Scout Gillett returns to town Thursday, Dec. 21 with an all-star band

Scout Gillett. // photo by Julie Orlick

When we last caught up with musician Scout Gillett, we spoke with her about the creation of her Captured Tracks-released debut, no roof no floor. A year later, she’s returning to her hometown to play a show at the Emerald on Thursday, December 21. This show features a band Gillett has created specifically for this one performance, and includes Jeff McCreary on bass, Asa Martin on trombone, Alison Hawkins on fiddle, Fritz Hutcherson on drums, and Alec Nicholas on keys. It’s a fascinating combo, so we hopped on the phone with Gillett ahead of the show to see how this all came together.

“I did the same thing in L.A. for a show in November, and that was the first time I had done it, and it turned out great,” explains Gillett. “I was really encouraged by it.”

The musician says that she’s played with different players over the years here and there, in a band where the bass and drums were consistent, but with different guitarists and steel players, and over that time, she’s come to feel as though she became more of a director, knowing what to ask for, as well as being open to hearing new things and new interpretations.

It’s not unlike how Gillett recorded no roof no floor and when we say as much to her, she agrees: “Exactly. Yeah, it was kind of like not the band I was touring with and we had a few rehearsals and I think we captured a lot of magic in that way.”

Bassist McCreary played with Gillett in her first band, Scout & the Snaggles, years back, and she says getting back with a former collaborator was a real joy.

“He played a show that I played in Kansas City in 2021,” she offers. “That was the first time in probably three or four years that we played together and it was just so fun and great to know that all this time has gone by, but we can still play together.”

Gillett says she’s really excited for this time, too, because it’s new material and a new set, making her excited to hear how he plays. It sounds like it might make things easier to put together a band for one show when it is new material vs. stuff that is more road-tested, but the musician says that’s not necessarily so.

“I even feel with no roof no floor, the sound has evolved since the recording in different ways and with different players,” Gillett replies. “So, there’s always been new breath to it. Also, with a lot of these new songs, I’ve played them out and already recorded them.”

Gillett is big on dynamics so it’s not really until she gets into the room with those players and steps into her director’s shoes, explaining to the band that they’ll have to be able to read her body language, challenging them to watch her when she’s crouching down or when she’s standing up.

“I try to really direct and always try to be more mindful how I give notes and also present to hear new sounds,” she continues. “But also know what my end goal is and how to communicate that with the players. It’s a challenge ’cause everyone has an ego, too, so if you’re like, ‘Hey, actually play, play less,’ that can be hard for people to hear.”

As the lineup for her upcoming Kansas City show features both a trombone player and a fiddle player, it feels a little outside of what somebody might normally think of for a one-show pickup band, and Gillett agrees.

“I know–I’m really curious,” she says. “I’ve never played with a trombone player but I’m now writing out the email and being like, ‘Okay, where can I hear a trombone here? What will that sound like and how will the two go together?’ and I’m curious to hear how that shakes out. I have no idea.”

On top of the KC show, Gillett is putting together another one-off band for a show in Nashville, opening for Marissa Nadler on Friday, December 29. Add into the fact that she’s toured twice with Sarah Shook and the Disarmers, and the past few years have seen Scout Gillett play with some real musician’s musicians.

“Real artists, really amazing humans,” Gillett says of the experiences. “I feel like it’s all happened very organically and truly through my hard work showing off and my dedication.”

Organic is right. Gillett connected with Nadler a year ago when the Nashville musician followed her on Instagram.

“I freaked out because she was one of my first MySpace songs,” enthuses Gillett. “Can you believe that? Way back in MySpace. I was like, 12 years old, so connected to her music, and to be now living in New York for over six years and being able to just go to Nashville and cross my fingers and hope we sound good for the show –”

Gillett trails off and you can hear the excitement in her voice.

“We’re talking about singing a song together,” she concludes. “It’s really exciting.”

Scout Gillett plays the Emerald on Thursday, December 21. Details and tickets for that show here.