Chart-topping broadcaster. Sony Award-winning radio host. Bestselling novelist. A familiar face from The One Show.
On paper, AC Scott (Alison Craig) looks like someone who has already lived three glittering careers. But here’s the twist: the most honest chapter of her story is only just beginning.
Before she ever stepped into a studio to record her own songs, AC was the voice filling living rooms and car radios across the country — quick-witted, razor-sharp, endlessly curious.
She grew up in Aberdeen, a kid surrounded by her father’s instruments, where music hummed in the background like a promise she wasn’t quite ready to keep.
Instead, she chose the bright lights and live mics of broadcasting — fronting chat shows, interviewing icons from Bryan Ferry to Victoria Beckham, collecting a Sony Award and New York Radio prizes along the way. She was everywhere. And she was brilliant.
Then life pulled the plug.
In 2012, after repeated lung collapses and a devastating diagnosis of a degenerative condition, she was told she’d be lucky to see the next decade. The career she had built at full throttle came to a sudden, breath-stealing halt. For a while, silence replaced applause.
But here’s the thing about AC Scott: she doesn’t do endings. She does reinventions.
If she couldn’t speak on air, she would write. And write she did — a bestselling trilogy with Orion, one novel later adapted for film by Jason Connery. Yet even as her books climbed charts, something else was stirring. The music she’d once set aside began knocking louder.
A songwriting retreat on Scotland’s west coast cracked the door open. What followed wasn’t a gentle return — it was a flood.
Hundreds of songs poured out, raw and defiant and alive. Guided by industry heavyweight Kate Hyman — known for shaping the sounds of artists like Moby, Beth Orton, and Jeff Buckley — AC found not just her voice, but her truth.
Now, years after being told to slow down, scale back, and prepare for less, AC Scott is doing the opposite. She’s stepping forward.
Her debut album, Out Of The Blue, was released in April 2026 and isn’t a vanity project or a late-career pivot. It’s a reclamation. A reminder that creativity doesn’t expire.
That diagnosis isn’t destiny. That sometimes the dream you put on pause is the one that waits patiently for you to become brave enough to claim it.
AC Scott didn’t just find music later in life.
She fought her way back to it.
Now, in conversation with K9 Magazine, AC opens up about her dogs, work, and life.
Tell us about the dogs you've loved in your life.
I was born into a home of dog lovers. Candy the Basset hound, Gyp and Tara, the Labradors, Scooter and Freckles, the Wire-haired Dachshunds.
Trudi was a smooth-haired standard sausage with horrific halitosis who bit people regularly. Then there was Kelly the Cocker Spaniel, and various litters of pups, so when I left home, it was a no-brainer; I always had a dog.
Stumpy from Battersea. He lived in our shared flat until, after a few months, I went back North. He went off to stay with a friend in the country and loved it so much that he stayed there. A happier dog was never seen.
Jack, who was found in a drain in South London, was my wingman from being single and working in London to becoming a Mum back in Scotland.
For 8 years, he was with me every step of the way, a very special dog. I took him to pubs, clubs, hotels, meetings, just everywhere.
The day I met my husband-to-be, Jack sized him up, and as I left them alone together, 20 minutes later, when I came back, he was sitting on a kitchen stool opposite David with a look of love. He picked my husband for me, no doubt about it. It was a good choice!
Mullet. We went off to Ireland when I was pregnant and left Jack with my folks, and one day, when David was fishing, I found an Irish Collie near death's door at the side of the road.
We called him Mullet. As David was trying to catch Mullet, I found him. I picked him up, and he was in intensive care for a few days before we drove him back to Scotland. He grew into a languorous, long-haired beauty.
He looked really old when we got him, but he had just had a terrible time, so he did a full-on Benjamin Button and got younger by the day. Jack and he were great friends.
Jack died suddenly of a heart attack at 8. Mullet was very sad, so we went to the Edinburgh Cat and Dog Home and adopted Flora.
Flora had been found on the streets, pregnant and with scabies. She was a great scruff ball, I called her half haggis- half womble. A brilliant character.
Sammy was the next addition from the Cat and Dog home again. An almost Labrador, a real softie. She joined the family, too. At this point, we lived near the beach, and those 3 were great friends enjoying long walks every day. Such happy hounds.
Mullet, we lost sadly when we were on holiday. He just collapsed, which was heartbreaking, but he had such a lovely life after his bad start; we knew we had done our best. Flora and Sammy were joined at the hip.
Sammy became Flora's eyes, and Flora became Sammy’s legs as time went on. The old souls came to their natural end at the same time, which was devastating. We always said we would never have 2 dogs the same age again. That was a very tough day.
