November 11 @ 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Album Launch & Film Screening with Special Guest Kate Kyle
In March 2020, Canadian folk & country artist Sarah Jane Scouten was living in rural Scotland. With tours cancelled, days stretched endlessly, punctuated only by the steady unfolding of Scottish springtime, leaf by leaf, petal by petal. Growing up on the west coast of Canada, to her the flora of Dumfries and Galloway was a pageant of scent and colour, altogether new but still strangely familiar.
This is where Sarah Jane was initiated into herbal medicine – hawthorn, valerian, yarrow. The plants’ subtle power drew her onto an unexpected path. In May 2020 she applied to a professional programme in herbal medicine in the UK, qualifying in June 2023. Training in an entirely different field gave her perspective and space from a career in music which demands everything. It renewed Sarah Jane’s love of live performance, which had been diminished by life on the road. Studying herbs, and just as importantly people, gave her music a deeper dimension and she began to write again. Now for the first time this decade, she is releasing new music.
Sarah Jane Scouten’s upcoming fifth album Turned to Gold (Light Organ Records) is a road trip album, drawing on Tom Petty, Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris and Christine McVie. Opening up the record, “Wanderlust” is a highway dream. “Wilder When I Was With You”, with its irresistible chorus, was co-written with Samantha Parton (BeGood Tanyas). “Rose and Carnations” is a tribute to John Prine and “The Great Unknown” reveals a family experience of medical assistance in dying (MAID). For the title track “Turned to Gold”, Sarah Jane revisits the impact of the sudden loss of her biological mother, exploring the theme of alchemical transmutation. Made in a heatwave in Vancouver, she collaborated with producer Johnny Payne (The Shilohs), Matt Kelly on keys and guitars (City and Colour), Leon Power on drums (Frazey Ford) and James McEleney on bass (Andrew Collins Trio).
Sarah Jane Scouten has been nominated for 4 Canadian Folk Music Awards, a Western Canadian Music Award and an International Folk Music Award. She has performed at Vancouver Folk Music Festival, MerleFest, Calgary Folk Music Festival, Salmon Arm Roots and Blues, Dranouter Festival, Maverick Americana Music Festival and more. She has opened for Corb Lund, William Prince, Ron Sexsmith, The Sadies and shared the stage with Martha Wainwright, The Strumbellas, Allison Russell, Martin Carthy, Mandolin Orange (Watchhouse) and more. According to CBC q’s Tom Power, “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.”
Access Information: Level Access in rear of building through adjacent close to left-hand side of the Cafe (facing the front of the building). To ensure your experience with us is as best as it can be, please do let us know if you have any specific access requirements and we’d be happy to help. Please email Kevin or Sal on: [email protected] or phone 01387 252435 and speak with one of our team. We are able to provide walk-throughs of the building before attending our events as well as assign seating before your arrival.