his well-being and to salvage his relationship with his loved ones. He had some very hard lessons learned but the people who mattered most stuck by and Josh was able to come out of those difficult times and get his life back on track. Now Josh is a better father to his son, Joshua, and daughter, Jayla, a better husband to his wife, Mary, and a better person because of it. Having had so much taken away from him, Josh has been able to appreciate all of the little things in life so much more. Looking back at having hit rock bottom, it just gives Josh a lot of drive to move forward, to better himself, and he wants to make his family proud. 

Pictured: Left photo, Josh with his wife, Mary. Right photo, Josh with his son, Joshua, and daughter, Jayla.

Josh has gotten his life back on track, he’s been working and just living a normal life for the past ten years. Josh had been driving a dump truck for work and he’s also been coaching his daughter’s high school basketball team. Deep down music had never left Josh. In his free time, he’d find himself writing music and he’d find his daughter and her friends singing the demos that Josh had written. Josh’s daughter is one of his biggest fans, she has kept every single song that Josh has written over the years in a big scrapbook.

Pictured: Left photo, Josh Scott’s dump truck from his previous job. Right photo, Josh coaching his daughter’s high school basketball team.

One evening Josh and his family went out for a family dinner, Josh’s daughter asked him if he’s ever going to pursue music again. That really got Josh thinking and his entire family was there persuading him to get back out there to share his music. In Scottsdale, Arizona there’s a very popular bar called, Handlebar J BBQ Restaurant & Bar owned by Ray Herndon. Ray Herndon is from McBride & the Ride, he’s written many of his own albums, and wrote the song, “Me and You” for Kenny Chesney. Josh wanted to see if Ray was playing at the Handlebar J that night and see if by chance Ray would listen to some of Josh’s songs. 

After dinner, Josh and his family hit the road and headed to Handlebar J where Ray Herndon was there singing. Josh went up to Ray and introduced himself, he told Ray how big of a fan he was, and asked Ray to listen to some of his songs to see if they had any potential. Right then and there Ray asked Josh to come up on stage and sing a few songs with him. Josh was blown away, he hadn’t been up on a stage and performed in over 11 years. Josh shook off the nerves and headed onstage to perform with his idol, Ray Herndon. 

Pictured: Josh Scott with Ray Herndon

The crowd loved the performance from Josh Scott and so did Ray. After the performance, Ray gave Josh his phone number and told Josh to send him the songs he had written. Josh doesn’t play a musical instrument so he sent over some of his songs a cappella to Ray. He didn’t think he’d hear back from Ray but soon enough Ray called Josh and invited Josh to his house. Together they charted Josh’s songs down and Ray added an acoustic guitar around the songs. Ray thought the songs were really good, really competitive, and thought they should record them. 

Pictured: Josh Scott with Ray Herndon

Josh quit his dump truck driving job, took every last penny that he had, and recorded an album with Ray Herndon. Josh continues to coach his daughter’s basketball team but he went all-in on the music. Josh and Ray did a lot of networking, and a lot of people thought the songs were fantastic. Josh just went for it, he took a leap of faith and is all-in on his music. 

Josh started gigging, he started doing acoustic shows with his guitar player, George Gonzalez at every little bar that would have him. Josh has worked hard and got to open for Tracy Lawrence. He spent two days with Tracy Lawrence and has been gaining momentum, gaining more and more fans. Then Josh got the opportunity to open for Mark Chesnutt. Mark even invited Josh up on stage to sing with him which was an incredible opportunity for Josh. Being able to meet and open for Tracy Lawrence and Mark Chesnutt was incredible. These artists are some of Josh’s idols from when he was growing up. Josh has been incredibly thankful for this entire experience and his hard work continues as he has gotten to be a part of the Country Music Fest at Flying E Ranch in Wickenburg, Arizona. He was in a lineup with Lainey Wilson, Montgomery Gentry, Doug Stone, Lee Greenwood, Keith Anderson, David Lee Murphy, and many more amazing artists. 

Pictured: Josh Scott with Mark Chesnutt

“All of a sudden I went from not playing music in forever and driving a dump truck to rubbing shoulders with some of my heroes I had growing up and being able to sing with them.”

Josh Scott

One evening a friend of Josh’s sent over a link for Josh to enter in a contest for iHeart Radio Jack Daniel’s Battle of the Bar Bands. Josh thought why not and he had entered the contest putting in his latest song, “That Bottle”. Josh was later notified that he was a contest finalist in the top 46 in the nation after thousands of people had submitted their music. Then the contest came down to people voting and Josh ended up winning the contest. He was named the song of the year by Jack Daniels iHeart Radio Battle of the Bar Bands contest, he also won $10,000, and will be performing at some CMA Country Fests in the coming months. He was amazed he won and this experience has continued to open many doors for Josh and his music career.

“This is really like a fairy tale story that I’m living in. Things just keep getting better and better. I don’t know how to explain it besides timing and a lot of really good people that have helped put me in good positions. I’ve gone all in and have thrown caution to the wind. I pray every night that God will keep my family safe and that he’ll put me in some good spots to at least have a chance. I’ve kicked down doors and have tried to make contacts, network, make friends in the business and all of those people have helped. It feels pretty good to have song of the year, I’m really proud of it.”

Josh Scott

Pictured: Josh Scott winning Jack Daniel’s iHeart Radio Battle of the Bar Bands contest.

This is just the beginning of Josh Scott. Josh is so appreciative of his family, for taking a chance and stepping out of his comfort zone to talk to Ray Herndon. Ray helped put Josh on the map and jumpstart his music career. Ray took a chance the first night he met Josh, he took ten minutes of his time to be kind and listen to Josh. He could’ve just blown him off that night but he actually took the time and did listen to what Josh had to say. It completely changed Josh’s whole life and his family’s life.

“Ray Herndon is my hero, I love him. What he did for me that night by just being kind and taking a few minutes to listen to me has completely changed my life for the better. Which is pretty cool.”

Josh Scott

Be sure to follow Josh Scott on Facebook, @joshscottmusic, and on Instagram, @joshscottmusic to see where he’s headed next.