In a press release, Cook said he had toured nearly nonstop across Canada, the United States, Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere ever since, living out of backpacks and campervans.
He has averaged more than 100 shows and a dozen summer festivals a year, distilling those experiences into verse.
Since 2022, Cook has been joined fulltime by his sweetheart Pamela Mae on upright bass and vocals, crisscrossing 45 US states and 8 Canadian provinces in their campervan "Roadetta" and covering a fair bit of Australia in their HiAce "Hector".
Now, Cook and Mae are touring New Zealand as a duo for the first time, with an extensive tour of 16 centres, including a performance for Dunedin Folk Club on February 22.
The tour is in support of Cook’s eighth album Troubadourly Yours, which comes packaged in a 240-page hardcover book of liner notes that is equal parts memoir and manifesto.
Fans of Cook’s well-travelled poetry and direct, open-hearted delivery have been captivated by the addition of Mae’s homespun harmonies and the pair’s spacious arrangements on upright bass, guitar, banjo and mbira.
In divided and discouraging times like these, they offer messages of hope and community in a language that makes room for everyone. — Allied Media
