There’s something ’bout Cam Scott.
Cam Scott is what modern country is all about. He’s a lot rural, a little bit rock ‘n’ roll, and he’s as at home driving a tractor as he is playing guitar. He’s also a great performer, something the world found out this week when his first video, Something ‘Bout A Girl dropped. Filmed at Lake Wakatipu in Queenstown, it’s bound to turn the heads of country fans and industry insiders, not to mention a fair few female viewers as well.
Cam recently won the ‘Horizon Award’ at the 2013 National Country Music Awards (Jody Direen is a previous recipient), and in June of this year he performed at the CMA festival in, yes, Nashville, world headquarters for country music.
He’ll be headlining at Rural TV presents The Branding this New Year’s Eve at the Lake Hawea Hotel, and it was in anticipation of this local gig that we thought we’d give him a call. Turns out he’s a Jimmy Barnes fan and there’s been some Facebook chat about his mullet.
You work a 320-hectare farm near Timaru with your family, running dairy stock and cropping, as well as managing your music career, which looks like it’s heating up. Would you ever leave the farm for good to pursue music full-time?
That seems a long way away. But if it got to that point, you’d have to have a good long look at it.
How old were you when you first picked up a guitar?
Probably about 12 or 13. I was actually classically trained vocally at school; I did a lot of classical and then got into country at 15 or 16. Having that training when I was younger has been good as time has gone on, especially for longer gigs when you do need to use the right techniques or you lose your voice.
You played at The Branding last year, what was your highlight?
Firstly it was being able to showcase my music. But even more important was seeing that there is a market in New Zealand for country music, and how much the audience wanted that new modern sound. It’s just going to grow and grow. It was a great night, surrounded by like-minded people—and country people are good people.
We heard they auctioned off some fellows, was one of them you?
They auctioned off a guy from Shortland Street!