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

Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

, 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 hi ...

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 Pedro 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, includin ...

, who tapped her for opening duties during his " Real Animal" 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, Patricia 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 ...

sang background vocals on the track. Opening shows for

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, A.A. Bondy, Escovedo,

Chris Isaak Christopher Joseph Isaak (born June 26, 1956) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional actor. Noted for his reverb-laden rockabilly revivalist style and wide vocal range, he is popularly known for his breakthrough hit and sig ...

Shawn Colvin Shawn Colvin (born Shawna Lee Colvin, January 10, 1956) is an American singer-songwriter. She is best known for her 1997 Grammy Award-winning song "Sunny Came Home". Early life Colvin was born Shawna Lee Colvin in Vermillion, South Dakota, and ...

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 S ...

Tift Merritt Catherine Tift Merritt (born January 8, 1975) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She has released seven studio albums, two for Lost Highway Records, two for Fantasy Records, and three for Yep Roc Records. Early life and education Me ...

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

, Charlie Mars,

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and others followed. Cook is currently on tour with

Lucinda Williams Lucinda Gayl Williams (born January 26, 1953) is an American singer-songwriter and a solo guitarist. She recorded her first two albums, ''Ramblin' on My Mind (Lucinda Williams album), Ramblin' on My Mind'' (1979) and ''Happy Woman Blues'' (198 ...

(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 Meshell Ndegeocello ( ; born Michelle Lynn Johnson on August 29, 1968) is an American singer-songwriter, poet, and bassist. She has gone by the name Meshell Suhaila Bashir-Shakur which is used as a writing credit on some of her mid-career work. ...

, Jonathan Wilson, and David Garza. Special guests include

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

Veronica Mars ''Veronica Mars'' is an American teen neo-noir Mystery fiction, mystery Drama (film and television), drama television series created by screenwriter Rob Thomas (writer), Rob Thomas. The series is set in the fictional city, fictional town of Ne ...

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

Leisha Hailey Leisha Hailey 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 in the pop duo The ...

, of

Showtime Networks Showtime Networks, Inc. is a subsidiary of American media conglomerate Paramount Global under its networks division that oversees the company's premium cable television channels, including its flagship namesake service. Overview The compan ...

The L Word ''The L Word'' is a television drama series that aired on Showtime in the United States from 2004 to 2009. The series follows the lives of a group of lesbian and bisexual women who live in West Hollywood, California. The premise originated wit ...

, 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 *''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 LGBTQ people from Texas American LGBTQ singers American LGBTQ songwriters American women singer-songwriters American rock musicians American folk singers American folk guitarists Writers from Austin, Texas Musicians from San Jose, California Singers 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 singer-songwriters People from Marfa, Texas 21st-century American women guitarists 20th-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American LGBTQ people American lesbian writers