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Portfolio

Featured Works
Our Small Town
Music
Lyrics

a bluegrass-inspired ballad about loss of family and place.
(2014)
Acre of Shells
Music 
Lyrics
"In an acre of shells, you'll find just one pearl." (2017)

 
You Are the Medicine
Music
Lyrics
a love song exploring the metaphor of drugs vs. medicine, using laid-back pop and lush ambiance.
Unreleased. (2018)
Bang Bang
Music
Lyrics

a modern rock-a-billy romp full of nonsense. 
(2017)
When the Bloom Falls From the Rose
Music
Lyrics

a letter of rejection in the form of a power ballad, soaked in pop and country. Hooks for days.
(2017)
Discography
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Songs in Alphabetical Order
Career Highlights
2019 Full band performances at Dranouter Festival in Belgium, Unamplifire Festival in London UK, Rogue Folk Club in Vancouver, Canada.
2019 Official showcase at Folk Alliance International.
 
2019 Three-week tour of UK and Ireland with several sold-out performances.
2018 Opening performances for Corb Lund, William Prince, Ron Sexsmith. 
 
2018 Completed fourth Home Routes tour.
 
2018 Official showcase at Folk Alliance International

2018 Full band performances at Merlefest in North Carolina, Salmon Arm Roots and Blues in British Columbia, Torrance Cultural Arts Centre in California. 
2018 Taught songwriting at Songwriting by the River and Beyond Trad camps in British Columbia, Canada.
 
2018 Released single Show Pony.
2017 Full band performance at North Country Fair, Alberta Canada.
2017 Five week full band tour of Europe and the UK. 
2017 Released acclaimed  third album When the Bloom Falls from the Rose on Light Organ Records. 
 
2016 Full band performance at Vancouver Folk Music Festival and Dawson City Music Festival.  
2016 Performing alongside Martha Wainwright, Lucy Roach, Martin and Eliza Carthy.
2016 Taught songwriting at Nimblefingers Bluegrass and Old-Time Music Workshop, British Columbia. 
 
2016 Canada Council for the Arts study grant in Portland, Oregon. 
 
2015 Full band performance at Calgary Folk Music Festival.
2015 Performing alongside The Strumbellas, John Mann, Sam Lee.

2014 Released second album The Cape.
2014 First Canadian Folk Music Award nominations:
Traditional Singer & Traditional Album of the Year
2012 Opened for Peter Yarrow (Peter, Paul and Mary)
2011 Released first album Magpie Waltz.

Award Nominations


2018 International Folk Music Award nomination - Album of the Year: When the Bloom Falls From the Rose

2017 Canadian Folk Music Award nomination - Traditional Singer of the Year: When the Bloom Falls From the Rose

 

2016 Western Canadian Music Award nomination - Roots Solo Artist of the Year: Railtown Sessions
 

2014 Canadian Folk Music Award nomination - Traditional Singer of the Year: The Cape

 

2014 Canadian Folk Music Award nomination - Traditional Album of the Year: The Cape

 

Notable Grants

 

2019 Canada Council for the Arts - Arts Across Canada Travel Grant: Official Showcase at Folk Alliance International in Montreal


2018  Canada Council for the Arts - Arts Across Canada Touring Grant: Seven summer music festival performances across Canada


2018  Canada Council for the Arts - Arts Abroad Touring Grant: Three-week full-band tour, Vancouver to Los Angeles


2018 Canada Council for the Arts - Arts Across Canada Travel Grant
Performances in Haida Gwaii, British Columbia (Queen Charlotte Islands)


2018 Foundation Assisting Canadian Talent on Recording (FACTOR) - Showcase Grant
Official Showcase at Folk Alliance International in Kansas City


2018 FACTOR - Artist Development Grant


2017 FACTOR  - Showcase Grant Official Showcase at Folk Alliance International in Kansas City

 

2016 Music BC - Touring Grant: Autumn duo tour of the UK


2016 FACTOR - Juried Sound Recording and Marketing Grant: Third full-length album, When the Bloom Falls From the Rose
 

2015 Canada Council for the Arts - Study Grant: Study fiddle, sacred harp singing, songwriting instruction in Portland, Oregon USA
 

2015 Canada Council for the Arts - Touring Grant: Three-week full band tour of British Columbia and Alberta
 

2015 Music BC - Touring Grant: Summer tour of the UK and Italy

Biography and Press Quotes

"Sarah Jane Scouten showcases a major talent and a whole lot of versatility." 

- No Depression

"An agile voice, ruminative songwriting, and love for classic country, indie pop, and everything in between."

- American Songwriter

"Drawing upon traditional melodies that almost biologically are instantly singable, but combining them with emotions, sentiments and stories that are relatable even now. 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."

- Tom Power, CBC q 

Three-time Canadian Folk Music Award nominee, Sarah Jane Scouten's music delivers a signature mix of vintage folk and country, with modern sounds and subjects. Sarah Jane is steeped in North American and British folk music from years of finding folk music at its source, from the folklorists of Vancouver Island to all-night jams in West Virginia, Sacred Harp singing in Kentucky, the song craft of Nashville, two-stepping in Louisiana and her Glasgow roots. Touring throughout North America and Europe, this seasoned performer boasts a top-notch live band and considerable acclaim for her last three full length albums. 

 

Raised in a musical family on Bowen Island BC, where harmony singing was as common as watching television, Sarah Jane commits to her roots, using her warbling voice and knack for storytelling to captivate and transport her audiences. Her songs run the emotional gamut, creating a world of characters who come alive in her often haunting, and equally whimsical ballads. Like any songwriter worthy of the name, she explores love with a fine-toothed comb, but isn't limited to romantic love. Love of a place, a time, the natural world and all its inhabitants tug at her sleeve, which she handles with equal power to delight and break a heart. According to Tom Power of CBC q, "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."

 

Her upcoming fourth album "Confessions", recorded in Toronto with veteran producer Andre Wahl, out soon on Light Organ Records, is a further exploration of Americana sounds and song forms. It is a collection of revelatory songs -- a series of confessions -- which valorize, condemn and eulogize the most important relationships of her life to new harrowing heights.  

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