Pinedale’s Soundcheck Summer Music Series concludes on Saturday, August 11 with Toronto country-folk artist Sarah Jane Scouten performing with her full band The Honky-Tonk Wingmen. Special guests Big Cedar Fever from Austin will open the show. All Soundcheck performances are presented by the Pinedale Fine Arts Council (PFAC) and take place at American Legion Park in downtown Pinedale. Music starts at 5 p.m. and all shows are free to the public!
With flavors of Lucinda Williams, Nanci Griffiths and a wealth of early country music, the three-time Canadian Folk Music Award nominee and Western Canadian Music Award nominee’s songs are faithful to a long-standing folk music tradition. Often spilling over into modern themes that are outspoken and edgy, her songwriting tackles issues from poverty and midwifery to tongue-in-cheek heartache songs and unabashed Canadiana.
A traditionalist at heart, Sarah Jane Scouten shows her signature flair for the roots of roots music. With respect for these roots, she writes from her own perspective, playing with style to create her own distinct voice.
Scouten released her third album, The Bloom Falls From the Rose, in 2017. The album includes ten original songs, ranging in style from classic honky tonk to indie-folk rock, and two virtually unknown traditional Western Canadian songs, discovered on crackly recordings in university archives and given new life through Scouten’s haunting arrangements. Developing a big, lush sound on the album, Scouten comes into her own as a songwriter and performer, drawing from such modern approaches to country music as Sturgill Simpson and Emmylou Harris’ iconic album Wrecking Ball.
Big Cedar Fever is a string swing band out of central Texas that specializes in Western swing and jazz. Three part harmonies and tight musical arrangements draw listeners in, only to be taken away by the classic style and lyrics that recall another time and place.
Formed in January of 2018, the trio includes Georgia Parker on jazz-box guitar, Ian Lee on fiddle, and Nick Lochman on the upright bass. With all three sharing vocal duties and trading instrumental solos, this is a group whose constant harmony is right up there with their prowess as a dance band. The up-and-comers have played host to crowds of Lindy hoppers, Texas two-steppers, and Western swing dancers.
The 11th Annual Soundcheck Summer Music Series is presented by the Pinedale Fine Arts Council (PFAC) with support from the Town of Pinedale, The Pinedale Travel & Tourism Commission, The Sublette County Recreation Board, The Wyoming Arts Council (with support from the Wyoming State Legislature) and IMTour.
For the full Soundcheck lineup and more info please visit pinedalefinearts.com