Scott Gates and Chuck Hailes are of like minds.  They live in the world of live acoustic music, sharing a passion for roots and bluegrass, as well as traditional mountain music. Scott Gates is as close to a musical prodigy on the mandolin as you will ever meet and now plays guitar with the same fire and brilliance. Scott has been a mainstay at festivals for many years and holds a special place in his heart for people he sees year after year. Having performed all over the country and with artists as varied as John McEuen, Nathan McEuen, Steve Martin, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Kenny Loggins and a virtual Who's-Who of bluegrass players, Scott has started writing music of his own and will be bringing many of these tunes to you this year.  Scott appeared last year on the Ellen Show with Steve Martin, recorded with Kenny Loggins on his soon-to-be-released family album, which was picked up by Disney, and toured the US with band mate Nathan McEuen. Partner in this new venture, Chuck Hailes, is one of the top bass players in the country, schooled in classical and jazz bass playing and techniques. Chuck writes his own music and has teamed with Scott to create many new musical gems. With his  background in bluegrass music, and degree in the Upright Bass, Chuck sings and plays in a way that is uniquely his own. 

APPLE VALLEY Ӣ Scott Gates is in demand as a session mandolin player,
having played with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, recorded an album with Kenny
Loggins and formed two acoustic bluegrass bands of his own.

The kicker? The Apple Valley resident is just 16 years old.

Scott was born in Santa Clarita and began his musical career at the age of
three, fingering the notes to “Mary Had a Little Lamb” on a toy piano.
After a stint with lessons on a real piano, focused mainly on hymns and
classical music, he dropped the instrument completely.

“I regret it now,” he said. “But I’m going to pick it up again
sometime.”

Still, those classical roots come back to haunt him on occasion.

“I was playing (mandolin) with a harpist on the street in Ventura a couple
days ago and I started playing these classical songs,” he said. “I was
like whoa, I didn’t realize I had these in my repertoire.”

When Scott was seven he was at Disneyland with his parents watching Billy Hill
& the Hillbillies. He was enthralled by the mandolin player, who turned
out to be duo-style master Evan J. Marshall.

“After a show I walked up to him and asked him if he would teach me
mandolin,” Scott said.

Marshall agreed, and what started as one hour lessons every two weeks quickly
grew into three hours once or twice a week.

Scott’s parents continued driving him down for lessons when he moved to
Apple Valley at 8 years old. That’s also when Scott became friends with the
son of a Lost Highway Bluegrass Band member and fell in love with the genre
through the Huck Finn Festival.

At 13 Gates and his friends formed the Pacific Ocean Bluegrass Band, which was
more of a “music collective” really, Scott said, with its young members
changing constantly.

In 2007, the “collective” took top honors in the Topanga Banjo/Fiddle
contest.

Last summer Scott was invited to play with a friend at the Camarillo Airport.
Turned out he was joining Jonathan McEuen, son to Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
founder, John McEuen.

After finishing the airport gig, Jonathan invited Scott to join him the next
night.

“He said, ”˜I’m going to be playing with my dad and my brother if you
want to come and pick.’ I didn’t realize it was John McEuen until I got
there.”

Scott ended up playing with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band during last year’s
Huck Finn Jubilee.

Soon Gates and Nathan McEuen, who is 26 and has opened for David Crosby,
decided to make their own band. Bass player Chuck Hailes joined the group to
form the Gates McEuen Hailes Band.

Over the last year the acoustic bluegrass band has played shows in Memphis and
Nashville, done a tour around the southwest and is getting ready for another
in Colorado.

Meanwhile Scott’s earning his high school diploma online through
Philadelphia-based PennFoster.edu. He hopes to graduate through the
independent study program within the next six months.

“I’m not going to be the Social Distortion rockstar who drops out of high
school and runs with it,” Scott said. “There’s so many people with crazy
pipe dreams and I really want to have something to fall back on.”

Right now he’s thinking that might include a career in environmental
studies, or maybe advertising — “something that I can make a good living
at,” he said.

“Some of the best advice I’ve ever gotten, and I’ve gotten a lot, is
”˜You’re not going to be the cute little kid forever,’’ Scott said with
a laugh.

When asked how he recently snagged a gig recording songs on the latest Kenny
Loggins album, Scott said humbly, “It was one of those things where this guy
knows this guy and this guy knows this guy...”

Nathan McEuen showed Loggin’s producer a YouTube video of Scott and what
started as playing one break along with John McEuen, battling back and forth
between the mandolin and the banjo, grew to recording three or four songs.

“The best part was when I left (Loggins) said, ”˜We’ll do it again
sometime,’” Scott said.

While his oldest brother Thomas is “completely tone deaf” — raising
three beautiful daughters, holding down three jobs and still making time to
play Airsoft with Scott — his other three siblings have all dabbled in
music.

His brother Brandon played bass in a punk band as a teen, but has dropped the
hobby for dropping out of planes, doing military intelligence work for the
U.S. Army.

Dustin’s still a great guitar player, Scott said, sticking to classic rock
— not Chicago classic rock, Scott clarifies, but more like “some great
Chuck Berry licks.”

And his sister Lorie, who’s married to an airman in Arizona, still sings in
a band.

Scott started singing a few years back, mainly because no one else wanted to
be “the front guy” for POB. Now he’s taking lessons with a singing coach
in Hollywood and sings backup vocals with Nathan McEuen whenever he feels
inspired.

Brenda Hough of Bluegrass Breakdown has said, “Scott’s vocals now match
his mandolin prowess.”

Scott would love to become a songwriter, too. He’s penciled one so far about
a coal miner, but calls it “nothing special.”

“I like the idea of getting my heart out there. But I really want to write
something that’s different and unique,” he said. “I’ve crumpled a lot
of papers.”

He also has a passion for Celtic music, as evidenced by his Dropkick Murphys
ringback tone. And he dreams of playing in an Irish pub where, he’s been
told, people “shut up and pay attention” to good ol’ acoustic music.

When asked about his ultimate goal as a musician, Scott said, “I just kind
of want to make people happy, I guess. I know it sounds cheesy, but I want
people to have the same appreciation for music that I do.”



Brooke Edwards may be reached at 955-5358 or at bedwards@VVDailyPress.com.

	tedheaberlin wrote: Awesome, Scott! Keep on going, man. 5/4/2009 10:05:02 PM
	aprilshowers48 wrote: applause! applause! 5/4/2009 12:01:04 PM
	mojavegreen wrote: Ouststanding!! I love Blue Grass music. Keep up the great work! 5/4/2009 11:28:30 AM
	beismerzx wrote: Now here is a teen to be proud of. Wish you the best of luck in the future 5/4/2009 11:01:33 AM
	stangrunner wrote: Wow! What a great Kid. Now here's a young man with real ambition and he looks like he wears his pants where they're supposed to worn! It's good to see such a young boy focused on something that he loves and can possibly make a good living at. You go Scott and keep working at your goals. I hope you do take up the piano again. Someone that is cultured in the arts sure beats the young one's that constantly want a handout and think everyone owes them. 5/4/2009 10:59:06 AM

1