About

Russell Scoones was born in Dunedin, New Zealand. He is a multi-instrumentalist who played bass in high school rock’n’roll bands before taking off to play in Australia in bands supporting major Australian groups. He then returned to Dunedin to study composition with Anthony Ritchie and classical guitar with Sue Court, while making music with theatre works, touring with percussion outfit Smith Vs Smith and collaborating with dancers. Arts work at Artsenta in Dunedin lead to a passion for creating music with people with disabilities.

Relocating to London in the early 1990’s lead to international touring with Carol Brown Dances and further music work with people with disabilities. Russell went on to train as a music therapist at the University of Roehampton, London.

He returned to New Zealand in 2009 to take up a position at the Raukatauri Music Therapy Centre, while continuing to create sounds for Carol Brown Dances around the world. He also started fun music sessions for children as The Singing Cowboy and has released 3 albums of original songs.

In 2020 Russell moved to Melbourne, Australia. He is currently practicing music therapy at Caulfield Hospital, writing songs for new band MESS Is LAW and collaborating on dance works with Carol Brown. The music continues…