June 12, 2020         Fairfield, CT       Fairfield Theater Company      Tickets

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While Skout’s earliest work explores learning to survive in a state of uncertainty, Patterns, the band’s forthcoming EP, is a testament to thriving in spite of it.  

 

In writing the EP, the band’s founder, Brooklyn-based singer/guitarist Laura Valk, confronted one of her darkest, most familiar patterns: swirling self-doubt in the face of the sometimes insurmountable challenge of moving on. 

 

“The first time I shared the lead single ‘Move’ with family, they were able to hear something I couldn’t,” Valk recalls. “I remember them saying ‘Laura, this song isn’t just about feeling stuck. This is what depressive thinking sounds like.’”

 

Patterns, produced by Nashville’s Quinn Redmond and Julien Dente, was recorded over several months in both Nashville and NYC and is the culmination of two years of writing, touring, and intensifying highs and lows for the Brooklyn-based band. While Valk grappled with her mental health, longtime Skout collaborator and guitarist, Connor Gladney, was diagnosed with a chronic health condition that threatened to compromise his level of involvement with the band. 

 

In navigating this uncertainty across their personal and musical lives, Skout found confidence, healing, and a remarkable new stride. In 2019, In 2019, Adam Duritz of Counting Crows tapped Skout to play at his Underwater Sunshine Festival in NYC after seeing them play live, remarking, “they just blew my mind…they are both incredible guitar players.” Later that year, Skout joined platinum selling soul-pop powerhouse Eric Hutchinson on his sold out City Winery tour. Proudly independent, Skout’s first major release, Just Words, landed on both Spotify’s USA and Canada Viral 50 charts, and their music has since been featured by MTV, NBC, Popmatters, and Music Connection.

 

Skout is known for percussive, uniquely melodic guitar work and smiling too damn much onstage. Valk’s lyrics, which tackle mental health, heartbreak, and hope, are deeply personal in a way that continues to resonate with Skout’s fanbase. While their music floats somewhere between indie, folk, and pop, Laura and Connor have certainly found solid ground in each other. 

 

“For years, music has been our only constant,” Valk notes. “Whether I’m playing solo or with Connor by my side, we’re constantly writing, reflecting, and figuring out life together. On hard days, Skout can be the only thing that gets me up and moving. But, at the end of the day, I got up, didn’t I?”