Tony Scherr

Artist Description

"Tony is my favorite guitar player and his voice is molasses, honey, and tar." - Feist



On March 17, 2008, Grammy nominated producer and New York City singer-songwriter/guitarist/bassist Tony Scherr's sophomore recording effort, Twist In The Wind, will be released on Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley's indie label, Smells Like Records. Tony Scherr is arguably one of the most in-demand sidemen in New York City with recent recording credits on new albums by Broken Social Scene's Jason Collett, Rufus Wainwright, Norah Jones and Teddy Thompson. His tunes have made their way into indie-rock chanteuse Feist's live sets (and on her breakthrough release, Let It Die), and his performance of Jesse Harris' "You The Queen" landed in Ethan Hawke's film, The Hottest State. To many, he is notably known for his continuing live work with Bill Frisell, Steven Bernstein's Sexmob and Willie Nelson, and as a prolific guitarist and songwriter in his own right, Scherr delivers his most compelling collection of compositions to date on his upcoming release, Twist In The Wind.

Since coming to New York in the 80s, Tony Scherr has become one of the city's most prolific and in-demand sidemen, playing integral roles in the music of such notable artists as Bill Frisell, John Lurie (Lounge Lizards), Steven Bernstein (Sex Mob), and Norah Jones, as well as some of New York's better-kept secrets, such as Jesse Harris and the Ferdinandos, The Wollesens, Ursa Minor, and Slowpoke.

Tony has recorded most of these latter artists at his Brooklyn home studio, helping to foster and document a tight-knit, intimate scene of players who are as skilled and daring as they are broadminded and modest.

Originally hailing from New Haven, CT, Tony played rock guitar in a garage band with his brother Peter as teens, before the two went their separate ways; Peter to become a concert bassist and film composer, and Tony to slug it out in the clubs of New York, ironically as primarily a bassist himself.

His debut album Come Around is a reunion of sorts, between the two brothers, between Tony and the electric guitar, and between the brothers and the rock/song idiom. The lyrical content in particular also charts a deeply personal journey, documenting a process of overcoming catastrophe and a renewed faith in the healing power of music. Above all else, the album serves as a message of hope.