Biography
Emerging from a string of releases on Italy’s Comet label, Scott Finch first drew notice as part of Gypsy, the Milwaukee ensemble steeped in Jimi Hendrix’s sound that surfaced at the start of the 1990s.
A musician whose band affiliations reached back to the early 1960s, Finch had already passed through Bamboozle and a group simply called Finch. As the beat-driven mid-sixties yielded to the psychedelic haze of 1967, his profile reached major-label ears. Captivated by the raga-rock wave rising from the American underground, executives offered the band a full album in that style, yet the members declined, reasoning, “If we do that, that’s all we’ll ever be remembered for.”
A decade on, Finch approached matters more practically. With drummer Gregg Slavik he joined White Lie, a group that pursued every fashionable sound until it secured a contract. The resulting self-titled album made no impression and the band dissolved.
Finch next played with the Hot Rods on Milwaukee stages until 1986, when Slavik reappeared. Bassist Joe Steil completed the lineup and Gypsy issued a self-titled cassette, recorded partly at Finch’s Velvet Sky studios and partly live. Much of that tape later surfaced on his The Velvet Groove CD, while the follow-up recording The Goddess appeared on the Haze of Mother Nature compilation.
Through constant gigging and recording, Gypsy delivered a third album, People from the Darkside, then assembled a fan-oriented best-of collection. Continued indifference from labels finally prompted the group’s split in 1991.
Finch immediately launched Illegal Smile with his brother Tom and drummer Bo Conlin, one of several short-lived projects undertaken simply to “record anything that I thought was cool.” In 1992 he completed the solo album Pipedreams, tracking 36 instrumentals in six days on drums, bass, guitar, and keyboards; sixteen tracks appeared on the self-released disc.
After that venture he reunited with Slavik in the Waltzing Tunas, which included bassist Mike Kashou and vocalist Peter Alt. When Kashou departed and Mike Haasch took his place, the band became Bluehand; live recordings by both incarnations close out the Haze of Mother Nature set.
Finch aligned with Comet in the late 1990s, beginning with the anthologies already noted. Since then he has issued further material, among them the live album Live Groove! captured with his current group the Blues-O-Delics and the expansive studio concept album Revelation, recorded with a re-formed Gypsy.
A musician whose band affiliations reached back to the early 1960s, Finch had already passed through Bamboozle and a group simply called Finch. As the beat-driven mid-sixties yielded to the psychedelic haze of 1967, his profile reached major-label ears. Captivated by the raga-rock wave rising from the American underground, executives offered the band a full album in that style, yet the members declined, reasoning, “If we do that, that’s all we’ll ever be remembered for.”
A decade on, Finch approached matters more practically. With drummer Gregg Slavik he joined White Lie, a group that pursued every fashionable sound until it secured a contract. The resulting self-titled album made no impression and the band dissolved.
Finch next played with the Hot Rods on Milwaukee stages until 1986, when Slavik reappeared. Bassist Joe Steil completed the lineup and Gypsy issued a self-titled cassette, recorded partly at Finch’s Velvet Sky studios and partly live. Much of that tape later surfaced on his The Velvet Groove CD, while the follow-up recording The Goddess appeared on the Haze of Mother Nature compilation.
Through constant gigging and recording, Gypsy delivered a third album, People from the Darkside, then assembled a fan-oriented best-of collection. Continued indifference from labels finally prompted the group’s split in 1991.
Finch immediately launched Illegal Smile with his brother Tom and drummer Bo Conlin, one of several short-lived projects undertaken simply to “record anything that I thought was cool.” In 1992 he completed the solo album Pipedreams, tracking 36 instrumentals in six days on drums, bass, guitar, and keyboards; sixteen tracks appeared on the self-released disc.
After that venture he reunited with Slavik in the Waltzing Tunas, which included bassist Mike Kashou and vocalist Peter Alt. When Kashou departed and Mike Haasch took his place, the band became Bluehand; live recordings by both incarnations close out the Haze of Mother Nature set.
Finch aligned with Comet in the late 1990s, beginning with the anthologies already noted. Since then he has issued further material, among them the live album Live Groove! captured with his current group the Blues-O-Delics and the expansive studio concept album Revelation, recorded with a re-formed Gypsy.
Albums
