User:Scoot52

Scooter Simmons is a singer/songwriter who has written songs that have been recorded by the Gaither Vocal Band, Mark Lowry, Jeff and Sheri Easter, Brian Free and Assurance, The Martins, The Cathedrals and many more. He has written for Benson Music Group, McSpadden Music, Word Records and Spring Hill Music Group.

A native Texan, Scooter was born in Newton, TX and grew up in the piney woods of East Texas. His father was a Pentecostal pastor who pioneered several churches as well as evangelized throughout the southern states. Scooter followed in his Dad's footsteps, first attending Texas Bible College in Houston, TX where he majored in Theology and went on to evangelize for 11 years. In 1974, he married Gwendolyn Bass. After singing and speaking at youth camps and churches for a number of years, they moved to Baton Rouge, LA where Scooter served as Youth Pastor at First Pentecostal Church. Then, in 1981, Scooter took the position of Assistant Pastor at First Pentecostal Church in Princeton, IL.

Their first son, Rusty, was born in 1984, so they moved home to DeRidder, LA where Scooter worked as Public Relations Director at Beauregard Electric Co-op. In the meantime, he continued working on his music and writing songs. In 1988, he and Gwen decided to move to Nashville, TN, where their second son, Ritchie, was born. It wasn't long after their move to Nashville that Scooter's song "Temporary Home" was recorded by Jeff and Sheri Easter and later, by the Gaither Vocal Band, garnering him a Dove Award nomination for Song of the Year.