On Stage 8/2- Kurt Scobie

Kurt Scobie was born and raised in southeastern Michigan. Blissfield was and is (and forever will be) a small town about an hour outside of Detroit. Kurt grew up in a traditional home where his dad worked in sales in an office, and his mom stayed at home after she had her fourth child. The Scobie household got to be pretty bustling with activity through the years as they became a family of EIGHT. Mom and Dad Scobie were parents of four biological children and ended up adopting two children of the many foster children whom they had cared for. This life proved difficult, but came with the bonus of fun family kick-ball games, extra kids to pick on, and the overall satisfaction of taking in kids to give them a better life.

Kurt’s only older sibling, Kendra, began taking piano lessons when she was young, and Kurt could hardly wait to be just like his older sister. But he didn’t catch on to the whole “piano thing” right away. It took another teacher, “Bucky” to really inspire and develop his talent. Bucky made piano fun! Kurt learned all of that music theory stuff AND had fun doing it. Bucky introduced him to the expansive world of the piano, which opened up doors to school bands, singing groups, honors choirs, and more.

The Scobie family was always heavily involved in church functions. Kurt has always looked up to his dad who sang in the church choir, and his mom who directed children’s music programs. Kurt and three of his siblings, Kendra, Kyle and Katie (mom liked “K” names), always had fun singing together for various church activities. Kurt and Kyle even did some “touring” together in high school under the name “Kurt & Kyle” (it’s a cool band name). They made awesome T-shirts and even sold their own CDs.

These different musical experiences helped to develop a passion within Kurt Scobie to be a professional musician.

I. (certainly not his first, but certainly a first major experience) Youth Encounter, a youth and music ministry organization accepted Kurt’s application for a year-long traveling band in 2002. He had applied to be a keyboardist/vocalist, but the team was in desparate need of a drummer, so he stepped up. Kurt didn’t even have a drum set at the beginning of this YE adventure, but he had dabbled a bit with percussion in the high school band. Not only did Kurt grow musically in the 12 months he was with Youth Encounter, but he also grew in wisdom and maturity.

Long days of dealing with different people of all ages and in different walks of life proved challenging. Kurt traveled to over 200 locations and performed over 300 programs for churches, juvenile detention centers, nursing homes, and youth events. The team was based in what was known as the “East Lakes” region, so Kurt and his teammates spent hours of time on the roads of Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, northern Kentucky, and western New York. There were five other band members with him that year. The band became pretty close and still keep in contact today. Most of the other “teamers” have moved away from music-centric careers, but Kurt used his year on the road as a launchpad for what was next!

II. Kurt Scobie moved from Michigan to Nashville, TN on July 2nd, 2005. He had high hopes and no contacts when he packed up his trusty blue Chevy S-10 and headed to the land of fried chicken and Waffle Houses! And his attempts to get noticed on the Nashville music scene seemed unsuccessful. Kurt began working at a hotel in Brentwood, TN (just south of Music City) to pay the bills.

Evenings were spent working, and then burning up cell phone minutes on a wonderful long-distance relationship. He and his roommates would have a blast hitting a few of Nashville’s great night spots. And, for a semester, he attended Belmont University for their acclaimed Music Business program.

While Kurt learned a lot living in Nashville, the distractions of work, school, roommates, and a special lady kept him away from really tapping into the music world. Of these, one “distraction” became a major focus.

III. November 4th, 2006 brought more radical changes for Kurt. Elizabeth, his girlfriend at the time, had recently moved to Atlanta, GA and their relationship was beginning to get “serious”. After much thought and prayer, Kurt made the difficult decision of packing up and moving again. This time he had no roommates, almost no money, and was now even farther from his northern roots. Kurt transferred to a job with the same hotel chain and started from scratch again in a new, and much larger city.

Surprisingly, Altanta brought exciting opportunities and amazing people onto Kurt’s path. He immediately looked in newspapers and online for music opportunities. Elizabeth was always a great encourager for him and is the reason for many music opportunities. Before long, he was playing out at open mics, and was making some good contacts in Georgia. By April, 2008, he was able to leave his job at the hotel, and perform as a musician full time!