Scott Allen has traveled across America many times and has the stories to prove it. With him it’s always about the story. He attended the University of South Carolina and studied classical guitar under Christopher Berg.  During this time, Scott realized his songwriting abilities. In the early 90’s, Scott enjoyed many successes including his time in the Americana band Seconds Flat. He was a founding member and primary songwriter. Seconds Flat appeared on NPR’s Mountain Stage and performed live on World Café as well as opening for The Band, Jr Brown, Ricky Scaggs, Steve Earl, and Alison Kraus to name a few. Their CD “Spittin’ Cause We Like To” was produced by Grammy award winning producer Trina Shoemaker at Daniel Lanois’ Kingsway Studios in New Orleans.  This CD shot to the top of Billboard’s Americana chart and cemented their legacy in this genre.

Throughout his creative endeavors, Scott worked in the printing industry.  His experience spans more than 20 years in gravure, flexography, offset and screen printing.  A self-taught Adobe wizard, Scott is sought after for his Photoshop expertise and printing capabilities. His Photoshop methods for digitizing film photography and production of museum prints put him in the forefront for producing quality prints using techniques that surpass the darkroom legends.  He is considered by many to be a modern Master Printer. These skills lead him to collaborate with Tim Barnwell, an Asheville icon and nationally acclaimed Appalachian photographer, on many of his commissions and projects. Scott has used his print production and printing skills on commissions for the Highlands and Cashiers “Faces and Places” series, the Lumiere Gallery in Atlanta, The Bascom: Center for Creative Arts, and the Greenville County Museum of Art.  He has also handled all technical aspects of digital photography files for books including Blue Ridge Parkway Vistas, Great Smoky Mountain Vistas and many of the digital photography and scan files for Hands In Harmony. Scott produces portfolio photography for many nationally recognized artists including Michael Sherrill and Stoney Lamar. 

Through his many years of working with Tim Barnwell and extensive museum collections, Scott has consistently honed his photographic eye, all while steadily pursuing his own photography ambitions. Scott has been a finalist in Slow Exposures, the nationally recognized southern photography exhibit; participated in a curated show by John Bennett, a photography critic from New York City; and been in many area shows. 

Scott believes that creative work rises to the level of art when it evokes an emotional response in the viewer or listener.  While he finds this intuitive through music and word, it proves to be a challenge in the realm of photography. It is here that he now places his creative energy.