Ryan Cook (born April 3, 1981) is a singer/songwriter from Nova Scotia, Canada. He has released four studio albums, three of which have been nominated for the Music Nova Scotia Awards "Album of the Year".

Early life

Cook grew up on a

dairy farm Dairy farming is a class of agriculture for long-term production of milk, which is processed (either on the farm or at a dairy plant, either of which may be called a dairy) for eventual sale of a dairy product. Dairy farming has a history that ...

Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia Yarmouth County is a rural county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. It has both traditional Anglo- Scottish and Acadian French culture as well as significant inland wilderness areas, including over 365 lakes and several major rivers. It co ...

, the eldest of four children. In high school Cook wrote and sang for local punk rock and heavy metal garage bands.CBC Radio: Ryan Cook
He graduated from

Yarmouth Consolidated Memorial High School Yarmouth Consolidated Memorial High School (YCMHS) is a secondary school located in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is part of the Tri-County Regional School Board and is the only high school in the town of Yarmouth. The high school serves the t ...

in 2000. While in college, he worked part-time at a retirement home and began taking requests to perform traditional country music. He developed a passion for the genre which led him to pursue a career in folk and country music.

2008–2009: ''Hot Times''

In 2008, Cook recorded with his then touring band, Sunny Acres, and released his debut LP ''Hot Times''. The record won a Music Nova Scotia Country/Bluegrass Recording of the Year award, was nominated for an East Coast Music award, and named the eighth Best Canadian Country Album of 2008 by

Country Music News ''Country Music News'' was a Canadian monthly periodical published in Ottawa by Larry Delaney and Joanne Delaney. It calls itself "The Voice Of Country Music in Canada". Overview ''Country Music News'' was first published on 1 April 1980. The mag ...

2009–2011: ''Peaks and Valleys''

In 2009, while performing at the

CMA Music Festival The CMA Music Festival is a four-day music festival centered on country music, hosted each June by the Country Music Association (CMA) in Nashville, Tennessee. Beginning in 1972 under the name Fan Fair, the event now draws over 400 artists and c ...

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

, Cook met John Walker, a producer for Music City Roots. The two established a partnership which brought many Nashville musicians together to record at Quad Studios. The album features

Lloyd Green Lloyd Lamar Green (born October 4, 1937) is an American steel guitarist noted for his extensive country music recording session career in Nashville performing on 116 Chart Hit, No.1 Country music, country hits including Tammy Wynette's “D-I-V-O- ...

, Andy Leftwich, Guthrie Trapp, Bruce Bouton, and

Alison Brown Alison Brown (born August 7, 1962) is an American banjo player, guitarist, composer, and producer. She has won and has been nominated for several Grammy awards and is often compared to another banjo prodigy, Béla Fleck, for her unique style of ...

. The album received and won award nominations including Best Canadian Country Album of 2010 by

(Canada) beating some of Canada's most recognized country artists such as

Gord Bamford Gord Bamford (born April 17, 1976) is an Australian-Canadian country music singer. He has released ten studio albums. Alberta-raised Bamford stands as one of the most decorated artists in Canadian country music with 26 Canadian Country Music Ass ...

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, and

Dean Brody Dean Brody (born August 12, 1975) is a Canadian country music artist who has won 16 CCMA Awards and 2 JUNO Awards. Originally signed to Broken Bow Records in 2008, Brody made his debut later that year with the single "Brothers". This song, a Top ...

.Screenshot of Albums of the Year
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2011-2014: ''Wrestling with Demons'', solo career

In 2011 Cook began performing as a solo entertainer and toured as the opening act for country music artists such as

Sammy Kershaw Samuel Paul Kershaw (born February 24, 1958) is an American country music artist. He has released 16 studio albums, with three RIAA platinum certifications and two gold certifications among them. More than 25 singles have entered the Top 40 on the ...

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, and

Rosanne Cash Rosanne Cash (born May 24, 1955) is an American singer-songwriter and author. She is the eldest daughter of country musician Johnny Cash and Vivian Liberto Cash Distin, Johnny Cash's first wife. Although she is often classified as a country art ...

. In 2013 Cook released a third album, ''Wrestling with Demons'', which featured former members of

Hank Snow Clarence Eugene "Hank" Snow (May 9, 1914 – December 20, 1999) was a Canadian-American country music artist. Most popular in the 1950s, he had a career that spanned more than 50 years, he recorded 140 albums and charted more than 85 singles on t ...

's touring band The Rainbow Ranch Boys. The album was produced in Canada and also featured Canadian guitarist/fiddler J. P. Cormier. ''Wrestling with Demons'' was nominated at the ECMA and Music Nova Scotia awards in 2013 and won an award for Country Album of the Year.

2017: ''Having A Great Time''

On November 3, 2017 Cook released this fourth studio album, ''Having A Great Time'', with award-winning producer Charles Austin (Rita MacNeil, Jerry Granelli, Joel Plaskett) at New Scotland Yard in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.

Discography

Studio albums

Awards

Music Nova Scotia Awards

Music Nova Scotia Awards is an annual awards ceremony established in 1997 as part of the Molson Canadian Nova Scotia Music Week. , - , rowspan="2" align="center", 2007 , , rowspan="2", Sunny Acres EP , , New Artist/Group Recording, , , - , , Country/Bluegrass Recording, , , - , rowspan="2" align="center", 2008 , , rowspan="2", Hot Times LP , , New Artist/Group Recording, , , - , , Country/Bluegrass Recording, , , - , rowspan="2" align="center", 2009 , , rowspan="2", Hot Times LP , , Digital Artist, , , - , , Male Artist, , , - , rowspan="3" align="center", 2011 , , rowspan="3", Peaks & Valleys LP , , Album, , , - , , Male Artist, , , - , , Country/Bluegrass Recording, , , - , rowspan="1" align="center", 2011 , , rowspan="1", Gaspereau Valley, , SOCAN Song of the Year, , , - , rowspan="1" align="center", 2013 , , rowspan="1", Ryan Cook, , Entertainer of the Year, , , - , rowspan="2" align="center", 2013 , , rowspan="2", Wrestling with Demons , , Album, , , - , , Country/Bluegrass Recording, , , - , rowspan="1" align="center", 2018 , , rowspan="1", Having A Great Time , , Country Recording, , , -

East Coast Music Awards

The

East Coast Music Association The East Coast Music Association is a non-profit association that hosts an annual awards ceremony based in Atlantic Canada for music appreciation on the East Coast of Canada. Its mission is to develop, advance and celebrate East Coast Canadian mus ...

is a non-profit association that hosts an annual awards ceremony based in Atlantic Canada for music appreciation on the East Coast of Canada. , - , rowspan="1" align="center", 2009 , , rowspan="1", Hot Times LP , , Country Recording, , , - , rowspan="3" align="center", 2011, , rowspan="3", Peaks & Valleys LP , , Country Recording, , , - , , Rising Artist, , , - , , Digital Artist, , , - , rowspan="1" align="center", 2013, , rowspan="1", Wrestling with Demons LP , , Country Recording, , , - , rowspan="1" align="center", 2019, , rowspan="1", Having a Great Time LP , , Country Recording, , , -

Other awards

2011 Canadian Country Album of the year, Peaks & Valleys -

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Ryan 1981 births Canadian country singer-songwriters Canadian male singer-songwriters Living people Musicians from Nova Scotia People from Yarmouth, Nova Scotia 21st-century Canadian male singers 21st-century Canadian singer-songwriters