Scott Brutsche describes himself as a control freak, albeit in reference to his music. That and the bizarre online bio portraying him as a cross between Moses and Rambo (presumably facetious), and you have quite a different picture than the one that his soft, almost Southern, easy-going voice gives on the phone.

So disarmingly charming is the Mo-Rambo that he easily turns what should be an interview into a general discussion on a variety of topics ranging from his native Ohio to his times in Colorado to ChristianMusic.com’s home near California’s beaches.

In all the talk of addictions and awkward, if not near criminal pasts, there is a true and simple spirituality that effectively, though not effortlessly, guides his work. “The music is usually a conversation with God,” Scott states. “It always comes back to Him.”

Scott’s debut album, “Inward Out,” produced with Bott Records’ Don Parsons and Don’s wife, Kristy, conveys that simple charm throughout. “Going through and facing pain and difficult situations has influenced a lot on this album,” Scott reveals.

“The theme is about God always being there for me and that even if I’m going through a tough time, He would let me know that it’s okay to reach out to him,” Scott says, “or to the people He has sent to help out.”

Though Scott’s family went to church regularly, he says it didn’t affect him. “My parents sent me to a Catholic school, but I wasn’t going for it. I didn’t want anything to do with it.”

Escaping to Colorado in his early twenties, he ended up working in a Coors plant, which didn’t help his alcohol addiction. “Any bar I went into, I got kicked out. I made sure of it.”

“I had too many doubts about the whole God thing,” says Scott, “so it took awhile before I was beat down enough to really ask for help.” That would happen, though, when he was still in Colorado.

“I met God on a mountain in Colorado.” Scott was moved by a Christian retreat there. “One guy, he was a Native American, in particular. He lived his faith. He didn’t preach Christianity. He lived it.”

After his spiritual reawakening, Scott decided to go back to Ohio. “I had a lot of people to face,” Scott says. “I needed to make amends for ripping people off, and just doing stupid things.”

Playing guitar in small groups and in church increased his interest in both music and God. “Right now, I’m trying to do what I can to myself to be a better musician.” Besides practicing guitar and writing songs, he’s improving his singing voice, too. “I don’t want to miss out on the best that God has for me.”

“The Lord has taken a person who once had no self-control, no choice with his addictions, and put his Spirit in there, and filled the hole,” Scott sums it up. “God’s spirit is still working his healing touch in me to be the self-disciplined child that he’s called me to be.”

-- Nate Lee

 

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