Douglas "Clay" Cook (born April 20, 1978) is an American songwriter, producer, and musician who is best known as a member of the

Zac Brown Band Zac Brown Band is an American country music band based in Atlanta, Georgia. The lineup consists of Zac Brown (lead vocals, guitar), Jimmy De Martini (fiddle, vocals), John Driskell Hopkins (bass guitar, guitar, baritone guitar, banjo, ukulele, ...

. After dropping out of college, he and classmate

John Mayer John Clayton Mayer ( ; born October 16, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, but he left for Atlanta in 1997 with fellow guitarist Clay Cook, with whom he formed the short-liv ...

formed the band Lo-Fi Masters. Cook co-wrote several songs with Mayer that appear on Mayer's first two releases, '' Inside Wants Out'' and ''

Room for Squares ''Room for Squares'' is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter and guitarist John Mayer, originally released on June 5, 2001, and re-released on September 18, 2001, by both Aware and Columbia Records. Upon its release, it peaked a ...

'', including "No Such Thing", "Comfortable", "Man on the Side" and "Neon". Cook was also a member of

The Marshall Tucker Band The Marshall Tucker Band is an American rock band from Spartanburg, South Carolina. Noted for incorporating blues, country and jazz into an eclectic sound, the Marshall Tucker Band helped establish the Southern rock genre in the early 1970s. Wh ...

and Y-O-U.

Biography

Clay Cook attended Smoke Rise Elementary, Tucker High School, and is a graduate of South Gwinnett High School in

Snellville, Georgia Snellville is a city in Gwinnett County, Georgia, Gwinnett County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States, east of Atlanta. Its population was 20,573 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is a developed suburb of Atlanta and ...

in 1996. Following this, Cook enrolled at

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music () is a Private university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United ...

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. While there, Cook met fellow student and singer-songwriter

. The two of them formed the duo known as Lo-Fi Masters, putting 5 of their songs on an eponymous demo tape which was made at Berklee. In March 1998 after two years, Cook made the decision to leave Berklee with his bandmate, John Mayer, to move their duo to

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, as he was a Georgia native and was aware of the music scene in the city. They began their career in earnest there, quickly making a name for the two-man band. They frequented the local coffeehouse and club circuit in venues including Atlanta's famous venue Eddie's Attic. On their writing partnership, Cook said, "Even back then, my role was more like that of a producer and John was the writer. I'd give input to clean up the rough edges and help him get his vision of the song more clear. For instance, he might have written six verses to a song, and I'd help him get it down to three."Small, Mark (2005). Although actual songwriting credits refer only to a couple of songs on Mayer's first recor
"John Mayer '9: Running with the Big Dogs"
Berklee.edu (accessed April 23, 2007) Cook and Mayer wrote songs in Atlanta which later appeared on Mayer's record ''

'', including: " No Such Thing", "Love Song for No One", and "Neon". Due to musical and creative differences, the two eventually parted ways. Cook moved to California to work in a music shop and later joined

. Since then he has released two albums of solo material while playing with bands. His albums are entitled ''The Year I Grew Up'' and ''On Mountain Time''. Cook has also played with Sugarland and Shawn Mullins. Cook joined the

, and their album '' You Get What You Give'' was nominated for the 2011 Grammy's, marking Cook's first recorded material that has been nominated. The band won a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals for "As She's Walking Away" with

Alan Jackson Alan Eugene Jackson (born October 17, 1958) is an American country music singer-songwriter. He is known for performing a style widely regarded as "neotraditional country", as well as writing many of his own songs. Jackson has recorded 21 studi ...

. In 2011 Cook announced he had conceptualized his next solo album and planned on working on it throughout the rigorous touring schedule of the Zac Brown Band. Cook released this new album, ''North Star'', on October 22, 2013. In recent years, Cook has also collaborated with artists to produce albums and CDs. For example, he produced and mixed albums of Atlanta artists Gareth Asher and the Earthlings, as well as a single for the Atlanta-based hard rock band Echoes End, fronted by Kevin Coughlin, a longtime friend and film composer of the Along Came The Devil Horror film series.

Discography

Albums

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Clay 1978 births Living people American country singer-songwriters American Southern rock musicians Zac Brown Band members People from Tucker, Georgia People from Snellville, Georgia The Marshall Tucker Band members 21st-century American singer-songwriters Singer-songwriters from Georgia (U.S. state)