Scott Sweet
An autodidactic musician equipped with his signature progressive bluegrass.
Scott Sweet is a self-proclaimed chameleon and also claims to be one of the only two known Puerto Rican banjo players in the nation, born there while his father was stationed as a military serviceman. Sweet delivers a body of work that stretches the mind and rounds out the corners of rooms. A progressive fusing of traditional and contemporary bluegrass, folk, and original acoustic rock, Sweet's on-stage aura is comedic, warming, and often nostalgic.
Featured on St. Augustine's collaborative profile album of singer-songwriters, Local Honey, and assisting countless local musicians by owning his own luthier company, Sweet Lutherie, Sweet has become a hometown hero and living legend.
Sweet started young—while playing clarinet in middle school—and listening to his older sister's Peter, Paul, and Mary records and other popular folk music of the 60s. He was 12 when he decided to teach himself the guitar because he realized that the clarinet was "not getting the girls to turn their heads." He decided on electric, and studied on his own until age 16. It was at this age that Sweet was invited to his first bluegrass festival. He was exposed to live performances by John Hartford, Newgrass Revival, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and The Dilliards, (also known as the Darling Family Band on The Andy Griffith Show). After this festival, Sweet sold his electric guitar, bought an acoustic, and never looked back.
