BIO

Scotty Kipfer is a CCMA and CMAO Award-nominated singer/songwriter whose collaborative spirit shines through his body of work.

His debut album, Taking My Time, featured collaborations with luminary artists like Tenille Townes, The Western Swing Authority, Ryan Cook, Molly Brown, Callie McCullough, and Emily Reid. Scotty holds production and writing credits on McCullough’s debut album, After Midnight, which features members of GRAMMY Award-winning bands Union Station and The Time Jumpers. The album, which American Songwriter called "delicately modern and warmly classic," earned a Canadian Country Music Association Award nomination for Alternative Country Album of the Year, and the title track garnered a Songwriters of the Year nomination with the Country Music Association of Ontario. He is currently working on his second studio album, which promises another foray into his distinctively clever style.

Scotty is also infusing his whimsical sensibility into his orchestral writing. While his career spans two decades in the country music industry, his obsession with classic cartoon scores has been lifelong - from Disney to Looney Tunes, and everything in between. He is a graduate of the film scoring program at Berklee College of Music, and has studied music for animation under 9-time Emmy Award-winning composers, Steven & Julie Bernstein (Animaniacs, Pinky & The Brain, Freakazoid!). Scotty launched Symphony Nostalgique in the summer of 2024, an orchestral homage to iconic scores and theme songs from classic cartoons and video games.

Outside the realm of music, Scotty enjoys collecting animation production art and comic books, and he is an avid Toronto Blue Jays fan. He lives in Stratford, Ontario with his wife and newborn son, and their dog, Ruby.

FAQ

Q: How did you get started playing music?

I started making music almost as soon as I could walk. My dad played sousaphone in the local Legion band, and by the time I was three, I was already “in the band” — they really made me feel like I was one of the guys. The band played everything from 30s and 40s standards to military marches at homecomings, fairs, and Santa Claus parades. That’s where my education began.

They offered me the chance to try any instrument that caught my eye, so I did — and I started piano lessons, giving me the foundation that grounded everything else. Around the same time, I fell in love with the classic music of Disney films and Looney Tunes, and the newer cartoon scores that shaped my ear — Animaniacs, The Adventures of Tintin, and more. That blend of brass bands, cartoon scores, and lush Disney orchestral arrangements is still baked into the music I create.

CIRCA 1985

Q: Why country music?

I was surrounded by it growing up. I remember driving around with my grandma with the local country station playing songs by Randy Travis, Alan Jackson, and Vince Gill. I was hooked on the pedal steel, the fiddles, the harmonies, and the storytelling. I was about 15 when I announced to my family that I wanted to be a country singer (a bold declaration for a guy who had yet to write a song!), and my parents rightly suggested I should have a backup plan. I decided to get into radio — it was adjacent to music, and it gave me a crash course on the other side of the music industry. There was a legendary program director named Nevin Grant who gave me a shot on the air at 820 CHAM - a 50,000 watt AM station in Hamilton, Ontario. To this day, he's the best boss I ever had. I loved my time in radio.

CANADIAN COUNTRY MUSIC ASSOCIATION AWARDS, 2012

Q: When did you start going to Nashville?

I printed directions on MapQuest and made my first trip in 2005. I wrote, played with other artists, and did side work as a graphic designer and social media guy in the then brand-new MySpace era. One of the guys I wrote and played with made headlines by putting up a billboard in Nashville asking Taylor Swift to produce his album. I handled the PR on that campaign, and from the passenger seat of his 1995 Honda Civic, I plotted a tour that took us to radio, TV, and print outlets across North America.

When Taylor released her Fearless album, she was doing press in Los Angeles and Entertainment Tonight asked her about “the guy with the billboard." She said she'd seen it, and hinted that it might be cool to work together. That never happened, but we met her a few years later at the Canadian Country Music Awards.

Q: What did you do on the business side?

From 2012 to 2015, I worked with a couple of record labels and management companies in Canada. I did a little bit of everything during this time. I signed and developed acts, promoted records for artists like Dean Brody, The Road Hammers, Tim Hicks, Aaron Pritchett, Bobby Wills, and High Valley. I fronted a great bar band in Toronto, and continued to do a little touring as a sideman.

My first time working on a tour bus was with the opening act on Alan Jackson’s run through Ontario. I remember waking up the first morning and seeing his trailer parked beside the bus - totally surreal.

DAY ONE OF THE ALAN JACKSON TOUR

Q: When did you step into your own career as an artist?

