Scott Bishop got his start in the Boston scene when he moved to Allston from New Hampshire in 1996 to pursue music with his old high school friend, Sean Hennessey. Hooking up with Josh Pickering (Varsity Drag, ex-Pod), Slippy Keane made noise and shared bills with local luminaries Baby Ray, Francine and Nana as well as punk pioneer Kevin Seconds.

Bishop took a break from band work in 2003 and started writing the songs for New Lights, a 12 song program for the hung-over and broken-hearted. Mining the sonic textures of Sugar-era Bob Mould, the anything-goes pop aesthetic of Guided by Voices, and the beer soaked tales of the down-and-out of Crooked Fingers, New Lights is an emotional travelogue, taking listeners from the party-gone-bad vibe of “Dinner 1” through the darkened pubs of “Kitten’s Got Curves” to the romantic ghost-town of “DC.”. Recording those songs brought him into collaboration with Electric City drummer Denis Saulnier, whose sturdy rhythms give the disc a rock-solid base. Longtime friend and former Baby Ray front-man Erich Groat mixed the record, giving it a distinctive shimmer, while also making important recorded contributions, especially with his remarkable bass and vocal parts on “Kitten’s Got Curves.”

Bishop supported New Lights with solo and band shows after its release on Hide Your Candy in April of 2009. Since then, Bishop has kept a low profile, but rumor has it that a conversation with fellow rock dad Jason Narducy (Verbow, Bob Mould Band, Split Single) and inspiration from family life has prompted a new batch of songs and the possibility of a return to performing.

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