By Sarah Knott
The Cincinnati Enquirer
for Cincinnati.Com

Belinda Scroggins has returned to the Cincinnat music singer/songwriter scene. (Photo courtesy of Belinda Scroggins)

L I S T E N  U P

Listen to Belinda Scroggins song clips on her Web site. See Belinda Scroggins: • Margo's Restaurant, Covington. MS Benefit. Mar. 22-23. 7 p.m.

Cincinnati singer/songwriter Belinda Scroggins had never been on stage--until one summer afternoon at the Walton/Verona "Old Fashioned Day" festival.

It was during high school, and some of Belinda's friends played live at the annual carnival.

"Well, a few beers later," says Scroggins (adding that she doesn't think her father knows about this), "I was feeling brave, and I sang a song with them."

She sang "Tush," the old ZZ Top hit, and the next day, the band called and asked if she wanted to be their lead singer. Belinda said yes.

"We couldn't play a lot of bars because we weren't old enough, but we'd play festivals and at high schools," she says of her first band, called Paradise. "It was all hard rock. Aerosmith, ZZ Top. I can change my voice quite a bit."

Belinda's versatility, something she reveres as a cornerstone of her personality, isn't limited to singing. Yes, she anointed her emergence onto the Cincinnati scene in the 80's with a few hard rock Cincinnati cover bands. But she can also do impressions. She's involved in charity work. She's learning how to play the guitar. And she gave up music for 12 years.

"I had a few band breakups and a relationship breakup, so I dropped out of music and went back to school," says Belinda. She became a CPA, which meant a steady paycheck and a steady day job. But it also meant numbers. Travel. Delays in airports. Belinda found herself circling back to original music. She wrote songs in her free time as a means of creative release.

"I used a mini-tape recorder and talked into it whenever an idea came to me," she says. "The ideas just flowed...I still carry it with me."

So there she sat, a CPA with a hard rock resume and a bad case of stage fright. Belinda decided to challenge herself and hop back into the scene as a solo singer/songwriter. Gigs in bookstores, coffee shops and low-key bars were scheduled. She learned how to relax after the first three songs of a performance. She's finally learning how to read music. She's letting her inner poet (you know, the one every accountant has) take over.

"I knew I was never going to be able to work into a band situation. My schedule is just too hectic," she says. And she enjoyed writing lyrics and stories about her experiences so much, the singer/songwriter label seemed like a natural fit.

"I like to put hidden meanings in my songs, with twists and plays on words," says Belinda. "There's really nothing catchy about my music itself. But if you like a lyrical song, you will like it. I like to try to be vague, not color it too much for listeners. But you would probably think I need therapy after listening."

Belinda released her first solo album, the 11-song "Mystical Madness," last spring. She hopes to begin selling songs for other artists to record.