We lasted about 2 months without a dog, and at this point, I found out I was unable to fly due to a lung condition, so we realised wherever we went, it would be overland, so for the first time ever, we went for a pedigree dog, a wire-haired miniature dachshund who was the light of my life, Charlie.
Charlie was so prominent in my life that I incorporated him into a trilogy of novels I wrote when I got a 3-book deal from Orion. I changed his name to Frank the sausage in the books.
It’s still out there, New Beginnings At The Birdie and Bramble, so I feel his memory will go on forever. Poor Charlie had endless health issues, and finally, at age 10, we let him go in September. It broke my heart.
With a single dog, you focus on them much more, but I also got Charlie when my son left home, so he became my surrogate hairy child. I was really down when Charlie went, and it lasted 3 months before adopting 2 dogs, Ozzy and Panda, both strays from Macedonia.
@acscottsings Scotland has an abundance of beauty. Being born and brought up here was a privlege. Posthumously this song acknowledges the love we have for our parents and the love they have for us, always seeing us the child they once knew. Highlands written and performed by yours truly. Out everywhere. #originalmusic #nevertoolate #scotland #edinburgh #pivot @radioparadise @Jim Gellatly thanks for playing it on @Amazing Radio UK
Ozzy and Panda arrived on 6th Feb this year. They didn't know each other. Ozzy, the boy, is a great big hairy galoot. A total softie and bright as a button. When I saw him, he looked so like Jack, my wingman dog. He is learning really fast.
Panda is the polar opposite: long back, tiny wee legs, and a hound's head. She needs to be doing the Sudoku before breakfast and watching TV. They’re a sitcom on eight legs. The first week was absolutely exhausting.
But thank goodness they love each other. Now all we need to do is teach them the ways of the world. They had never lived in a house, never worn a collar, never had regular meals, rules of any sort, so it’s a full-on 24-hour extravaganza.
But they are adorable, and there is something about rescue dogs…they just seem to understand that they are picked by you because you want to love them. It is extremely rewarding…so here we go again… well, you did ask!
You're obviously a huge dog lover. How long have dogs been a major part of your life, and how would you explain the importance of dogs to someone who hadn't ever experienced the joy of a canine/human relationship in their life?
All my life…I truly believe everyone in the world should experience the unconditional love and companionship a dog brings. They get you out walking, and you meet fellow dog lovers at every turn. Dogs love you no matter how you look, feel, or behave.
They change your life in the most amazing, positive way. I cannot think of anything negative to say about having a dog. I can think of plenty of negative things to say about not having one.
What are your favorite things to do with your dog(s)?
Taking them out for a long walk on the beach, letting them run, sniff, and paddle, chase a ball, each other, and then at the end of the day have them curled up, happy, fed, and snoring next to me on the couch.
You have a really interesting career... What advice would you give to the many people who want to follow your path in career terms? What are the absolute best (and worst) things about your work?
The best thing about my work as a singer-songwriter is that I have my own space. It is a recording studio. In it is a piano which I play for hours every day, and I record there too.
I am surrounded by books, instruments, and photos, paintings, and books. But much as I adore what I do, it is too easy to let the hours fly by, and then suddenly it’s nighttime, and you haven't taken a break all day.
But yet again saved by the dogs, as you just have to take them out, feed them, and talk to them, so sitting static and staring at a screen just isn’t an option.
When something serious is going on, and one of them does something completely ridiculous, you can't help but laugh, no matter what’s going on, they brighten up every day.
Here are our quick-fire questions. Are you ready?
Which do you prefer and why?
Big dogs or little dogs?
That’s Sophie’s choice. My sausage was small in stature and huge in personality, but I have 2 big dogs now who I also adore. I am taking the fifth.
Calm, relaxed dogs or dogs who live at 100mph?
At the moment, I have one of each, so I couldn’t possibly choose. Ozzy is a big, hairy teddy bear pushover, whereas Panda is on alert for interlopers all the time. Chalk and cheese, but equally adorable.
Dogs who do as they're asked most of the time, or dogs who do pretty much whatever they like whenever they like?
I like to have control of my dogs, as then I can take them anywhere. I love their characters and appreciate their quirks and personality traits, but I am an advocate for dogs that do as they are told for their safety, as well as everyone else.
Dogs who love to walk by your side or dogs who like to race off and cover ten thousand yards in 3 seconds?
Again, Ozzy is glued to my side as I have biscuits in my pocket. Panda wants to meet everyone, hairy or human, in a 100-yard radius.
