Amy Cook (born January 30, 1979) is an American musician and singer-songwriter living in

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

, Texas.

Biography

Amy Cook began as an indie artist in Los Angeles, self-releasing records and finding success licensing her songs to television and film. Cook moved to the small West Texas town of

Marfa Marfa may refer to: Music * Marfa (instrument), an African percussion instrument * Marfa (music), celebratory music of the Hyderabadi Muslims Places * Márfa, a village in Baranya county, Hungary * Marfa, Chad * Marfa, Texas, a city in the hig ...

in 2004. She recorded a collection of lo-fi folk songs that would become "The Bunkhouse Recordings," complete with crickets and coyotes. Soon after, she moved to Austin where she recorded "The Sky Observer's Guide" (a collaboration with Los Angeles artist, Amy Adler) and caught the attention of

Alejandro Escovedo Alejandro Escovedo (born January 10, 1951) is an American rock musician, songwriter, and singer, who has been recording and touring since the late 1970s. His primary instrument is the guitar. He has played in various rock genres, including punk ...

, who tapped her for opening duties during his "

Real Animal '' Real Animal'' is a studio album by Alejandro Escovedo, released in 2008. It was produced by Tony Visconti, and co-written with Chuck Prophet. Track listing All tracks composed by Alejandro Escovedo and Chuck Prophet #"Always a Friend" – 3: ...

" tour. They followed their traveling act with "Let the Light In," an Escovedo produced record that garnered critical acclaim and featured the song "Hotel Lights," which was spotlighted on many favorites lists in 2010.

Patty Griffin Patricia Jean Griffin (born March 16, 1964) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician.Griffin, Patrici She is a vocalist and plays guitar and piano. She is known for her stripped-down songwriting style in the folk music genre. Her songs ha ...

sang background vocals on the track. Opening shows for

Heartless Bastards Heartless Bastards are an American rock band formed in Cincinnati, Ohio in 2003. The band has released six albums. History Heartless Bastards originally started as a recording project of Erika Wennerstrom. She played most of the instruments and ...

, A.A. Bondy, Escovedo,

Chris Isaak Christopher Joseph Isaak (born June 26, 1956) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional actor. He is widely known for his breakthrough hit and signature song "Wicked Game", as well as other songs such as "Blue Hotel", "Baby D ...

Shawn Colvin Shawn Colvin (born Shawna Lee Colvin, January 10, 1956) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. While Colvin has been a solo recording artist for decades, she is best known for her 1998 Grammy Award-winning song "Sunny Came Home". Early ...

Ben Kweller Benjamin Lev Kweller (born June 16, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. A former member of Radish, Kweller has released six solo albums and appeared on several collaborations. Early life Ben Kweller was born in Sa ...

Tift Merritt Tift may refer to: Places * Tift County, Georgia, a county in south-central Georgia, United States People with the given name * Tift Merritt (born 1975), American singer-songwriter People with the surname * Andrew Tift (born 1968), British portr ...

Leo Kottke Leo Kottke (born September 11, 1945) is an acoustic guitarist. He is known for a fingerpicking style that draws on blues, jazz, and folk music, and for syncopated, polyphonic melodies. He overcame a series of personal obstacles, including parti ...

, Charlie Mars,

Ryan Bingham George Ryan Bingham (born March 31, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and actor whose music spans multiple genres. He is currently based in Los Angeles. As of 2019, Bingham has released six studio albums and one live album, t ...

and others followed. Cook is currently on tour with

Lucinda Williams Lucinda Gayle Williams (born January 26, 1953) is an American singer-songwriter and a solo guitarist. She recorded her first two albums: '' Ramblin' on My Mind'' (1979) and '' Happy Woman Blues'' (1980), in a traditional country and blues style ...

(summer 2012). Cook released Summer Skin, on August 28, 2012, on Roothouse/Thirty Tigers. The album was produced by

Craig Street Craig Street, born in Oakland, California, is a noted record producer. Street moved with his family to Los Angeles at the age of 11, but returned to the Bay Area for his high school years. He began playing guitar at age 14, and was in a number ...

and featured a band including Chris Bruce,

Meshell Ndegeocello Michelle Lynn Johnson, better known as Meshell Ndegeocello (; born August 29, 1968), is a German-born American singer-songwriter, rapper, and bassist. She has gone by the name Meshell Suhaila Bashir-Shakur which is used as a writing credit on so ...

