Edmonton folk/ roots musician Scott Cook is excited to return to southern Alberta for the South Country Fair.
He plays the Fort Macleod Fish and Games Park, Saturday night at 7 p.m. with his band the Long Weekends (Jessie Dee, Jacquie B, Bramwell Park, Melissa Walker, Matt Blackie, Dana Wylie) with whom he recorded their latest CD “Scott Cook and the Long Weekends Go Long.”
“ It‘s me and six of my closest friends,” he said, recovering from his annual trek to the North Country Fair.
“I put the group together last year and played the North Country Fair and did another five or six shows,” he said adding he doesn’t tour a lot with them.
“It’s hard to take a seven piece band on tour around the world when everybody has their own projects and then you have to make sure seven people get paid. So I’ve been touring with my trio the Second Chances,” he said.
Cook has played South Country Fair three times and attended another five times.
“ We’re playing the main stage , which is something I’ve always wanted to do. We’re going on around 7 p.m. on Saturday night which is when the festival starts to transition into party time. So we’ll start with a few heart -felt numbers then see if we can get the dance floor moving,” he said.
He is also plays a workshop on Sunday afternoon.
“I think it’s a songwriter in the round thing, but I don’t know who else is performing. (Robt Sarazin Blake, Carter Felker) I’m looking forward to it though,” he said, adding he and the band are there at the Fair for the weekend.
“ We won’t get there until Friday, but we‘ll be there until Monday,” he said.
He enjoyed the north Country Fair, but is looking forward to the more laid back atmosphere of the South Country Fair.
“I was up there for five days. it was great but it was exhausting, he said adding he enjoyed it though it rained for the first few days and lost his voice.
“Everything is so spread out and there are so many people to see I always feel I missed out more than I caught,” he observed.
He is pleased with the new record “Going Long.”
“It’s my more rockiest record. It was my attempt to put summer on a record, so it’s upbeat and fun little record,” he said adding he didn’t hire a publicist to spread the word about it.
“ If I was my manager I would have told me to not put it out. It’s a real departure from my usual records. But it’s the record I wanted to make, so I made it,” he said, adding his fans are enjoying it.
“It’s a pretty fun little record,” he said adding he will be recording another record right before South Country Fair.
He is already well into a busy season of playing festival.
“I started my festival season in Australia. North Country Fair was number nine and the South Country Fair will be number 11.”
Scott Cook and the Long Weekends (Jessie Dee, Jacquie B, Bramwell Park, Melissa Walker, Matt Blackie, Dana Wylie) play the South Country Fair at 6:30 p.m., July 16
