Letham Nights #86 - Scott Cook & Pamela Mae || Sarah-Jane Scouten

Oh, Canada! We could drink a case of duo!

A special Letham Nights in store as we host a double bill of beautiful duos from Canada.

After a break of... wait for it... TEN YEARS!! troubadour Scott Cook returns to the hall on his almost non-stop global tour, this time with partner and upright bassist, Pamela Mae.

Joining them after several years of trying to line up a booking, is fellow Canadian, Sarah-Jane Scouten with her own duo and a gorgeous songbook of folk and Americana.

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 a year. His latest album 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. Now, he's back on the road full-time, living in a campervan named Roadetta with his sweetheart Pamela Mae on upright bass and vocals. In 2025 they're releasing Scott's eighth album Troubadourly Yours with tours of North America, Europe and Australia to follow.

"As good a modern folkie as we have these days. A voice perfect for the genre. An understanding beyond the norm." –No Depression

"Damn, this is a gorgeous album. Scott Cook’s voice – vocally and lyrically – is as clear-eyed, optimistic, and straightforward as ever... Tangle of Souls is the medicine we could all use right now." –Rachel Cholst, Adobe and Teardrops

"He sings his heart and soul, and in doing so lets light flood into your own... Truly one of Woody Guthrie's children." –RnR Magazine

Sarah Jane Scouten is a BC-born folk and Americana songwriter, paying respects to 60s and 70s country songwriters Willie Nelson, John Prine, Bobby Gentry. She weaves in British folk revival elements with a continuous thread leading back to her roots in bluegrass and old time music. After a transformative four years, training as a herbalist in southwest Scotland, Sarah Jane released her fifth album Turned to Gold. Sarah Jane offers a new depth and solidity as a songwriter. This is destined to be your next favourite road trip album. Sarah Jane Scouten has been nominated for 4 Canadian Folk Music Awards, a Western Canadian Music Award and an International Folk Music Award.

“An agile voice, ruminative songwriting, and love for classic country, indie pop, and everything in between.” - American Songwriter

"In the style of Nanci Griffith’s best music, Scouten’s songs are filled with sturdy melodies, and the performance – featuring everything from bluegrass picking to bar-band shuffle and burning-ballad intensity – was memorable." - Montreal Gazette

"She has the rustic rhythm and scrape that puts a groove under songs." - Herald Scotland

"Stan Rogers was able to do it, Ron Hynes was able to do it, Kate McGarrigle was able to do it – and Sarah Jane Scouten is able to do it." Tom Power, CBC q