Scarletta

Contact: Rusty Harmon MTM Music Management 615-866-4045

SCARLETTA BIO

What sets country music apart from every other genre is its ability to tell a story.  The story behind Scarletta is how the band came together and where it seems to be heading.
The group is fronted by the beautiful and spirited Aubrey Collins, who’s been on a mission since writing “My Lucky Penny” at age 12. Now 22, she wields a mean acoustic guitar and fronts a band full of young bucks with swagger of their own.
Alongside her in the writing room and on-stage are guitarist Benji Harris and fiddle player Nathan Stoops, both of whom had been making names for themselves in Nashville as session players and touring musicians.
Then on one fateful day in late 2009, their three paths crossed and the story of Scarletta was set in motion.
Growing up in Colorado, Collins described herself as a heavy metal-loving tomboy. But when she stumbled across a recording of Patsy Cline’s classic “Walkin’ After Midnight,” her eyes opened wide to a whole new world. 
Eventually her rock and roll heart led her to a recording contract in Los Angeles, but the call of her newly-found country soul pulled her to Nashville, where she was quickly selected to replace Heidi Newfield as the lead singer of Trick Pony.
“I am a prime example of God closing doors and leaving a window wide open,” Collins explained of the transition.
As with many songwriters, heartbreak inspired the first song that guitar player and vocalist Benji Harris wrote.
Texas born and raised, Harris too began singing and playing guitar when he was 12, long before he came to Nashville for an internship at a studio on music row. That first taste of Nashville was all he needed, and he soon thereafter moved to town and found freelance work as a band leader, background vocalist, and session musician. 
During a session in 2009 he met fiddle player Nathan Stoops and the chemistry was undeniable. 
“If you had told me that all this would be happening a few months ago I wouldn’t have believed it,” Harris said. “The fact that Aubrey, Nathan and myself were all in the relatively same place, both musically and geographically, was a real blessing and a sign of fate.”
Geographically and musically, fiddle player Nathan Stoops comes from the opposite end of the spectrum.
An Ohio native, his early ambition was to become a classical violinist.  Picking up the violin at age seven, he was an honorary member of the Hillsdale College Orchestra by the age of 14.  Following high school, he attended Hillsdale College and was offered a position with a professional symphony orchestra and remained there for one year. 
Bur just as he seemed to be conquering the classical genre, he discovered a love for country music.
“Classical music had been the sole existence of my musical life up until that point,” he explained. “But country music allowed me freedom to explore other aspects of music, like singing, songwriting and just fiddling around.” 
Upon moving to Nashville, Stoops toured nationally and overseas with the likes of Aaron Tippin and Chris Cagle, but when he met Benji Harris, he saw an opportunity to create a name for himself and began playing and writing with new goals in mind.
 “I knew Benji had the kind of talents that I wanted to work with on a professional level, and when I saw Aubrey I knew she was the perfect piece to complete this puzzle,” he said. “I’m the big picture guy in the group.  I take the music we write and shape it into what would work for us, and then our producer, Blake Chancey, takes it to the next level.”
The Grammy-winning Chancey is just one of a professional entourage with whom Scarletta is aligned.
Chancey’s RPM Music Group signed the band to a publishing deal in 2009, and touring will be handled by Frank Wing at APA. Band manager Rusty Harmon, with MTM Music Management, is best known for guiding Hootie and the Blowfish during their gold, platinum and diamond years, and is also responsible for bringing Jason Michael Carroll to Arista Nashville in 2006. 
Harmon knew right away that something special happened when Benji, Aubrey and Nathan first met. 
"When Aubrey met Benji and Nathan you could tell instantly that something great was about to happen.”  He explained the chemistry among the three “felt as natural as love at first sight, like they were meant to be together.” 
Collins agrees that “the guys” make her complete.
“I felt naked 90% of the time when I was by myself,” Collins explained. “Being in Scarletta gives me a new feeling of confidence. It makes me want to write better songs and work harder.” 
Nathan and Benji echo this sentiment, saying “the best thing about Scarletta is we are truly better together than we were pursuing our individual careers.”
For more information, contact Rusty Harmon at 615-866-4045.