Scott's latest interview!
Poet,Songwriter,Guitarist
Trumpet Player & Vocalist
Nominee 2005 Cleveland Scene Magazine Music Awards
"J Scott Franklin represents Cleveland's new brand of multi-dimensional, renaissance type poets who not only write, but also operate on various artistic levels. J is an accomplished trumpet player, songwriter, and jazz vocalist; simply put, he's determined to 'be the voice, the sound in the corner of the club that causes you to momentarily fall in love with something.'"
--Tisha Nemeth, Cool Cleveland
Raised on Rock and "Real" Country, J Scott's also a fan of hardcore anything, and before writing poetry and lyrics, was a jazz trumpet player who loved not beebop, Freddie, Miles and Coltrane, yet also the honesty of Chet Baker. As a solo artist, he performs with a loop station that allows him to incorporate guitar, trumpet and harmonies into live shows.
Why Chain of Words?
"I read that in Conversation by Ai. She brought me into writing. I don’t know her, but reading poems like She Didn’t Even Wave touched something in me that I didn’t know was there. In Conversation, one of the characters says that his life is a "chain of words that will one day snap". That has always stayed with me as truth, because a person’s existence is not signified or proven by the survival of their creations, but by the act of creating."
"An architect’s building will survive long after they are gone: The building is not a sign of the architect’s present existence or current force in the universe...the creation and making of the building is. I feel as if people’s lives are chains of acts and words. I am a chain of words, and though I may never meet Ai, I thank her for inspiring me to write."
What I Really Want to be When I Grow Up
"A long time ago, I had to write an essay for school: 'What I really want to be when I grow up.' Here’s what I remember writing:"
"I want to be the voice, the sound in the corner of the club, that causes you to momentarily fall in love...with yourself, or the past, with the future or memory, with someone here or gone or that will someday meet you...maybe with the way the sun comes in the window."
"It’s still true. I want people to momentarily fall in love."
"The best way I can describe my feelings on what I do is that when a song or poem starts coming out, I feel as if it is being written for someone else; someone that I probably don’t know and may never meet. I’m always hoping that at sometime, the right words will reach the right person. There is a fine line between writing about oneself and writing about someone else. I usually begin by writing about myself, but at some point let go and try to feel someone else’s view. Hopefully, I’m not giving you my experiences, I’m giving you a place to put yours."
"Maybe something here speaks to you, and if it does, then you should know that it was written with you in mind."
~ J. Scott Franklin
Scott has performed in Philadelphia, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, New York, Cincinnatti, Chicago, Champaign-Urbana, Dallas, Erie, Columbus and Toledo and for two years played trumpet with former Motown arranger and 2001 Grammy Award winner Willie Smith.
