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For SCOTT NIENHAUS, it was the big sound of George Harrison’s acoustic 12-string guitar on the early 70’s hit My Sweet Lord, that sparked his transition from being a “music fan” to becoming a “musician.” He was 13 years old. While his influences range from bluegrass to Beatles, country-flavored rock to art-rock, acoustic and vocal oriented rock is the core of his expansive style.

In 1986 Scott formed the band Acousticity. By the time the group had released their first album, 11:59, they had established a strong local and regional following with their blend of colorful harmonies and expressive lyrics. Entertaining audiences with a highly energetic live show, they toured the country opening for acts such as The Allman Brother’s Band, Little Feat, The Marshall Tucker Band, Firefall, The Band, Poco, The Outlaws, Brewer and Shipley, The Ozark Mountain Daredevils and many others.

In 1991, Acousticity began touring nationally with Nicolette Larson. That same year, Scott toured with Nicolette as her backing vocalist and guitarist for a number of sold out performances in Japan. They brought enthusiastic crowds to their feet each night during their encores, when they were joined on stage by Bernie Leadon (Eagles) and Dan Dugmore (Linda Rondstadt, James Taylor).

In 1992 and 1993, Scott worked with Firefall’s Jock Bartley for a number of “Acoustic-Firefall” performances and joined the full band on tour as their percussionist. Scott makes a vocal appearance on Firefall’s 1994 release, Messenger.

In July of 1993, after the prompting of The Ozark Mountain Daredevil’s Michael “Supe” Granda, Scott made the move to Nashville, TN. It was there he met Terry Jones Rogers, front man for The Byrds featuring Michael Clarke. After Michael’s untimely death in December of ’93, and acting on Michael’s wishes, Terry enlisted Scott, along with Skip Battin (Byrds ’69-73, New Riders of the Purple Sage, and The Flying Burrito Brothers) and Gene Parsons (Byrds ’68-73, The Flying Burrito Brothers) to form The Byrds Celebration. After a solid week of rehearsals at Gene’s home in Northern California, and a “warm-up” gig at a little dive down the street, they embarked on a 3-week tour of Europe. This proved to be successful indeed, as it provided for Scott another 8 European tours over the next couple of years.

During that time, Scott and Terry began writing and performing together under the moniker “Rogers/Nienhaus” and released their CD Empty Room, on TriEngel Records in 1996. They continue to receive airplay in the US, Europe and Japan.

By 1999, Gene and Skip had both retired from touring, but The Byrds Celebration were still performing all over the US, Europe and Brazil. The two would be replaced by Drummer/Vocalist Tim Politte (Scott’s old friend from Acousticity and Nicolette Larson), and Bassist/Vocalist Michael Curtis (The Byrds, Crazy Horse and The Buffalo-Springfield Again). Michael’s song writing credits include: Blue Letter recorded by Fleetwood Mac, and the Mega-hit for Crosby Stills and Nash, Southern Cross.

While still touring with The Byrds Celebration, Scott along with Terry, Michael and Tim also performed as RNPC, leaving much of The Byrds material behind and focusing on their original material. They are currently working on a new CD.

Scott found another niche in the music business, working on projects by other artists, when he was asked to co-produce as well as play on the 1999 release by The Bear Creek Girls, Not Just Any Women. Utilizing his talents on acoustic and electric guitars, piano, organ, mandolin and congas, proved to be quite rewarding and has opened doors to producing other artists. Scott has two co-writing credits on the album and arranged and conducted the Cellos on one of his songs brought in from the Rogers/Nienhaus CD.

Since moving to Nashville, Scott has had the opportunity to perform on stage with many legends in the music industry including: Michael McDonald (Doobie Brothers), Steve Winwood, David Pack (Ambrosia), Rusty Young (Poco), James Burton (guitarist, Elvis Presley), Peter Rivera (Rare Earth), Jerry Corbetta (Sugarloaf), Mike Pinera (Blues Image, Iron Butterfly and Alice Cooper) and many others.

Scott still enjoys standing up with a line of acoustic guitars, all in various tunings, and performing trio versions of his original music and singing songs by other artists that have helped to shape his own unique style.

With a passionate and powerful voice and an equally powerful guitar style, seasoned with over 32 years of experience, the audience can expect a truly satisfying musical event.