When his playing days were over, Scott Wolverton needed something else to do.
The 2016 Seward High graduate finished his baseball career at Central Missouri in 2021 but still had a year of school left. He was used to being busy, so free time was an unusual occurrence.
“It was weird to be a ‘normal’ student,” he said.
He tried helping with the baseball team, but that didn’t work out. So he looked around for something else.
“I always enjoyed playing the guitar and singing,” he said.
He often played for his friends, but he hadn’t played in front of a crowd since middle school. He didn’t participate in band or choir at Seward High, but he took guitar lessons from Jim Krutz starting at age 10.
Muddy Creek, a bar in Warrensburg, Missouri, was one of his favorites and always had live country music. Wolverton knew one of the employees and asked about getting on the list to perform. It worked.
His first performance there was Sept. 18, 2021. He brought a guitar and amplifier and played for three hours.
“It’s easier than baseball,” the former catcher said with a grin. “It was a good crowd – all the baseball guys and their friends and girlfriends.”
Wolverton started playing at Muddy Creek every other week. He found another place in Harrisonville, Missouri, where he became a regular. He has played at Duffy’s in Lincoln and performed at the Seward County Fair Aug. 5.
Over the summer, Wolverton worked at a golf course in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and played at a couple locations there.
Wolverton plays mostly acoustic, which means it’s just him, his guitar and a microphone. At the fair, however, Josh Behlen added drums and Riley Kamprath played bass.
He mainly plays covers, putting his own spin on popular and familiar tunes from country to pop to folk. He said he tried writing his own songs, but “it’s harder than I thought.”
He chooses songs that he can make acoustic and that fit his voice. He grew up listening to a variety of music from Johnny Cash and Queen to Elton John and Fleetwood Mac. His playlist fills a sheet of paper, three columns front and back, he said.
“A lot use the same chords,” he said.
As he sets up his playlist, he said he leaves his better songs for later in the set when more people have arrived.
“I won’t waste the good ones early,” he said, smiling.
He likes to finish his show by the song “Revival” by Zach Bryan.
Wolverton said his current favorite performer is Zach Brown Band, but he also likes Toby Keith, Parker McCollum and Turnpike Troubadours. When it comes to classic music, he turns to Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Brooks and Dunn and John Denver, among others.
He admitted Aug. 4 that he was a little nervous about his Aug. 5 performance because he knew a lot of the people who were coming, but he was excited to take the stage.
“It’s cool. I haven’t gotten to play for my friends here,” he said.
Wolverton finished his agronomy degree in May at Central Missouri. As of Aug. 8, he was an assistant baseball coach at Hutchinson Community College in Hutchinson, Kansas, where he earned his associate degree. He’ll be coaching catchers and hitters, he said.