As long as they come back when called and don't disappear off having got the waft of a deer or squirrel, then all is well; otherwise, it’s a bit stressful.
Days off or days at work?
I love what I do, so it feels like days off… I am very fortunate, I realise, though I have only found this new career in the past couple of years. I mean, writing songs and recording them in LA after sailing there on the Queen Mary was a dream come true.
But 6 weeks away from home meant 6 weeks away from the dog; I missed my wee sausage terribly.
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The fastest route or the scenic route?
Scenic. Stop and smell the - flowers! Big fan of nature, and in Scotland, we are very lucky to have a lot of places to choose from.
Hills or coasts, the whole country has become far more dog-friendly in recent years, from cafes to hotels. An ideal would be a picnic by a loch in the middle of summer. Perfect.
Nighttime or early morning?
I used to be a party animal deluxe, but now I love a clear head, a cosy jumper, a massive thermal coat, and a pair of boots to walk out as the sun comes out. No one around, just the dogs running and loving life, and me. Bliss.
Describe the last time you laughed out loud because of something you saw a dog do.
My two Macedonians are just settling in and learning the rules. They hadn’t been in a house until they arrived here a week ago. They are doing very well. But as they have settled, their confidence has gone up.
Yesterday I came home to find Ozzy, the big boy, standing on the kitchen table. Probably should have looked upset, but couldn’t help laughing out loud.
This time last week, he was in a van with 19 other dogs hurtling from North Macedonia to Scotland, and now he is in a centrally heated kitchen lording it over us all.
He is a soft galoot, though, and looked mortified as he sloped off, which made it even funnier. Actually, as I write this, my husband has just called out as Panda has eaten his new specs off the kitchen island…..oops…he isn’t laughing…
What do you like to do in your downtime?
Walk, listen to records, vinyl records, read books, write songs, and LOL about with the dogs.
Let us in on a secret that very few people know about you.
I am really shy. I can inhabit persona when working, but when it's just me and a room full of strangers, I freeze and reach for a large glass of wine… Dutch courage.
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What is your current favorite…?
TV show?
Blue Lights, BBC iPlayer set in Northern Ireland about the police force, present day, it is brilliant.
Album?
Stop Making Sense, Talking Heads. I'm getting ready to see David Byrne live in Edinburgh this summer. They are my all-time favorite band.
Film?
I don't get to the cinema much; the last film I saw was the Bob Dylan film with Timothée Chalamet, which I loved.
Animal charity(s)?
Beating Hearts Rescue in North Macedonia. Where did my two come from? Wonderful woman Eva runs it and gives her heart and soul to saving dogs and cats from the most awful situations.
If you had to choose just one, what product or service would you say has most changed your life, do you think, and why?
When I was diagnosed with LAM, a degenerative lung condition, in 2012, I thought my life was over, so I decided to go into therapy.
I am from a background where even to say that would shock people, but it helped me enormously, and I would recommend it to anyone who is lost, unhappy, or unsure where they are in life.
Tell us about some of the most memorable moments from your work.
Sitting in Hollywood, Los Angeles, in a recording studio with an Emmy Award-winning songwriter, Andrew Rollins, after sailing across the Atlantic, as LAM means I can't fly, and driving from East to West Coast to meet him, he heard my first song and called me up and said quite simply. "You are a songwriter."
It has changed my life. I love it.
Finish the following sentence, "Dogs are…"...
Dogs are everything.
And finally, this is always a tough question and often requires some serious thought… If dogs had the ability to speak, and you could ask your dog just one question and one question only, what would you ask them, and what do you think that they'd say?
With Ozzy and Panda, I would ask them both, "Tell me everything about your life before I adopted you."
Anything else you'd like to share with our readers? This is an opportunity to talk about any causes, projects, business ventures, etc, that are important to you and you'd like us to tell our readers about.
My single, Never Too Late was written about my life, but I think the lyrics resonate with a lot of people, and when I listened to it the other day, it is also relevant to Ozzy and Panda.
"It's never too late to try, never too late to find, the thing that's waiting for you, waiting for your whole damn life." I truly believe that is true of everyone.
My debut album, Out Of The Blue, was released in April 2026. I am rehearsing a lot just now, so luckily the two dogs seem to love music, especially Panda, whose wee head cocks to the side as she listens intently.
I like to think she is responding to the lyrics as she learns English. She is very intelligent, and until she can hold a pen and write her own, listening to my songs will have to suffice. I have started an Instagram account as they are a comedy turn. They really are.
Thanks, AC!
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