Scott Cook & Pamela Mae with special guests Ivan Boudreau and Russ Rosen
A jam packed evening of brilliant songs and stories with these veteran artists.
In 2007, Albertan songwriter Scott Cook quit his job teaching kindergarten in Taiwan and moved into a minivan. He’s made his living as a troubadour ever since, touring almost incessantly across Canada, the US, Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere, averaging 150 shows and a dozen summer festivals a year, and releasing seven albums of plainspoken, keenly observant verse along the way. His latest collection Tangle of Souls comes packaged in a cloth-bound, 240-page hardcover book of road stories and ruminations, equal parts introspection and insurrection. The album spent two weeks at #1 on Alberta's province-wide community radio network CKUA, and earned Scott his third Canadian Folk Music Award nomination, for English Songwriter of the Year. Its second single "Say Can You See" was the second most-played song of 2020 on Folk Alliance International's folk radio charts, and took top honours for the folk category in both the 2020 UK Songwriting Competition and the 2020 Great American Song Contest. He’s been back on the road full-time since January of 2022, living in a campervan named Roadetta with his sweetheart Pamela Mae on upright bass and vocals, visiting 43 states and 8 Canadian provinces, and broadcasting solar-powered livestreams from the back of the van. In 2024 they're touring Australia and North America, and recording an eighth album for release in the fall.
press quotes
“He sings his heart and soul, and in doing so lets light flood into your own... A good eye for imagery, a gentle human touch, a wry sense of humour, a whole lot of integrity, a warm, rugged voice and a bunch of memorable lines... Truly one of Woody Guthrie's children.”
— RnR Magazine
“Scott Cook has distilled his travels down into songs powered by a sharp eye for imagery, a healthy dose of humanity, and that unforgettable voice, that at the same time intones the rigors of the road and the most comfortable couch you have ever slept on.”
— David Francey, 3x Juno-winning songwriter
“You really owe it to yourself to find your way to a Scott Cook and Pamela Mae performance as they continue their epic tour in support of Scott's seventh album, Tangle of Souls. These are whip-smart, bone-achingly lovely, socially committed songs presented with a bold, elegant directness evoking the very best of the folk music tradition. Last night's performance in Notional Space was a thing of rare beauty.”
— Mark Jacobs, presenter, Notional Space
“Scott Cook’s seventh 'love letter' to the world is all strings and beauty, a 12-song agnostic endorsement of love over fear... It doesn’t condemn, it summons to one fire... Of all his records this one simply feels the best. ✭✭✭✭✭”
— Fish Griwkowsky, The Edmonton Journal
“One of Canada's most inspiring and imaginative storytellers... beautifully written lyrics, intricate chordal patterns and a refreshing plain-spoken vocal clarity... there isn't a bad song on here. ★★★★” - Emily Saxton
“Scott Cook's latest album is as much a manifesto as a musical work... The Edmonton-based singer/songwriter/visual artist includes extensive liner notes--a dying art to his way of thinking--and cites everyone from Walt Whitman to Woody Guthrie to internet activist Aaron Schwartz to stake out his position against the cultural hegemony that would turn every creative expression into a commodity... However shareable it is, it sounds pretty good as played by Cook and his talented retinue of players and singers, delivered with a gentle, tuneful croon with tasteful trimmings. If it helps you locate it on the folk spectrum, Greg Brown's The Poet Game fits in seamlessly with the slate of Cook originals that teem with wry observations and hopeful life lessons. Isn't that what folk music is all about?” - Scott Lingley
— Penguin Eggs