PORT TOWNSEND — Scott Cook, a self-described “awestruck vagabond,” has set out with his partner, Pamela Mae, on a tour that’s taking them just about everywhere from Virginia to Texas to California.
On Thursday night, the pair will arrive at the Palindrome, Eaglemount Winery’s event space, for a 7:30 p.m. gig full of songs and stories.
Doors will open at 7 p.m. at the winery, 1893 S. Jacob Miller Road, while advance tickets are available at https:// scottcookduo.brownpapertickets.com.
Tickets also will be sold at the door for this show presented by Rainshadow Recording of Port Townsend; all guests will be required to show photo identification and proof of full vaccination, and the space will be limited to half its capacity to facilitate social distancing.
For information, phone 360-301-0291 or email centrumrecording@gmail.com.
Cook and Mae, who sings and plays banjo and upright bass, are playing songs from “Tangle of Souls,” Cook’s seventh album.
Like the rest of his music, he said it “tends to lean toward the storytelling side of things. I see myself in the tradition of Woody Guthrie. The songs he was singing were people’s songs,” Cook said in an interview this week.
As far as politics, he believes there’s plenty we can agree on — that we don’t hear about from the people who are in power.
“I think songs have the potential to open people’s minds, open people’s hearts. I know they’ve done that for me,” Cook said.
Born in West Virginia, he and Mae now live in Edmonton, Alberta, when they’re not out on the road.
Mae quit her job in labor relations for a long-term care company to head out with Cook in January.
He’s been a full-time troubadour for 15 years now, winning notice from critics for albums including “Moonlit Rambles,” “Long Way to Wander” and “This One’s on the House.”
The 2022 tour has included some 45 shows so far, with a foray into British Columbia in May, then the midwestern United States, then up to Big River, Saskatchewan, and back down to Chicago and New York City.
Cook is looking forward to showing Mae Port Townsend, where he’s played at the Northwind Arts Center.
Cook has also appeared at the Juan de Fuca Festival of the Arts, which takes place in Port Angeles each Memorial Day weekend.
The recent two-year hiatus from traveling, Cook said, gave him a break from the road and time to “catch up to myself,” while opening the door to online concerts.
Those, he said, have been “a nice way of reaching out and connecting with people around the world.”
Cook and Mae still do online shows; the dates for those, as well as his albums, can be found at scottcook.net.
The Scott Cook Duo show at the Palindrome is one of the concerts presented by Rainshadow Recording.
The studio, located at Fort Worden State Park, has booked 10 more shows through fall at various local venues. They include Claude Bourbon on May 10, Abby Posner on June 3, Peppino D’Agostino on Aug. 7 and Iona Fyfe on Sept. 22.
Details will be posted soon on Rainshadow Recording’s Facebook page.
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Jefferson County Senior Reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3509 or durbanidelapaz@peninsuladailynews.com.
