FAYETTEVILLE — Fans of the Razorbacks have likely seen Scott Varady dressed to the nines.
As the executive director of the Razorback Foundation and a former 19-year general counsel at the University of Arkansas, Varady’s job has often demanded formal attire - nice jackets and good ties are necessities.
But when weekend nights roll around, Varady can look almost unrecognizable to those who only know him by his day job. He turns in his dress shirts for pearl snaps, and slips off his loafers in favor of some cowboy boots. As he sits atop a stool behind his eight-piece 1978 Ludwig smoke vistalite, he dons a pair of dark, black Ray-Ban sunglasses that dim the glow of the stage lights.
Varady is the drummer in a country music band.
“When I first met Scott, the first interaction I had with him was as a musician,” said Mary-Heather Hickman, lead singer of Mary-Heather Hickman and The Sinners, the band Varady helped form in 2016. “To see that he has this huge job with the Razorbacks where he has to be very professional, to see him in that setting as well is a funny contrast.
“It’s like this is his alter ego, his band side.”
Music has always been dear to Varady. He began playing piano as a 6-year-old and graduated to a snare drum by the age of 7. He played drums and an acoustic guitar through high school - first at Little Rock Catholic and then in Plano, Texas - and into his undergrad years at the UA.
Once his legal career began to take off following his graduation from Georgetown Law School and he began to raise two children, his time to focus on music decreased. But as his kids grew up, Varady began to pick up his sticks again and practice, and about 10 years ago he began playing in his first band, a 1980s cover group called E and the Boys.
He has also spent time as the drummer for folk and rock bands, and The Sinners are the fourth group with which he has been associated.
“For me, I think music transcends and, as they say, it’s a universal language,” Varady said. “It is so much fun to play and is such a great release, because you focus on what you’re doing in that moment. There is great joy in playing and great passion. I’m passionate about several things, but two of the most passionate are the Razorbacks and music.”
Varady and Hickman became acquainted in an unusual way. While working as a server at a Fayetteville hamburger restaurant, Hickman one day struck up a conversation with a customer about music. As the conversation progressed, Hickman showed the customer - a longtime friend of Varady’s - some clips of her songs.
At the same time Varady and a guitarist, Erin Detheradge, were looking for a country music project. A connection was quickly made with Hickman.
“We practiced and hit it off,” Varady said, “and we’ve been playing together ever since.
“I used to joke that I enjoy listening to her sing so much that we should have to pay to rehearse.”
Hickman was a student at the UA when the band formed. She estimates she performed live “just about every weekend” during the band’s infancy. Varady was always there.
“I would always tell him, ‘I don’t know how you do it,’” Hickman said. “He would be at a Razorback game - even sometimes an away game - and then we would have a show the next day, and he would drive all night just to make it to the show the next morning.”
One such occurrence was in October 2017. Varady attended the Razorbacks’ football game at South Carolina on a Saturday, flew home to Fayetteville that night, then drove to Arlington, Texas, to play at a pregame show outside AT&T Stadium on Sunday when the Dallas Cowboys hosted the Green Bay Packers.
“As a band, we would be like, ‘If you need to take this weekend off or something, we don’t have to book this show,’” Hickman said. “But he was always the first one to say, ‘No, I’ll make it work. I’ll figure out a way to be there.’ I’m definitely very appreciative of that.”
Hickman, 24, said she has also been appreciative of the role model that Varady, 55, has become.
“Scott is probably one of the most genuine people I have met in my life,” Hickman said. “Having him in the band, he’s definitely the motivator and the one who is super positive. I would say he’s almost like the drummer and the hype man, because he’s always the one who gets me in the right mindset for a show.
“I feel like Scott is almost like a parent figure to me, too, and always gives me really good advice….He has definitely been a really good mentor in my life, for sure.”
The band has become a staple at live-music venues throughout the region. It has opened or played after shows for noted artists including Hank Williams Jr., Toby Keith, Pat Green, Kellie Pickler, Whiskey Myers and Arkansas-native Justin Moore.
On Aug. 22, Varady, Hickman and their bandmates will open for Eli Young Band, a Grammy-nominated mainstream country act, at a show in Fayetteville for the second year in a row.
“When we did that show, that place was just packed to the brim,” Hickman said of opening for Eli Young Band last year. “I think they had to stop letting people in.
“But honestly, some of the most fun we’ve had as a band is just playing JJ’s on Dickson or Dickson Street Pub. There are cool things in every show.”
The band has played the pregame show at the Cowboys’ stadium twice and Varady said the Cowboys have expressed an interest in having them back in the future.
“It’s a first-class experience,” Varady said. “It’s a lot of fun and once you get your gear broken down, you get to go watch the game.”
Following her graduation from college in December 2017, Hickman moved to Nashville, Tenn., to begin building a catalog of written music and singing at open mic nights.
Hickman’s move significantly decreased the band’s number of live shows, but it still plays about 10 shows a year, from a catfish restaurant near Branson, Mo., to the Arkansas State Fair in Little Rock.
Varady, who was nominated for drummer of the year earlier this year at the Arkansas Country Music Awards, said the shows have allowed him to meet donors in settings he might not otherwise. He referenced a show last year in El Dorado where six Razorback Foundation members were in attendance and recognized him.
“We had a great visit and it was a lot of fun,” Varady said. “There are a lot of people who love music and love talking, and they naturally love the Razorbacks. (The roles) complement each other.”