AC Scott, the recording name of broadcaster and writer Alison Craig, is marking a major new chapter with the release of her debut album Out Of The Blue next month.
Best known until now as a chart-topping radio broadcaster, Sony Award winner and familiar television face, Scott comes to music later than most – and with a remarkable backstory.
A diagnosis of a degenerative lung condition forced her to step away from broadcasting in 2012.
What began as private songwriting at her late father’s desk became a creative lifeline, eventually growing into hundreds of songs and international collaborations.
Out Of The Blue is described as a rebirth rather than a conventional debut: ten tracks that move from piano-led introspection to swaggering rock and cinematic torch songs, shaped by Scott’s Scottish roots and years immersed in pan-genre radio culture.
Influences range from Judie Tzuke and Julia Fordham to punk, New Wave, funk and early hip-hop.
The album’s lead single, Sometimes, helped announce her arrival as a recording artist, with further recognition coming through UK Songwriter of the Year semi-finalist slots.
Written during a period of enforced stillness and self-reckoning, Out Of The Blue captures an artist finally stepping into the life she was meant to lead – and selling not just a record, but a hard-won creative reinvention.
This week she took time out to talk to the Irish Post...
What are you up to?
Getting ready to release my first album Out Of The Blue in April and the imminent arrival of two stray dogs from Macedonia I’ve adopted.
Which piece of music always sends a shiver down your spine?
Ballad of Lucy Jordan by Marianne Faithfull. I covered it recently and got a great endorsement from her grandson, Oscar Dunbar, saying he loved it. That made me so happy.
Which musician has most influenced you?
There is no genre I don’t love. Surrounded by music since I was born but if I had to choose I would say David Byrne, Burt Bacharach and Patti Smith.
How did you get started in music?
Two years ago I wrote a song and fate brought it to the ears of an Emmy Award winning songwriter in LA who told me ‘you are a songwriter’.
I had no idea! He called Kate Hyman, who signed Beth Orton, Moby and Jeff Buckley amongst others and they have been my team from that day to this – it is a dream.
What are your Irish roots?
Born and bred in Scotland. Two years ago I did my DNA and found out I was 19% Irish. I was cockahoop.
The day I stepped foot in Ireland it felt like I had always known it. I used to joke and say when I die I am coming back as an Irish person. The craic, the music, the land – I knew it!
Have you a favourite all-time singer / band?
Jeez that is a hard one … changes with the wind to be honest but today Talking Heads as I have just bought David Byrne tickets for Edinburgh this summer. Whoop!
What’s your favourite film?
I love Wild Rose with Jessie Buckley about a wild Scot trying to realise her dream to be a country singer in Nashville. It’s a cracker. Jessie is extraordinary in everything she does.
What is your favourite place in Ireland?
Clifden in Connemara. First time I was in Ireland I found a collie in Bantry Bay and he was in a terrible state. We took him to the vet, James Casey, in Clifden where he stayed for a week as they cared for him.
We made some lovely friends and felt embraced by the community. We called the dog Mullet as my husband was fishing for mullet at the time.
He didn’t catch a fish but I found a dog, and we had him for years. He went from skin and bone to a magnificent black, shiny-haired smiling friend. Brilliant dog.
Have you a book that has been a major influence on you?
On Writing by Stephen King. Short, succinct, perfect guide to how to write a book.
No nonsense, just practical advice. I followed it and ended up with a three-book deal from Orion. My writer’s name is Alison Craig; it’s a trilogy set in a restaurant in St Andrews.
What’s on your smartphone playlist at the moment?
Changes every day. I pull over when I hear a song I love on the radio and add it to my playlist. Latest additions include Texas Sun by Leon Bridges, Can’t Let Go by Lucinda Williams. I could go on and on and on and on…
Which living person do you most admire?
My long-suffering husband. I have had so many different ideas, jobs, ups and downs and he has supported me 100%. As long as I am happy, he is too. He is a saint.
Which trait in others do you most admire?
Honesty. Without trust it all goes to pot.
What would be your motto?
If you don’t have a plan you can’t have a cock up. That was my Dad’s saying. Drives my husband mad but it has been a joy for me careering through life following my heart.
What’s the worst advice you’ve ever been given?
If you don’t have a plan you can’t have a cock up. Yes I know. The flip side of the follow-your-heart adage is sometimes you need to sit at peace and use your loaf. It works both ways.
Have you a favourite quote from a song?
‘Ignore what’s in your head, listen to your heart, you’re a long time dead’
From my song, Never Too Late… my Dad said to me when I was about 12 – ‘aye you can play the piano but you’ve not got much of a voice.’
So I didn’t sing until two years ago. I still feel like a megalomaniac saying that I can sing… but I always encourage others to follow their hearts… that is your truth no matter how long it takes. …
What books are on your bedside table at the minute?
Donna Ashworth – To The Women
Just One Weekend Catherine Aitken – a hilarious story about two women going to New York for the weekend to see their childhood crush band play.
In terms of inanimate objects, what is your most precious possession?
My Dad’s banjo ukulele. I spent many an evening sitting outside bars as a kid as he was inside entertaining people. I met and made some great wee friends and every time I see it, it sits in my studio, I smile, we had some laughs with it.
What’s the best thing about where you live?
Edinburgh is a great city, you can walk everywhere and it is jaw-droppingly beautiful and in 30 minutes you can be on a deserted beach walking.
. . . . and the worst?
There are certain areas that are overrun with tourists thanks to social media influencers portraying it like the set from Harry Potter.
I know people that have sold their flats as every time they come out of their front door there is some daftie standing there all dressed up and acting the goat for the camera.
What’s the greatest lesson life has taught you?
I nearly died in 2012 when my lungs collapsed, so it is to grab every moment, cherish it. Don’t wait until something awful happens to realise how precious it is. And say yes to everything!
What do you believe in?Lifting up and supporting others. Giving not taking. Love.
What do you consider the greatest work of art?
A song. A lyric. A melody.
Who/what is the greatest love of your life?
Cliché but my family. I have one son, Louis, who has just become a Daddy.
Wee Ava is the light of my life as is Jess, her Mummy of course. David the long-suffering husband! Oh and my two new Macedonian mutts. We are a
Out of the Blue is out on April 26, 2026, via Right Track/Universal Distribution.
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