In 2015, I left the business side to dedicate myself to making music. With the help of some great friends, I recorded my first album, Taking My Time. I shot my first music video and released my debut single, Falling Like The Rain, in 2018. An incredible cross-Canada tour followed, and on the drive from Edmonton back to Ontario, I spotted a little piglet on the side of the road. I pulled over, scooped him up, brought him home, and named him Peter Porker. Peter became something of a legend in a very short time. I brought him along to award shows, interviews, and all kinds of appearances. The artwork for the first album was already done, but I had a crazy idea for a photo shoot with this pig - so I scrapped the original artwork and called my photographer friend, Brad Kelly. He and I created an image of Peter and myself locked in a heated game of checkers — and yes, he’s cleaning my clock. That image ended up being more than just a conversation piece; it earned a Creative Directors of the Year Award nomination at the Canadian Country Music Association Awards in 2019.

COVER ART FOR TAKING MY TIME

I’ve released a steady stream of my own singles since Falling Like The Rain, and along the way, I’ve been able to make a bunch of music with my friends. I wrote the songs on Taking My Time with Ryan Sorestad, Tenille Townes, Emily Reid, Ryan Cook, Sean Patrick McGraw, Megan Hutson, Cort Carpenter, and Callie McCullough. I’ve written and recorded a ton of music with Callie; her debut album featured a dream band I put together with members of GRAMMY Award-winning bands, Union Station and The Time Jumpers. After Midnight is still one of my favourite songs I've been involved with - the dance between Jeff Taylor's accordion, Stuart Duncan's fiddle, and Ron Block's acoustic guitar in the solo section is exquisite.

L-R: BILLY THOMAS, STUART DUNCAN, SCOTTY KIPFER, CALLIE McCULLOUGH, BARRY BALES, JEFF TAYLOR, BRENT BURKE, DUSTIN OLYAN, RON BLOCK, AND STEVE BLACKMON. THE TRACKING ROOM, NASHVILLE.

COVER ART FOR AFTER MIDNIGHT

After Midnight is a perfectly sized three-minute song that flies by with the same kind of whirlwind delight as do the minutes of an exciting date with someone new. [It] sounds at once delicately modern and warmly classic in its character.

-American Songwriter

Q: What's your favourite song on your album, and what inspired it?

May The Good Lord Take A Liking To You. My friend Chip Davis is the voice you hear singing background vocals on most of my recordings. When I first moved to Nashville, and was spending extended amounts of time away from my own family he was kind enough to include me in events with his. At Chip’s birthday party one year, I met his father Raymond for the first time. Raymond is a retired southern preacher, and was in his early 80s at that time. He's got a spring in his step, a mischievous twinkle in his eye, and when he opens his mouth, little pearls of wisdom fall out. At the end of the night, he put his arm around me and walked me to my car, and said, “Well Scotty, drive safe and May the Good Lord Take a Liking to You!” I turned that little nugget into a song a few months later, and recorded it with Western Swing Authority. You can hear Raymond at the beginning and end of the album version of May The Good Lord Take A Liking To You. If you’ve only heard the single mix, check the other one out - it makes me smile every time!

Chip was touring with Alabama at the time, and one other neat experience I had was jamming at the Alabama band headquarters in Fort Payne, Alabama.

RAYMOND DAVIS

L-R: BILLY DAVIS, CHARLES ENGLISH, CHIP DAVIS, SCOTTY KIPFER, MIKE PYLE, AND TEDDY GENTRY.

Q: When did you get into the orchestral stuff?

I mentioned earlier that I was fascinated with this style of music from an early age, but it wasn't until after my wife and I got married in 2021 that I went back to study orchestration and film scoring at Berklee. I've also studied music for animation with Steve and Julie Bernstein (Animaniacs, Pinky and The Brain, Freakazoid!). Check out my Symphony Nostalgique stuff if you'd like to hear some of my work!

Q: What inspires your writing and arranging? Can you describe your style?

With songwriting, I tend to draw most of my inspiration from real life. I really try to capture emotion, paint pictures with lyrics, and I love clever turns of phrase. On the arranging side, I think honouring the source material as much as possible while trying to put my own stamp on it is the ticket. I hope this is evident in my Symphony Nostalgique stuff, as well as the songs I've covered. I think regardless of genre, my style is really a mix of humour, heart, whimsy, and nostalgia.

Q: How do you balance country music with orchestral composing?

For me, they're two sides of the same coin. Country music sharpens my storytelling and allows me to work with some of the best musicians and engineers in the world. The orchestral work lets me play in a different playground, with different colours, textures, and rules. They're completely different disciplines, and I enjoy them both for the unique challenges they present.

Q: Do you like to collaborate?

I love it. Every writing session is different, and you never know what you're going to get.

Q: Do you play live?

Yes! It's not my primary focus anymore, but I love getting out and playing shows. Reach out if you're interested in booking one!

Q: Do you write custom music?

Yes - I can write and record custom songs or pieces on a commission basis, or for sync purposes.

Q: Can you score my film/cartoon?

Let's talk about it! Send me a message and let me know what you're working on.

Q: What's next?

I've got a new album on the way, and I'm working on some really cool stuff for Symphony Nostalgique. Sign up for the newsletter to stay up to date!