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From Vietnam to the blues

Don “Scotty” Scott performs at Minnesota Music Hall of Fame  

Don "Scotty" Scott performed at the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame this past Friday. 

The Minnesota native, who now lives in North Carolina, also played shows in the area, including a stop at Benny's in New Ulm on Saturday night.

Scott grew up in Chatfield, Minnesota.

A friend's brother had sold him a couple of Bob Dylan albums, and that was enough to make him want an instrument of his own.

He bought his first guitar after graduating high school in 1965.

Two years later he was drafted into the Army. He served in Vietnam.  

"I was burned on 60% my body over there," Scott told the audience.

The injuries came the day after his 21st birthday. 

After recovering, he was sent to Fort Knox. While there he picked up a John Lee Hooker album and found himself drawn to the music. 

Even before that, his sister had brought home a record from college called “Three of a Kind.” It featured Josh White, Lead Belly and Big Bill Broonzy. 

 

"I like them, all but I especially like Big Bill," Scott said. He later wrote a song dedicated to Broonzy.

After leaving the Army he spent time in California with his sister and brother-in-law in Riverside. There he walked into a record store and bought a Taj Mahal album that featured Jesse Ed Davis and Ry Cooder. 

That record, he said, hit him hard and pulled him deeper into the blues.

He returned to the Mankato area and met Mike Nelson. Nelson owned many of the same records Scott had been collecting. The two started the Dust Bowl Blues Band in 1970. Their first gig was at Rubenstein's in Northfield in March 1971. 

Original members included Mike Nelson, Mike Manthorpe and Greg Bloodgood on drums. They practiced in the living room of a rented house where Nelson's sister and her young daughter lived.

Scott said he has been performing since 1971. Kit Kildahl joined the band in 1974 and stayed for about six years. Kildahl later played with City Mouse and Ace in the Hole before rejoining Scott from 1985 until around 2000. 

The Dust Bowl Blues Band recorded two cassettes. One was called, “First Serve.” The other, an all-acoustic recording titled “Unplugged,” helped land them an invitation to the Mississippi Valley Blues Festival in Davenport, Iowa, and a competition in Long Beach, California. 

Out of more than 200 entries, they were among the finalists who traveled to compete. 

Scott also named playing at Buddy Guy's, Legends, as one of the high points of his career.

After a divorce around 2000, Scott bought a camper and began traveling. He spent time in the South, including Tucson, Arizona, and California. 

He has continued performing in those regions and makes yearly trips to Mexico.

Scott was inducted into the Minnesota Blues Hall of Fame in 2013 and again in 2021. 

He and harmonica player Curtis Blake recorded a CD that won best blues CD from the Minnesota Blues Society in 2013 and was nominated for an award in Memphis at the International Blues Challenge. They did not win, but Scott said the recognition itself was a treat.

He spoke openly about the years after Vietnam.  

"I didn't know I had it and I didn't know what it was," he said of PTSD. "It didn't come to the forefront until maybe 10 years later. I anesthetized myself for fifteen years. After I got out, I never drew a sober breath for 15 years. Drugs and alcohol. I thought I was doing it because it was a good time back there; it was for trying to forget."

Music eventually became the steadier path. Scott taught himself guitar by listening to records and playing along. 

He never took a formal lesson. He told the audience that aspiring musicians should listen carefully to the music they want to play, play along with it, and over time develop their own style.

During his recent visit to the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame he played a guitar he bought in Virginia.  

"This guitar I bought in Virginia, and I haven't played my Martin since," he said. "It was made by a guy named Savage, who passed away before I could meet him. He wasn't really a guitar maker, and he just started making them and they rivaled the Anderson guitars. I really like the sound of it." 

He paid $1,100 for the Savage guitar; his Martin had cost $2,500.

At the Hall of Fame he performed the "Blue Blake Rag," a tune he wrote in dedication to Piedmont players including Blind Blake, Blind Boy Fuller and Etta Baker. 

He also played a song by J.B. Lenoir and one of his own pieces that includes the lines: "I got burned in a big explosion, just turned 21 that day. In a war I never wanted, just a kid that lost his way."

Scott said he was playing in St. Peter the same night as the Hall of Fame appearance and at Benny's in New Ulm the following evening from 6 to 9 p.m. with Dale Haefner. He continues to perform regularly, including his yearly trips to Mexico.

In recent years he has worked primarily as a duo with his wife, percussionist Rosanne Licciardi, under the name, Blues Nomads.

More information about Scott, including upcoming gigs, is available at donscottblues.com.