Nashville-Based Anna Scott Looks Forward To Two Big Ohio Shows

Anna Scott. Credit: Courtesy of Anna Scott

Given that Nashville-based country singer-songwriter Anna Scott calls herself a “proud North Olmsted, Ohio native,” it’s understandable that she would be excited to return to Ohio this summer for a pair of shows.

On Saturday, July 12, she’ll open for Blake Shelton/Ashley McBryde and other big-name acts at Country Concert in Fort Loramie. This year’s lineup includes Brad Paisley, Parker McCollum and Blake Shelton, among more than 40 national and emerging artists.

Later in the summer, Scott returns for a show that takes place on Sunday, Aug. 24, at the Lorain County Fair. She’ll be one of 13 featured local artists at the fair, which takes place in Wellington.

While Scott’s music is clearly country, she grew up around rock ‘n’ roll.

“My dad used to play at the bars downtown in the Flats,” she says via phone from her Nashville home. “I would go and listen to his band, which played mostly classic rock. I fell into the country scene in high school and then after moving to Nashville.”

She wrote her first song was when she was 5, and she performed with her dad in middle school at an autism event at Progressive Field. That was her first experience of performing an original song live.

Her musical influences are all over the place.

“My first concert was a Martina McBride concert,” she says. “I love Patsy Cline and Dolly Parton and Shania Twain. I also love Evanescence and Heart and Pat Benatar. The pop and rock world is near and dear to my heart. I think those female artists sing with a lot of power, and I have a big voice, so I can kind of relate to them.

While living in North Olmsted for the summers, she would play CLE Market, Railroad Brewing Company, West Park Station, Around the Corner, Stage Pass Tavern, Margaritaville and the Jailhouse Taverne.

“I would play at craft shows too — anyplace that would take me,” she says. “I went from having no songs to having over 600 songs that I can now cover.”

After graduating from high school, Scott went to Belmont University in Nashville to study music. The experience paid dividends for her career.

“It was great,” she says of Belmont. “It was a great transition into the Nashville music scene. It was like going to school in a musical. I met so many people who have family in the industry. It’s a very cool scene. I got to sing on stage with Carrie Underwood two years ago for CMT. They hired me to sing backing vocals. Only in Belmont would that have happened.”

All told, she has independently released 16 singles to date. She says more singles will come out in the fall.

“I like the freedom of putting out my own music, but it comes with a lot of admin work on my end that is just beyond just writing and performing,” she says. “You forget about the marketing and budgeting and networking. I would not be opposed to some kind of record deal, but I like having complete ownership of my masters and my music and that kind of thing.”

She says she just reached out and sent out her music and videos to the organizers of the two upcoming Ohio shows, which she says will be some of the biggest concerts she’s ever played.

Her latest single, “Getting Hitched,” which has a Shania Twain-like pop sensibility to it, should go over well at the gigs thanks to its Northeast Ohio references.

“The song is fun and it has an ode to being out on Lake Erie and hanging out with your crew,” she says. “I think it’ll connect with people back home. There are lakes in Tennessee, but they’re nothing like Lake Erie.”

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