Broken snowboard leads to a love affair with a steel-string guitar

By Jennifer A. Reese

May 13, 2005 | Scott Biggs, a redhaired, blue-eyed junior at Utah State University, is studying biology and hopes to become a dentist one day, but when he is not studying his biology notes, he is studying his guitar.

Biggs picked up his friend's guitar two and a half years ago and only knew a few chords, but he knew he wanted to learn more. He loved the sound of the steel-stringed guitar so he decided he wanted one for himself.

"Steel, it's the only way to go! Nylon sounds like a synthetic keyboard guitar," he said.

Biggs got his guitar because his brother broke his snowboard. His brother didn't buy him a new snowboard, but gave Biggs the money to buy it himself. Biggs was going to buy another snowboard, but realized that a snowboard is only good for part of the year; a guitar is good for the whole year. So Biggs bought the same guitar his friend had, a Taylor steel-stringed guitar, for $350.

But Biggs is not the only one who plays a Taylor steel-stringed guitar. According to the Taylor Guitars Web page, many famous bands play Taylor guitars, such as Blues Travellers, Hootie and the Blowfish, Chicago, Alabama, Jason Mraz, Lifehouse and Switchfoot.

The Web page also said that these artists are not paid or given the guitars, but that they choose the Taylor Guitar brand because "they meet or surpass the most discriminating musical requirements; inspire them to achieve the highest standards in playing, writing, and performing; and excite the senses with their aesthetic beauty."

"If I lost my guitar I would sell whatever I could to buy another one. It's my baby. I freak out if a stranger picks it up," he said.

Biggs fell in love with guitar music when he was young. His father used to play songs, they'd sing. Biggs said his dad wasn't the best, but he has fond memories of playing the guitar.

Biggs said, "The love of playing the guitar grew. I like music. I like singing. Why not add some guitar to it?"

Biggs had never taken guitar lessons and had never really tried to play the guitar, but he wanted to learn so he began to teach himself. After two and a half years Biggs can play "a million cover songs" and has written five originals.

He said, "It's an ongoing process. It depends on how much time you put into it. I'm not the best guitar player in the world, but I try. I never feel like I'm good enough and I always want to be better."

He learned how to play cover songs by listening to them over and over, and trying to figure out the finger picking patterns.

"You finally learn to improvise," Biggs said. "You play what sounds right to you."

Biggs plays his guitar at various times, times of anxiety, anger or boredom. There are times when he'll pick up the guitar, play a few notes and realize he's not in the mood for the guitar. Other times, he'll spend hours practicing.

"Sometimes I'll play hours and hours upon the wee hours of the morning," Biggs said.

Biggs said a lot of guys pick up guitars hoping to get the look of a girl, but he picked it up because he enjoys playing it.

"Does playing the guitar get chicks? Unfortunately, it does. People play it to get girls. All of the sudden it's sexy. A lot of the times they suck. I want a girl to like me for my blue eyes," he said.

Biggs and his friend and former band member, Jake Lott, began playing their guitars together a year and a half ago. They were neighbors their freshman year and decided to start playing.

Biggs said, "We weren't very good. In fact we sucked!"

After they had practiced played together for about six months, they decided to try and play in public. They went to downtown Salt Lake, played on a street corner and got $30. They didn't realize they could actually get some extra money doing what they enjoyed.

"We thought, hey maybe we should start doing something," Biggs said. They decided to become an official band, but when they tried to think of a catchy name for their two-man group, they wanted just the right name and it took over a week to figure out. They had temporarily named their band Self Inflicted, but that only lasted a week. They collaborated and came up with the name Acousticus.

"All of our music was acoustic guitar," Biggs said.

Biggs and his band partner, Lott, have opened for several people, and have played in over 40 concerts. They have played for the Howl and the Moonlight and Music. They have played at the Depot, the Quadside Café and at various weddings and receptions. They went to Temple Square one night and got $15 in 30 minutes. They didn't need it so they gave it to the man in the wheelchair on the corner.

Biggs learned that "being in a band requires practice. You have to work with each other, respect each other and not be afraid of stage fright." But most importantly, he said, "Relax and be yourself for the best performance."

Trent Jensen, Biggs's roommate said that listening to him play is encouraging and enjoyable.

"He's influenced me to learn an instrument. I'm not self-motivated, but they renewed that interest. I love music; I've always been a fan of acoustical music so I enjoyed listening to them. They were so good!" Jensen said.

Most of the songs the Biggs likes to play are cover songs, songs performed by bands, espeically by his favorite band Incubus, or songs he hears on the radio. Lott enjoyed writing his own music, usually "mushy love songs" about a particular person. Biggs said he and his friend told Lott they were tired of his love songs and encouraged him to write something different so Lott wrote a song about his friend and hackey sac. At a typical performance, Biggs and Lott will play some of their original songs and cover songs requested by the audience.

Biggs said, "It's intimidating [to perform] if you know them because you want to do your best."

After a year and half of being in his band Acousticus, the day came that the band had to break up. Lott got engaged and moved to Alpine, Utah. Biggs said he still will play occasionally with Lott, but they decided to break up because of distance.

"I'm not going to die without the guy, but I'm going to miss the guy and miss performing. Never once have I not been grateful to perform with Jake," he said.

Biggs has never really thought about going professional, but he and Lott have been offered a chance to record some of their songs in Alpine, Utah.

Biggs said, "I don't feel like I have a big enough repertoire to do my own stuff."

So, why does Biggs spend all his time putting off his biology homework for playing the guitar for all hours into the morning? Why does he enjoy strumming on his "baby?" Biggs has his own reasons.

Biggs said, "It's soothing, I feel it's an accomplishment and a talent. I feel proud of myself because not everyone is good at it. It makes people smile, laugh and it cheers them up. It makes me happy. It makes others happy, that makes me happy!"

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