Scott Hartley grew up in several different locations in the Midwest. He showed an early interest in music that was encouraged by his parents and began piano lessons at five. He entered college at Indiana University Southeast in New Albany, IN, majoring in piano and classical performance, but after two years, transferred to the Berklee College of Music, from which he graduated with a Bachelors of Music degree in Music Synthesis. After college, he worked at a series of electronics firms, Kawai America, Yamaha, and Alesis. He founded his own record label, First Light, and released his debut album Forest Light in 1998, following it with Ancestral Crossing in early 2001. ~ William Ruhlmann