, Jonathan Wilson, and David Garza. Special guests include

Robert Plant Robert Anthony Plant (born 20 August 1948) is an English singer and songwriter, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the English rock band Led Zeppelin for all of its existence from 1968 until 1980, when the band broke up following the ...

, and

. All songs on the record were written by Amy Cook, with the exception of one co-write with

. A documentary on Cook, ''Amy Cook: The Spaces In Between'', from

Solar Filmworks Solar Filmworks is a film production company which produced '' The Last Confederate: The Story of Robert Adams'' (2007) which stars Julian Adams, Amy Redford, Mickey Rooney, and Tippi Hedren, and was produced by Weston Adams (ambassador) and Juli ...

, was released in 2009 by The Documentary Channel. The film was directed by Todd Robinson and produced by

Julian Adams Julian Calhoun Adams II is an American producer, writer, actor, and architect. Early life and education He is the son of Weston Adams and Elizabeth Nelson Adams, and was born in Columbia, South Carolina. He spent his childhood in South Caroli ...

and Robinson. It followed Cook and her band on a short tour across the Southwest and premiered on The Documentary Channel on July 6, 2009. Cook also provided the soundtrack to the Emmy-winning feature-length documentary ''Amargosa'', also directed by Todd Robinson. Amy Cook's songs have appeared in several television shows such as

Good Wife ''The Good Wife'' is an American legal and political drama television series that aired on CBS from September 22, 2009, to May 8, 2016. It focuses on Alicia Florrick, the wife of the Cook County State's Attorney, who returns to her career in l ...

Veronica Mars ''Veronica Mars'' is an American teen noir mystery drama television series created by screenwriter Rob Thomas. The series is set in the fictional town of Neptune, California, and stars Kristen Bell as the eponymous character. The series prem ...

Dawson's Creek ''Dawson's Creek'' is an American teen drama television series about the lives of a close-knit group of friends in the fictional town of Capeside, Massachusetts, beginning in high school and continuing into college that ran from 1998 to 2003. T ...

, Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County, Felicity and Party of Five, amongst others. She met

Leisha Hailey Leisha Hailey (born July 11, 1971) is an American actress and musician known for playing Alice Pieszecki in the Showtime Networks series ''The L Word'' and '' The L Word: Generation Q''. Hailey first came to the public's attention as a musician ...

, of

Showtime Networks Showtime Networks Inc. is an American entertainment company that oversees the company's pay television, premium cable television television channel, channels, including its flagship service Showtime (TV network), Showtime. It is a subsidiary of me ...

The L Word ''The L Word'' is a television drama that aired on Showtime from January 18, 2004 to March 8, 2009. The series follows the lives of a group of lesbian and bisexual women who live in West Hollywood, California. The premise originated with Ilene Ch ...

, while in Marfa and soon Amy's song "Million Holes in Heaven" was played on the show by Leisha's character during her radio program.

Discography

*''Summer Skin'' (Roothouse Records/Thirty Tigers) August 28, 2012 Stream Amy Cook’s Gorgeous New Album ‘Summer Skin’
/ref> *''Let the Light In'' (Roothouse Records) 2010 *''Fine Day for Flying'' – EP side project (42 North Recordings) 2009 *''Sky Observer's Guide'' (Roothouse Records) 2006 *''Bunkhouse Recordings ''(Marfa Records) 2005 *''The Firefly Sessions'' (self) 2003 *''From the 52nd Story'' (self) 2000

References

External links

Official websiteAllMusic bio"Amy Cook: The Spaces in Between" on IMDBAmy Cook's "Hotel Lights" on WXPN's My Morning Download
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Amy 1979 births Living people American lesbian musicians LGBT people from Texas American LGBT singers American LGBT songwriters American women singer-songwriters American rock musicians American folk singers American folk guitarists Writers from Austin, Texas Musicians from San Jose, California Musicians from Austin, Texas Singer-songwriters from California Singer-songwriters from Texas Guitarists from California Guitarists from Texas Lesbian singers Lesbian songwriters 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American singers People from Marfa, Texas 21st-century American women guitarists 20th-century American LGBT people 21st-century American LGBT people American lesbian writers