Scott Utley

If you’ve ever had the opportunity to meet or talk with Scott you’d quickly see his zest for life. He’s a good ol’ boy with a huge heart for Christ. His enthusiastic ways have taken him many places, and unfortunately down the wrong path at times, but with God’s grace and mercy he gets another chance. And let me tell you, he’s here to sing…..just listen.

Richard Scott Utley was born in Evansville, Indiana. His earliest and fondest childhood memories are of Grandpa Johnny at the family farm in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. Scott would sit on the front porch and listen to Grandpa and other family members sing and play various musical instruments all evening long. His biggest influence was his mother as he recalls hearing the sound of her beautiful sweet voice as she would sing around the house. With a heavy influence of music instilled in Scott, he naturally loved music, but his passion was to play the drums. At an early age of 8 he started taking lessons from his cousin John Hahn, who had played with Engelbergt Humperdinck. He absolutely loved the drums! But as a young boy it became obvious to many that Scott had been blessed with an amazing voice; he had a huge desire to sing in church where his grandmother and stepmother would sing and play the piano. As he got a little older he hesitated on singing because he didn’t want the other boys to make fun of him. However, in high school Scott joined the Show Choir against popular belief. You see, it wasn’t real cool for a football player to sing and dance, especially in the choir, but he stuck with it until graduation.

Scott was proud to serve his country in the United States Marine Corps for 10 years on Active Duty. He served in Desert Storm and received many commendations and awards.

With that passion of playing drums, Scott was asked to play in the band "Country USA". It was not until he was in Georgia trying to get a gig playing drums that he kept hearing from people that he should sing (and he heard that for about 15 yrs). In 2004 Scott started going back to church and was asked to lead worship and sing with other musicians. He had even talked to the famous Blackwood Quartet about singing bass, but noticed his voice began to change from bass to baritone. This may have been an unanswered prayer. Scott came to Ohio in 2006 and started singing for Cowboys for Christ. He was in an accident in September of 2008 that left him paralyzed, and now gets around in a wheelchair. He wrote his first single “Semper Fi” in 2009. This song, dedicated to all Marines, earned him an invitation to perform at BB Kings during the CMA Festival in 2009 and was played by a Cleveland country station, even as a demo. He was honored with winning the talent showcase at the Christian Country Music Awards in October 2009 over 30 other professional and very talented singers/musicians. Scott has performed “The National Anthem” and “Semper Fi” at numerous events, including Veteran Administration functions, soldier homecoming parades, and The Miss Ohio Pageant. Scott truly is a blessing to those who hear him; the stage is definitely where he is meant to be. And all he can say is…“I’m just blown away and humbled that people want to hear me sing.”