When you suggest to Pete Scobell that his life could make a good tune, he laughs and says, "Well, I've thought about it sometimes." There aren't many performers in any genre whose background includes being part of a Navy SEAL team, as well as competitive skiing and mountain climbing.
Scobell isn't someone who would throw in bits about hunting, camping or the outdoors to fulfill a video image. A true outdoorsman who loves living in Colorado, he acknowledges missing the West considerably, even though the music business frequently brings him back to Nashville.
Scobell also has the kind of direct, straight-shooting manner that can occasionally ruffle the feathers of image-conscious PR types. While he grew up surrounded by music and loves it, he admits his plans did not include a music career.
"Well, my mother passed when I was only 10 months old," Scobell tells the Scene. "She left me all her instruments, and that's really where the initial desire came. I really felt like it would put me closer to her."
That made singing come easily to Scobell long before he thought about it as a living.
"I've always been singing," he says. "It is such a natural part of my life I don't even really think about performing in that sense. It's more like the guitar is a friend, and music is how we communicate to the world."
Even so, Scobell took a roundabout path to find his way back to it. His impressive military background includes 17 years as a SEAL and six combat deployments. But it took an injury sustained in an explosion to reconnect him with his musical aptitude.
"When I was in the hospital for traumatic brain injury, I discovered they have music therapy," he remembers. "They asked if I played music. They said that's the best thing you can do to help your brain. I had been constantly singing in the barracks, singing really all my life. So I really began concentrating on playing again, making it both part of my rehab and my passion."
Then he met Wynonna Judd and Cactus Moser, thanks to the makers of the 2014 Afghanistan War documentary The Hornet's Nest. Scobell was invited to record the tune "For The Ones I Stand Beside," and he subsequently appeared on the Patriot Tour. Later, with the assistance of Taya Kyle, he joined Wynonna to record the song "Hearts I Leave Behind" in honor of Kyle's late husband — his former SEAL teammate Chris Kyle, the soldier, author and family man played by Bradley Cooper in Clint Eastwood's American Sniper.
Those two songs were the foundation for an EP that helped launch Scobell's career. It was Wynonna who told him music was what he needed to be doing full-time.
Lots of people grow up comfortable with music without having the chops to carry it further. But Scobell is a stirring vocalist and nimble guitarist, and the songs on his latest release Walkin a Wire have a polish and a relaxed yet urgent delivery — the feel of coming from someone who sings because it's truly his life, not just his livelihood.
The 12 tunes are consistently sung with an intensity and drive that renders their messages even more memorable. "Ain't Gonna Waste It" and "Feel Like You Know Me" offer respectively a message of perseverance and determination and a mood of reflection, while he displays a spiritual side on "There's Gotta Be a God," and even includes what might be deemed a bro-country song In "Dive Bar," except it's far from a pro forma effort either lyrically or in the delivery.
The disc closes with "Friends With Money," rapidly becoming a highlight of Scobell's live shows. For the most part, the album doesn't touch on his SEAL experiences — with the exception of two numbers, "Wild" and "Hearts I Leave Behind," a revamped version of a tune he previously recorded for his first EP. While there's plenty of traditional country sensibility, Scobell's a versatile artist in terms of likes and influences.
"Well, I am a huge fan of Hank Williams, but for me a lot of roads lead back to Texas," Scobell says. "I like some grunge music as well. Dierks Bentley is someone I really admire among contemporary country singers. But a buddy of mine took me to New Orleans a couple of years ago and I really got into some of that great piano music. Professor Longhair and Dr. John were two that I really enjoyed. So I kind of mix everything up in there, with the country sensibility being dominant."
He says he's particularly grateful to both Judd and Moser, who remain strong supporters.
"Wynonna is like a big sister to me," Scobell says. "Cactus is such a larger-than-life guy. The two of them are indispensable in my life. They are always telling me man don't you dare give up, don't you stop singing, you've got a gift. They are the ones who really helped me finally make up my mind that I would try a music career."
Part of that help included having him come to Nashville and record the EP.
"It's funny, I had been all over the world, but until they invited me I had never been to Nashville," Scobell remembers. "Then when I get here I find myself recording at RCA Studio A. Cactus is sitting back there in the producer's chair, and there's band members from Wynonna's The Big Noise backing me up. For a minute I thought, 'What I am doing here?' But Cactus and Wynonna had faith in me, and I wasn't going to let them down.
"When someone like Wynonna tells you that you're supposed to be doing this, it really means everything to me. My goal now is to make the best possible music — music that I think has something to say and will just resonate with anyone. I don't put any labels on it. I just know it's honest and from the heart."
