Submitted by Mandy Troxel

Beloved Canadian roots balladeer Scott Cook is coming to the San Juan islands for Memorial Weekend. He’ll be bringing his guitar, banjo and keenly observant verse to the Lopez Island Grange on Saturday, May 25. Islander Phil Paige will open the night. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., music starts at 7 p.m. $15 suggested donation ($5 accompanied minors) at the door. Reservations are helpful: email ppaige2000@aol.com. Spread the word to fellow islanders: Cook will be at the Shaw Island Community Center on May 24, and the Orcas Island Grange on May 26.

A storyteller and songwriter with a rare personal warmth, Alberta’s Scott Cook has managed to distill the stories collected over 11 years touring across Canada, the United States, Europe, Asia and Australia into straight-talking, heart-forever-on-sleeve verse. Painfully honest and deeply human, his tunes weave threads of folk, roots, blues, soul and country over spacious fingerstyle guitar and clawhammer banjo arrangements. U.K. magazine Maverik Country named him “one of Canada’s most inspiring and imaginative storytellers,” and No Depression magazine raves, “As good a modern folkie as we have these days. A voice perfect for the genre. An understanding beyond the norm.”