Cooley, Scott Richard (born June 21st, 1967 in Flint, Michigan) is a songwriter and musician who is not particularly notable in any way. Due to the fact that he has never been a live performer who sought press coverage, no independent reliable media sources have ever published any works about him. He has not ever participated in any sort of a concert tour.

He did however appear as a featured solo artist playing live on a community access television station once on an episode of a show called “Songwriters Open Mic On The Road” in Harbor Springs, Michigan that aired in Ann Arbor.

Although he has self-released via aggregator distributors several albums and many songs, none have ever appeared on any country's national music chart at all, let alone achieved any sales certifications.

His albums have not ever been affiliated with any type of record label - whether it be major, important indie, or non-important indie.

He has actually played in ensembles that featured musicians who later gained independent notoriety either as prominent members of other groups (Corbin Daugherty of Acoustic Circus) or as solo artists (J. Scott Thompson).

Not only has he been listed as being influential as a songwriter by other songwriters, he has also been named as being influential as a DIY independent producer, performer and engineer of recorded garage rock music played on all acoustic instruments who was among the first to release recordings online through aggregator distributors when such a thing became possible.

Riding the coat tails of Detroit-based garage rock revival bands of the early 2000s such as the White Stripes and the popular MTV show Unplugged, Scott brought together the spirit of other influential Michigan garage rock bands such as The Stooges, MC5, Question Mark and the Mysterians, and Grand Funk Railroad with the all-acoustic folk punk sound of the Violent Femmes.

In the mid-2000s, Scott's early album releases in online music stores such as iTunes and Amazon helped to define what was later described as "Acoustic Garage Rock," and in doing so, made him a prominent representative of that style of music, particularly in the Great Lakes region where fans appreciated lyrical subject matter about the region.

Also during this time period, he entered a now-defunct international songwriting contest sponsored by Billboard magazine and won an honorable mention t-shirt.

One such song that is perhaps his most well-known is titled "Mackinac Island."

Another called "Smitten With The Mitten" was said to be a candidate for consideration of being designated one of the state songs for the state of Michigan, and further, for consideration of use in public elementary school music classes for the purpose of teaching children the state symbols.

Scott has been described as having a sound that is a blend of two of his biggest influences - Jimmy Buffett and the Violent Femmes - so you can imagine songs about boats and beaches and islands with a Carribbean flavor played on acoustic-only instruments in a stripped-down, minimalist band with hints of punk rock and Motown, delivered with whiny Midwestern vocals. ;-)

Emerging from a poverty-stricken area known for violence, unemployment and a lack of potable water taught Scott survival skills that have served him well in not giving up on a music career that has enjoyed steady, organic growth.

Scott's musical history, which began with taking Intro To Guitar as a Senior-year "blow off class" in college, evolved to playing lead guitar in blues and classic rock bands, performing as one half of an acoustic duo with an apres-ski gig at a ski area, to teaching himself to play new instruments such as harmonica, ukulele, bass, marimba, keyboards, drums & percussion, to the award-winning singer-songwriter and indie solo recording artist that he is today.

Among the most impressive accomplishments are the fact that every two years since the turn of the century, Scott has released a new album of original songs on which he does everything you hear himself. In all, the catalog includes well over 100 self-penned, produced and recorded originals performed with both a signature acoustic garage rock style, but with hints of tropical and Americana and a nice variety in song form, subject matter, tempo and even instrumentation.

On the positive side, the do-it-all-yourself home studio recordings are somewhere in between a rough demo tape and polished product from a professional studio and producer. So some minor imperfections and a somewhat amateur quality keeps it refreshingly real compared to the slick, fake-sounding mainstream music of today.

Really good songwriting from someone raised on the popular music of the late 70s and early 80s with a great appreciation for America's best singer-songwriters and acoustic guitarists overcomes any lack of auto-tuning, programmed drum loops, or virtual instruments. Each song gives you a raw version in which you can hear great potential that involving pros and investing money might realize; and yet somehow, fans grow to appreciate and even prefer these under-produced versions the way they are.