It looks like the news is breaking on the internet that our good friend Russell Scott passed away yesterday, on the road touring with Big Sandy and the Fly-Rite Boys. Russell had been very sick on this tour, and after being hospitalized two days ago, passed away in a hospital in Nebraska.
I knew Russell for almost forty years. My first paying gig when I moved to California was playing bass for Russell Scott and the Red Hots. He was a great musician and singer, and a truly hilarious guy I shared many, many laughs with over the years.
I’m on my way to do a show at McCabe’s Guitar Shop in Santa Monica tonight. I’m going to dedicate the show to the memory of Russell Scott. I know that if he were there tonight, he would be singing along in the audience to half the songs, and we’d be talking for at least two hours after the show about hilarious stuff that happened to us thirty years ago.
I want to write a more detailed post about Russell’s memory when I have some time over the next couple of days, but for now, the show must go on. I want to send my love to all of Russell’s family, all the guys from Big Sandy and the Fly-Rite boys, and of course, Russell’s wife, Vicki. It’s a very sad day. This one really hits home.
(Photo taken backstage at the Palomino club, sometime in the late 80s/early 1990s—this is what Russell looked like when I met him)
