Absolutely original, slightly organic and eternally orange, Vancouver's legendary folk trio Pied Pumkin String Ensemble have been creating original, infectious music for over 25 years.
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Absolutely original, slightly organic and eternally orange, Vancouver's legendary folk trio Pied Pumkin String Ensemble have been creating original, infectious music for over 25 years. |
In the mid 70's Pied Pumkin's mixture of timeless music, fearless arrangements and irreverent humour defied categorization and made the group a West Coast favourite. Their combination of dulcimer, violin, guitar and flawless harmonies created a sound completely original and enduring. They self-produced two albums which sold over 30,000 copies for their own Squash Records, one of Canada's first independent labels.
| After Shari's departure to The Hometown Band in 1976, Rick and Joe continued performing and recording for eight more years as Pied Pear, then each Pumkin went on to their own successful solo career. |
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The 1998 Pied Pumkin retrospective CD, Plucking DeVine, made CBC's Jurgen Gothe's Top Ten Album list and was nominated as Best Folk/Roots Album in the Pacific Music Industry Awards.
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At midnight on New Year’s Eve 1999 the Pumkin played for 15,000 people headlining Vancouver's Millennium celebration. In March 2000 they released PIED ALIVE, a live CD of 13 songs recorded in 9 different communities during on their hugely successful 33 concert tour of Western Canada in 1999. |
Due to the overwhelming welcome they have received across Canada following the 1989 Reunion Tour, Pied Pumkin countinued to tour annually annually until 2012. In 2009 they released PUMKIDS CD and toured Canadian children’s festivals. In 2011 Rick and Joe had a brief reunion tour and released two Pied PearLPs on a single COLLECTORS EDITION CD. Pumkin’s final reunion was a Vancouver Rogue Folk concert celebrating Rick’s induction into the BC Entertainment Hall of Fame in 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNNAhwFQtx8
Rick passed away peacefully at home on August 1, 2025.
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JOE MOCK Following a decade playing music in Japan Joe now lives in France and is performing in Europe. He released the JOZU CD from his adventures in Tokyo and CAPGUN COWBOY from adventures in France. His song FLYING, written for Pumkin and a hit for the Hometown Band, has become a Canadian classic. SHARI ULRICHShari continues to tour and record. She has recorded 9 solo albums and 25 albums including those with the Pied Pumkin, The Hometown Band, UHF, BTU and The High Bar Gang. She tours solo as well as with BTU, The High Bar Gang, The Luckies and The Unfaithful Servants. She also produces and hosts SongBird North for the Songwriters Association of Canada. www.shariulrich.com RICK SCOTT has released 19 recordings including 7 for children honoured with three Juno nominations and NAPPA Gold, Parents' Choice, WCMA and Canadian Folk Music Awards. THE GREAT GAZZOON, his musical audio novel on 4 CDS written with Valley Hennell with illustrations by Linda Sanborn, was released in the fall of 2012. His last recording in 2017 was ROOTS & GROOVES with brilliant young keyboardist Nico Rhodes. In 2024 he launched DULCIMER MY WAY, a YouTube channel teaching his own unique style of playing dulcimer. www.rickscott.ca Remembering Rick: B.C. musician Rick Scott, who rose to fame in folk music trio Pied Pumkin, dies at age 77. Chek TV Beloved B.C. folk musician Rick Scott dead at age 77. Vancouver Sun https://vancouversun.com/entertainment/bc-folk-musician-rick-scott-obituary Remembering Rick Scott Vancouver Folk Festival Shari remembers Rick |