Dear hearts,
I’m writing you from the passenger seat, as Pamela pilots Roadetta on up to Driftpile, Alberta for the 45th annual North Country Fair. It’ll be my 27th or so, and my 20th year playing. It’s the gathering that turned me on to the world I’ve been swimming in ever since. It's thick with memories and old pals.
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I haven’t sent out a Hobo Travelogue in two months, though I’ve been keeping my Fellow Travellers posted over on my Patreon. There’s plenty to tell, but I’m just gonna hit the high points off the hop. First off, for those in and around Edmonton, we’ve booked an album release party for Troubadourly Yours Wednesday, August 27th at the Roxy Theatre, and tickets are already going fast. The album won't be released to the wider world yet, but we wanna celebrate with the folks at home. We’ll be joined by our old housemate Elliot Thomas, Miles Zurawell, Joe Nolan, Hannah Goa and more musical friends. It's gonna be a ride to remember. If you want a seat among the throng, book in here before it sells out. |
Pamela and I are headed to BC next week for our one little tour of the summer, playing backyard concerts in Fort St. John, Moberly Lake and Prince George, and then to Wells, BC for the long-awaited return of ArtsWells Festival of All Things Art, June 27-29. ArtsWells was the crux of the Western Canadian small time for many years; a lawless, legendary bacchanal in an old gold-mining town. It’s back in a smaller, likely gentler form, on a less fire-prone weekend, and we’re grateful to be part of it.
The North Country Fair Afterbender, a tradition I started back in 2008 as a cheeky way to promote a mid-week gig after the Fair, will be rocking for the 16th time this year, but for the first time, without me. The good people of Tiger Coffee have stepped in to host, and it's happening at Blues On Whyte next Wednesday, June 25th.
We’ll be around home for the rest of the summer, gardening, riding bikes, going to Fringe and Folk Fest, and getting Troubadourly Yours out into the world at long last. At the end of August we'll swing back out to BC for the Robson Valley Music Festival's last stand, and then hop on a plane to London. I’ll be gone for ten months (touring in Europe, Australia, Taiwan, Australia again, New Zealand, Australia again, and Europe again), with Pamela joining me for parts of it, and you joining us for part of it too, if you're so inclined.
We’re leading a group tour of Scotland next year, May 26-June 5 of 2026, starting in Edinburgh and going up to the Highlands and the Hebrides, with visits to Inverness, the Isle of Skye, the Isle of Raasay, Loch Ness, Pitlochry, and more. It’ll be our first time leading a tour, but we’re working with a well-established outfit called Scotland Folk Tours that our musician friends say is the best. We’ll go on hikes, learn about the history from our guides, visit castles and distilleries, enjoy private concerts from Scottish musicians, and Pamela and I will play a couple shows for the group too. I’ve heard from some pals who are signed up, and I already know it’s gonna be a beautiful journey. There’s only room for twenty on the bus, and some of those seats are already filled — more info and bookings are here if you want to join us. The singles are sold out, but there's an option to pair up with another solo traveller if you're up for sharing a room, just drop me a line.
Our summer dates
Jun 20-22 • Driftpile, AB • North Country Fair
Jun 24 • Fort St. John, BC • Bruised Orange House Concert
Jun 25 • Moberly Lake, BC • house concert at Marcie’s place
Jun 26 • Prince George, BC • Live at the MacArthur House Concert
Jun 27-29 • Wells, BC • ArtsWells Festival
Jul 5 • Strathcona County, AB • Hastings Lake Hootenanny w/ Kim Churchill and more
Aug 27 • Edmonton, AB • Troubadourly Yours hometown album release at the Roxy
Aug 29-31 • Dunster, BC • Robson Valley Music Festival
Sep 5 • Worth Matravers, Dorset, England • The Square & Compass
Sep 7 • Priston, Bath, England • garden concert w/ Jez Hellard
Sep 9 • Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England • TBA
Sep 11 • Kirkcaldy, Scotland • Kirkcaldy Acoustic Club
Sep 18 • Falkirk, Scotland • Falkirk Folk Club
Sep 19 • Glasgow, Scotland • Robinsfield Bowl w/ Sarah Jane Scouten
Sep 20 • Letham, Fife, Scotland • Letham Nights w/ Sarah Jane Scouten
Sep 21 • Edinburgh, Scotland • Wee Folk Club
Sep 24 • Aviemore, Scotland • Old Bridge Inn, opening for the Poozies
Sep 27 • Sheffield, England • Cafe #9
Oct 1 • Schwalbach am Taunus, Germany • Cowhide House Concerts
Oct 3 • Duisburg, Germany • Where The Birds Fly House Concerts
All these dates and more are on www.scottcook.net, and hey! Someone wrote me last time with an idea of a venue in London, and I can't for the life of me find the email. If that's you, please write again. Or if you know somewhere else we should play, please get in touch.
I’m flying to Australia from there to reunite with my pals Liz Frencham, Justin Vilchez and Pete Fidler, and we’re gonna record a bluegrass album! I’ll write with more news about all that shortly, but for now I can say that I’ll be at Kangaroo Valley Folk Fest, Dorrigo Folk and Bluegrass Fest, and Maldon Folk Fest, with all the rest of the dates to come on www.scottcook.net.
Springtime in the rearview
I was in Tulsa, Oklahoma last time I wrote, freshly returned to touring solo after Pamela thought better of passing through border checkpoints under the increasingly lawless US administration. I had a good run on my own, remembering what I used to do all the time, crushing some long drives and sleeping in some Cracker Barrel parking lots. I played for a live crowd and on the radio in Nashville and got to meet Verlon Thompson, who's an old friend of my Troubadourly Yours engineer and co-producer Miles Wilkinson. I made good on two house concerts around Asheville that Hurricane Helene had cancelled, and heard amazing stories of neighbours helping neighbours through the catastrophe. I shared shows with old pals like Wes Collins, Katie Dahl and Heather Styka. I played for the hard core of the Ohio folk scene at a very wet and cold Central Ohio Folk Fest, and got to dig the little mind-movies that Richard Shindell spins in song. I got to visit the Cooks in Michigan, and got inspired as always by all the people tucked away in their corners of the country working on inspiring things, even now, in what feels like the violent thrashing at the end of the empire.
There's so much more I could say, but I'm trying my best to pour it into a book to accompany Troubadourly Yours out into the world. And besides, we've got a festival to get to.
Sending hard-won hope from here to you wherever you are,
s