Preview
KEVIN COOK
Saturday, May 15
Ironwood
Inspiration comes down the pike in a lot of different guises and, in the case of Western Union, the brand new album from Edmonton blues fixture Kevin Cook, much of it came in the form of a tiny, vintage 1920s parlour guitar.
"I think it inspired half the stuff on the new record," says Cook. "It just felt so good to play that ol’ finger-picking blues stuff on it."
It must have felt good indeed because there is tons of that "ol’ finger-picking blues stuff" on the record. Chalk it up to good timing. When Cook got his hands on the aforementioned not-so-new guitar, he was also delving into a lot of the influences that motivated him when he first picked up the guitar well over 20 years ago – musicians with styles that perfectly complement his newest possession.
"This album is more in the roots, country-blues vein," says Cook. "I sort of went back to some of my history – guys like Reverend Gary Davis, Mississippi John Hurt, Doc Watson, those sort of people."
The result is a livelier release compared to Cook's 2001 release, Trouble Light. "It's a little more upbeat, a little brighter sounding. Trouble Light was a bit of a downer – I guess that's the mood I was trying to create," says Cook. "I've been playing a lot of live shows and touring more and I felt like I wanted some stuff that was more upbeat to mix in."
Western Union is that kind of mix. Sitting alongside the percolating, delta-style blues tracks such as "Revelation Blues" and "Lemon Grove" are more, driving numbers such as "Early Girl" and "Cora May."
"’Early Girl’ has a little bit of that bluegrass feel, ’Cora May’ is kind of a bluegrass tune too," says Cook. Some of that bluegrass feel is due to the able mandolin playing of Cam Neufeld, one of a handful of musicians that joined Cook in the studio. Juno award-winning harmonica player Rusty Reed lends his harp to several tracks and Kory Burns, who also recorded and mixed the album, supplies bass.
Being surrounded by a host of great players is a bit of a recent departure for Cook, who has spent most of his time on stage as a solo player in recent years, and it seems like he has embraced the idea of performing in a band again.
"Actually, I am kind of feeling that way," says Cook, adding that the ball started rolling when Burns began laying down bass tracks. "Once you get a bass player you start thinking ‘well, maybe this is the way to go.’ And it opens up some other avenues as far as gigs are concerned."
Now that his three children are old enough to be "pretty independent now" Cook plans on touring the most he has in years – possibly up to six months out of the year. In the meantime, as those plans come together, Cook will undoubtedly be trying to wring more songs out of his new guitar.
"I sit around and play guitar quite a bit, and that usually gets something goin,'" says Cook. "All it takes is one good lick and you can take it from there." |
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