By Ellie Johnson
The After Party Stage offers a unique experience for ROMP-goers. Set in an intimate space lit by glow sticks and the night sky, the reverb from the stage — and the energy of the crowd — bounces through the trees and back again. It’s what singer-songwriter Scott Simontacchi of Sheriff Scott and the Deputies calls “treeverb.”
“The crowd was great, kids were running around with glow sticks, older folks were hootin’ and hollerin’… the whole vibe was positive and fun,” Simontacchi said Thursday following the band’s performance on the opening night of ROMP.
It’s the third time the Nashville-based four-string quartet has played ROMP, with previous appearances in 2016 and 2018. Simontacchi said the band always looks forward to returning to Yellow Creek Park, and it has become a special place for them.
“It’s smaller, it’s intimate, and it really draws out the soul of bluegrass,” Simontacchi said.
Their roots trace back more than a decade to a hole-in-the-wall burger joint in Nashville called Brown’s Diner, where they played their first gig. Just before that show, Simontacchi found an old childhood badge in a shoebox that read “Sheriff Scott.” He wore it on stage, and a friend joked that the band should be called “Sheriff Scott and the Deputies.”
The name stuck.
“I still have the original badge,” Simontacchi said, adding that the badge makes occasional appearances in special photoshoots.
While they can be characterized as a string quartet that leans towards bluegrass, songwriting can take Sheriff Scott and the Deputies in different directions. For example, they’ve experimented with more minor key songs, which gave their music a darker, grittier vibe.
“We expand outside of those strict borders with the types of songs we write,” Simontacchi said.
One standout song during Wednesday’s set was “The TV Song” — a trippy, unconventional bluegrass number about the death of a television.
“A woman pulled me aside after the show and told me she loved that song,” he said. “That kind of feedback is always good to hear, you know?”
Simontacchi’s musical journey started when he was a child, listening to his mother play “Peter, Paul, and Mary” and Bob Dylan on the guitar and piano. It wasn’t until he discovered the Grateful Dead — and later, Tony Rice and Bill Monroe — that his passion for bluegrass ignited.
“From there, I was like, okay, I really like this music. So I dove in,” he said.
As a songwriter, Simontacchi lets fleeting inspiration guide his process. Sometimes it starts with a lyric and other times with a melody. He said the best songs come quickly, adding that if he sits on them for too long, he loses interest.
The band is now preparing to record their first album since 2019. Life, kids, and other responsibilities have slowed their pace, but the deep passion for music remains.
“We all live in Nashville, so we get together when we can,” Simontacchi said. “We’re friends first. You’ve got to have good ‘hang chops’ in this business.”
And as long as ROMP will have them, Sheriff Scott and the Deputies plan to keep bringing their sound back to the stage.
“We’re just going to keep playing, keep recording, and see what happens,” Simontacchi said — and if it’s under a canopy of trees with echoing reverb and glow sticks in the night, even better.
The After Party Stage continues Friday with the Dirty Grass Players and Saturday with Big Richard, offering two more chances for festivalgoers to catch that signature late-night “treeverb” vibe. The After Party Stage is located in Pioneer Village of Yellow Creek Park, a short walk from the main stage (across the iron bridge). Access is included with a general admission ticket.
