50 years in, Boz Scaggs finding his voice

Some artists burst onto the scene fully formed. But Boz Scaggs readily admits he did not.

While the singer-songwriter cut his teeth in the 1960s playing with the Steve Miller Band, he has been his own, distinct solo artist for the past 50 years. Still, despite releasing his first-name-basis, self-titled release “Boz” in 1965, the artist said it’s only recently that he feels he is truly growing into his own.

“It took me some time to find my footing and to find who I was with my instruments. And that is still developing with me. Within the last 10 years I’ve started using my voice in sort of a jazz realm. I’m singing more traditional kinds of songs,” the 70-year-old performer said from the road in Dallas.

“That’s going to be a very important part of the way I continue to develop as an artist. I have found some footing as a writer. I found some footing as an instrumentalist. Particularly with my voice, I developed a style that is my own. That’s the big difference for me in the past 50 years.”

Scaggs stops to perform at the Gallo Center for the Arts on Sunday, May 24. He is touring behind his latest release, “A Fool to Care,” which came out earlier this spring. The 12-track album hit No. 1 on the Billboard Blues Chart, an honor that was not lost on Scaggs.

“It’s very meaningful. I’m a little surprised because it’s not a blues album per se. But I have an audience that seems to appreciate roots music and that must include R&B as well as rock and blues and everything else, I guess,” he said. “I love that genre and the things that grew out of it. So I’m very gratified to be on top of that chart in that company.”

Scaggs has spent his career roaming between genres, from rock to blue-eyed soul to blues and a little jazz. In the 1970s and ’80s he charted Billboard Top 20 hits with “Lowdown,” “Lido Shuffle,” “Breakdown Dead Ahead,” “Look What You’ve Done to Me” and more.

His newest release, “A Fool to Care,” continues an exploration of Southern roots music that his 2013 release “Memphis” started. He said the album is filled with music that inspired him while he was growing up in Oklahoma and Texas. He reteamed with producer Steve Jordan, who also produced his last album, and put together 11 songs from an eclectic mix of songwriters as well as one original number.

“He and I have an ongoing exploration of the insides of a song, in terms of the way it feels. The rhythmic and harmonic parts of it,” Scaggs said. “So every song on that record is inspiring to us. We have a great deal of interest in figuring the songs out. How did they do that and get that sound? Why is it unique?”

The album also features two duets, one with Lucinda Williams (on “Whispering Pines”) and one with Bonnie Raitt (on the Scaggs-penned “Hell to Pay”).

“Those two artists are giants in my opinion. And both of their voices and styles are among the best of my generation,” Scaggs said.

The cover of The Band’s “Whispering Pines” with Williams came about after Scaggs researched the song and heard a version she did in tribute to the group’s late drummer, Levon Helm. Scaggs said he fell in love with her interpretation and gave her a call.

His duet with Raitt, who played a sold-out show at the Gallo Center earlier this month, came partly because the two live in the same area of Northern California. While he was still writing the song, Scaggs sent her a demo of the track and she liked it. So it turned into a duet.

“It was a big thrill to get to work with Bonnie and to get her voice and guitar playing on the record,” he said.

Scaggs has been busy touring and making appearances to support “A Fool to Care” recently. Last month he performed on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” and earlier this month he stopped to chat with PBS talk show host Tavis Smiley.

But for him, gauging success involves a much more personal barometer.

“There is a fairly short list of vocalists that inspire me, but I don’t sing very much like any one of them,” he said. “I’ve been able to synthesize this feeling I have and this sound I have into my own voice and into my own style. That to me is success; that’s what pleases me the most. That’s where I connect with the music and the world.”

This story was originally published May 19, 2015 at 5:00 PM with the headline "50 years in, Boz Scaggs finding his voice."