Veteran songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Byron Lee Scott founded Harmony Dreamers as a global musical collective geared towards bringing together artists from all over the world. Aiming to create music that spreads the message of love and peace across the globe, Harmony Dreamers have released a fan-favorite, “Pass It On” as the latest single from the band’s album, “I Come From Earth.” With more than 100K Spotify streams of their catalog, the song and video for “Pass It On” have led playlist listens and views among the group’s releases.
ABOUT HARMONY DREAMERS: With the ‘I Come From Earth’ album featuring artists from every continent, it also includes vocal contributions from more than 20 international backup singers. Overall, the album brings together artists to create not just impressive music, but also to send out a profound and important message of unity and love. Despite having released just one album, Harmony Dreamers is already drawing comparisons to some of the most renowned and iconic bands such as Pink Floyd, The Beatles, Steely Dan, Crosby, Stills & Nash and more.
More details about Harmony Dreamers and the latest single ‘Pass It On’ can be seen at www.harmonydreamers.com
- Hey Byron! Congrats on the new Harmony Dreamers album, “I Come From Earth.” Tell us the story behind the album and the title.
Thank you, it’s been a fantastic journey.
The album is my magnum opus, my life’s work. After decades of practice, learning to play and write from the heart, studying songwriting, writing and recording hundreds of songs, doing all the instruments myself, performing in every type of live situation, managing my own bands, studying the music business … I finally released the concept album of my dreams and documented it all on our YouTube channel. I could retire now, LoL, but there’s no stopping for me. Mia Kaz from Honk Magazine said, “The entire album is a never-before-seen work of art.”
The album is named after the title song, I Come From Earth. It’s a humorous tune with a global message. And the song is still gaining popularity around the world. It seemed the perfect title track for an album that’s global both in theme and execution.
- How did you manage to get musicians from all over the world together for this project?
It’s really thanks to the internet. Harmony Dreamers is a studio project first, where every part is supportive and for the song exclusively, the way producers have always brought in great musicians. But nowadays it’s easier to contact and work with artists around the world. It helps having good songs, knowing how to work with people, and understanding the recording process.
Working with others started with my best friend and longtime band mate Larry Dragland. Most of my life I played and recorded all the parts myself. In the summer of 2021 we recorded his amazing real drum kit tracks for 80% of the songs on the album. That was the beginning of a huge part of our sound, two drummers plus percussion on nearly every song. The song No Stopping has dual drummers, including back and forth drum solos between myself and Larry in the middle solo sections. After all the drum recordings with Larry I knew this was it, that the time had arrived to do my album.
Adding all the other artists on the album happened one song at a time, and I got hooked on the fun and the great results, so I just kept doing it. When I decided to find female vocalists and other instruments, I spent a lot of time on the internet auditioning people’s work, studying their style and their range. There were many artists I liked who didn’t make the album.
For long-distance sessions, the artist had to have their own studio or access to a studio, and understand the process, but that was never a problem. I would send them the song, charts, instructions, and I’m really good at inspiring people to bring out their best. There are many interesting stories about all the songs, so many I couldn’t begin, but it’s all documented on YouTube with backstories and pictures of everybody.
There were a couple of famous musicians I tried to get on the album, but when the timing didn’t happen I decided to look for great artists from elsewhere, anywhere.
Coincidentally, the first people I brought in were bass player Nikita Astrakhantsev from Ukraine, and vocalist Anna V from Russia. This was before the sad war began. Both of them are on the title track. Nick is on 2 songs and Anna is on 5 songs including No Stopping. By the way, I have asked Nick and Anna how they are doing, and at last report they are both focused on music and not much into watching the news.
- You’ve lived in several different parts of the world. Which is your favorite, and why?
I really hate to choose a favorite, because I think people are essentially the same and mostly good everywhere. I did live in Philippines for the longest, other than USA. The people there are very lovely and the fact they speak good English made it very pleasant, along with their hospitality and love of music. I suppose each country may have their advantages and disadvantages. In many places, like my current location, Siem Reap Cambodia, a person can live quite nicely, even on a gypsy musician’s pension.
- What’s the best “road” story you can tell us?
That’s a tough question. I was in a traveling band, and very late one night was driving on a two lane highway, through a forest somewhere in Minnesota, in dense fog. I was getting sleepy and made a wish to see something interesting, exciting, even some wild life. Suddenly, standing there in the middle of my lane was a skunk. It was so foggy that I didn’t see it until the last second. It didn’t move and I straddled the little guy, driving right over. Thankfully the skunk didn’t spray me, but I told the story to a friend who replied, “He probably sprayed himself.”
- You have a new single coming out, “No Stopping,” that I understand is related to your book called “Balance Your Choices.” What’s the story behind the song and book?
Since the album release, I’ve been doing some interviews and they always ask, “How did you do it all, the album, the songs?” We usually discuss songwriting and production. The truth is, the concepts that I talk about in my book, Balance Your Choices, are the things that got me where I am today. The book is about choosing priorities by looking at various areas of life in which we all have choices. There’s more to it than that of course. The book is also about enjoying life along the way. It’s a compact book and an easy read.
The song No Stopping, like my book, is also about choices, changes, living your dream, and not quitting. By never giving up on my music, that’s a major reason I succeeded.
At the end of No Stopping you hear drummer Larry D say, “I hit the ending!” While we were recording his drums on this song, I told Larry to cut loose, all the riffs he practiced all his life. Larry is one of the best drummers on Earth. The first two takes he was jamming so hard he played past the ending. The third time he hit it, and said so. I smile when I hear him say, “I hit the ending,” because that’s exactly what I did with my music. Through so many decades and trials I never gave up. My debut album may have taken a long time, but I didn’t quit. I hit the ending, and in grand style!
- Any dream collaborators that you would love to work with in the future?
My number one choice would be keyboardist Jan Hammer, my favorite musician and a huge influence on my love of synthesizers, and someone who’s songs expanded my understanding of harmony. Some of the people I would choose for collaborating are dead already and I’m in no hurry to work with them yet. It would be off the hook to collaborate with someone of stature like Bruno Mars, The Weeknd, Pat Thrall, Barbara Streisand, Glenn Hughes, Paul McCartney… call me.
- What is the best advice you can give to a young, up and coming musician?
There are many avenues for learning, performing and just enjoying music. There are many levels of success in music and in life. As my book states, it’s all about the choices you make. Should you decide to give your life to music as I have, it can be a lot of sacrifices. And as it says in the song No Stopping, it’s okay to change direction. The song lyrics say, “there’s really only one guarantee.” The guarantee is that if you quit there’s a good chance not much will happen for that particular dream. So regardless of your dream, the message is don’t give up. I would add that for young songwriters, my advice is that they remember to have integrity in their music and their music relationships along the way.
