Kai Scott at The Obscene Parrot

Kai Scott is a 20 year old South African singer-songwriter based in Cape Town. Emerging at open mics around Cape Town in late 2024, his unique songwriting style -influenced by writers like Bob Dylan, Paul Simon and Syd Barrett as well as composers like Hailu Mergia and John Fahey- is anything but plain. This has attracted the attention of those who have encountered it, resulting in his debut full-length performance at the House of Machines in January 2025, and subsequently an appearance at Up The Creek Festival in February 2025. Since then he has continued to perform regularly in various venues around Cape Town. Though he didn’t start performing publicly until late 2024, he has been recording and self-releasing music since he was 14, releasing his first full folk album in June 2025. He continues to write and debut new music at every performance, with increasingly ambitious lyrics and music.

While Scott’s songwriting takes an old style of folk music, he brings it into the modern day with references to climate change and political tyranny. By combining this with the personal, his music tries to capture the dread of being a young person in the 2020s. Another key feature of his music is his storytelling. He balances the navigation of complex emotions in the modern day with a sardonic sense of humour to convey vivid narratives. With his live repertoire consisting of a combination of original music and the occasional classic folk cover, he hopes to participate in revitalising an interest in folk music and take the genre in new directions.