Biography
Scott Nygaard ranks among bluegrass music’s most wide-ranging guitarists. He played in Laurie Lewis and Grant Street before becoming a core member of Tim O’Brien’s O’Boys in 1991. Over the years he has also appeared as a sideman alongside Tony Furtado, Todd Phillips, Peter Rowan, Jerry Douglas, Sam Bush, Bela Fleck, Vassar Clements, Mike Marshall, Richard Greene, Kathy Kallick, and Norton Buffalo. Nygaard, whose name is pronounced NYE-guard, has issued two solo recordings that showcase his lyrical flatpicking style.
Although he spent his first years in Athens, Ohio, Nygaard relocated to southern California with his father and older brother Steve following his parents’ 1960 divorce. He studied piano for two years beginning at age seven and cello for six years beginning at age nine, then took up the guitar upon receiving a six-string instrument as a sixteenth-birthday gift. After finishing at Millikan High School in Long Beach, California, and briefly enrolling at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, he joined his initial group, the Sou’wester String Band, in 1974.
Nygaard settled in Seattle in 1975, where he performed with various ensembles, taught guitar, and held part-time positions as a baker, stockroom clerk, and book salesman. In 1977 he won first place in a fiddle competition at the Festival of Fiddle Tunes in Port Townshend. Between 1981 and 1984 he performed in a duo with singer-songwriter Linda Waterfall; the pair married in 1983 and divorced six years afterward.
After the divorce Nygaard dissolved the contemporary jazz trio he had started in 1988, moved to San Francisco, and joined Laurie Lewis and Grant Street. He stayed with that band until 1991, when he joined Tim O’Brien. His first solo album, No Hurry, appeared in 1990; the follow-up, Dreamer’s Waltz, came out in 1996 and earned a NAIRD nomination in the Acoustic Instrumental category. The track “Scotland,” which Nygaard contributed to the 1997 Bill Monroe tribute album True Life Blues, received a Grammy nomination in the instrumental country field, and Nygaard shared in the album’s win for Best Bluegrass Album. That same year he joined Acoustic Guitar magazine as assistant editor. In 1994 he married his second wife, Anne Hammersky, and their son Josef was born soon after.
Although he spent his first years in Athens, Ohio, Nygaard relocated to southern California with his father and older brother Steve following his parents’ 1960 divorce. He studied piano for two years beginning at age seven and cello for six years beginning at age nine, then took up the guitar upon receiving a six-string instrument as a sixteenth-birthday gift. After finishing at Millikan High School in Long Beach, California, and briefly enrolling at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, he joined his initial group, the Sou’wester String Band, in 1974.
Nygaard settled in Seattle in 1975, where he performed with various ensembles, taught guitar, and held part-time positions as a baker, stockroom clerk, and book salesman. In 1977 he won first place in a fiddle competition at the Festival of Fiddle Tunes in Port Townshend. Between 1981 and 1984 he performed in a duo with singer-songwriter Linda Waterfall; the pair married in 1983 and divorced six years afterward.
After the divorce Nygaard dissolved the contemporary jazz trio he had started in 1988, moved to San Francisco, and joined Laurie Lewis and Grant Street. He stayed with that band until 1991, when he joined Tim O’Brien. His first solo album, No Hurry, appeared in 1990; the follow-up, Dreamer’s Waltz, came out in 1996 and earned a NAIRD nomination in the Acoustic Instrumental category. The track “Scotland,” which Nygaard contributed to the 1997 Bill Monroe tribute album True Life Blues, received a Grammy nomination in the instrumental country field, and Nygaard shared in the album’s win for Best Bluegrass Album. That same year he joined Acoustic Guitar magazine as assistant editor. In 1994 he married his second wife, Anne Hammersky, and their son Josef was born soon after.
Albums
