R E S T A U R A N T P O L L B A L L O T P . 4 6 - The Austin Chronicle

E-mailing AmyWho do you love? It’s a question about music Amy Cook bounced around in conversation, thenelaborated on by e-mail afterward. In her own e.e. cummings style (Cook’s a longtime fan of hispoetry), and unedited, this was her reply:when i get asked who i really the kinks and mazzy star and t rexlove musically i get overwhelmedpatti smith, talking heads, nir-pretendersand i go blank. vana, etc. … kenny rogers first dylanhere are some really important edition! … i could go on foreverrolling stonesones. i love music and everythough, so here are very david garzakind of music so a lot is left out, faves and i’m sure i’m forgettingthe escovedolike stevie wonder, and shuggiesomebody so important. patty griffinotis and replacements and simon and garfunkelneil youngdavid axelrod and miles davis big starsam phillipsand the gun club andjeff buckleyMUSIC AMY COOK CONTINUED FROM P.54 Spaces in Betweencounted Cook among its Top 100 of 2008. Therecording made a flashy calling card and suggestedthere was a great deal more to come.“I wasn’t consciously trying to do anythingdifferent, but I wrote a lot of the songs on thatrecord in alternate tunings,” she says. “I hadBrad Rice playing guitar and when he wentoff with Keith Urban, I felt really lost withthe songs. I realized a lot of them didn’t workwith just me and guitar. When I went on tour,they weren’t translating. It was kind of boring.I liked the record, the atmosphere, but I thinkI wrote it all in one place where my voice fit,and I hadn’t figured out how to use my voice.I didn’t know I could sing, and Alejandroshowed me how to sing.“We’d been on tour, singing songs –‘Laaaaaaaa!’” trills Cook operatically.“And he’d be like, ‘Yeah!’ One night, afterI’d opened and he was about to go on, he said,‘I’m gonna sing “All the Young Dudes,” andyou’re going to sing the second verse.’ AndI was like, ‘What?’ There are a lot of wordsthere, and they’re not easy to learn! I lookedthem up on my iPhone and wrote lyrics on myarm. He could have told me the lyrics, but hewanted me to rise to the occasion.“So, I got up there, sang the first and secondline, then panicked, looking at my arm.All the blood rushed to my head – standingin front of hundreds of people and I’m notsinging! It was like being a kid and peeingin class! But I pulled it off, I did somethingfunny, did a little dance, and everyonelaughed, and it was fine.“The next night, he made me do it again.”The making of Let the Light In, producedby Escovedo – his first for someone else –ushered in a new era of creativity for Cook,who wrote the songs over a three-yearperiod. It was a time spent learning thediscipline of writing every day and discoveringthat some songs deliver themselves fullyformed in 20 minutes while others requirecultivation and gestation.“Once you start doing something every day,it gets easier. I was afraid for a long time that Iwould give a lot of time to something and notbe good at it. When it got easier to write, itwas easier to give more time to it.“I was playing with people I really loved,but Alejandro said, ‘We’re going to play withdifferent people on the record.’ He knew whathe wanted and what we were going to do. Wedid a lot of preproduction where he’d say,‘This is how the song is going to start, whereit’s going to build.’ He really pushed for asmuch feeling as possible in the songs.”AMY COOKLet the Light In (Root House)Thankfully the Central Texas drought has passed, because acold shower’s in order after airing out Let the Light In. Passions rundeep on Amy Cook’s fifth LP. In a smoky voice just short of a rasp,yet capable of hitting that magic girlie note, Cook dresses her selfassuredAAA songwriting sensibilities in a wife-beater. Luxuriatingopener “Get It Right” kicks off with a Lucinda Williams-like salutation,“Hey there you with the easy eyes,” and the fact that first-timeproducer Alejandro Escovedo could sing that line with the same sense of Stanley Kowalskispeaks to the perfect meeting of musical minds here between artist and producer. Thatextends to the band and its guests, the former including Escovedo guitarist David Pulkinghamand string arrangements by Stephen Barber, and Patty Griffin and Tosca String Quartet standingout in the latter credits. The producer lends his only harmonies to second track “Moonrise,”a red-light district romantic dirge straight out of the swamp. Antidote “Hotel Lights” glows nexton night guitars lit with strings and Cook’s intimate yearn, while “Mescaline” burns incandescenteven as back-to-back followers “Let’s Go Down to the River” and “Saltwater” attemptto quench such desires. Whispered intimacy (“I Like to Go to the Parties”) meets ice creammelodicism (“Strange Birds”), and “I Wanna Be Your Marianne” imagines Leonard Cohen withthe Stooges. Not a misstep here, so watch for hot coals and burning embers.– Raoul HernandezJANA BIRCHUMThe question becomes the elephant in the room. Cookherds it graciously, frankly, philosophically.Some of that feeling came from thosewho worked on it with her – Escovedoand his six-string crony David Pulkingham;Austin’s latest name resident Ben Kwelleras her co-writer on “Let’s Go Down to theRiver,” with the luminous Patty Griffin andDana Wheeler-Nicholson singing harmony;Stephen Barber’s elegant arrangements ofthe Tosca String Quartet bassist backedby Bobby Daniel and drummer SammyKestenholtz with David Boyle on keyboards.Boyle also lent his recording and mixingtalents to the album, mastered by DaveMcNair. Much of Light’s sparkle comes fromthe diamond edge Escovedo puts on Cook’ssharpened songwriting.The compelling “Moonrise” is already heardon KUT, but “Saltwater,” “Hotel Lights,” and“Let’s Go Down to the River” are likely favorites.The titular track and sly “I Wanna Be YourMarianne” further map new turf.“I like writing story songs and had justwatched [The Rolling Stones] Rock and RollCircus and listened to T. Rex. Marianne couldbe anybody.”Cook smiles, using a similar disclaimerabout the song “Mescaline,” which sheadmits ultimately did inspire that one. ExceptMarianne’s the name of one of rock & roll’sredeemed goddesses, a moniker immortalizedin countless song titles by artists from theWho to Leonard Cohen to Tori Amos. Andthe song sounds like Escovedo dug into it, thevisceral combination of artist and producerthat makes real studio magic. Isn’t that what asongwriter wants?Cook nods in agreement and rises, walkingto the door and opening it. The musty surroundingsof the larger basement area contrastwith Lampland’s compact tranquility.“Want to go upstairs?”Liz Lambert and Amy CookPerched on the top step outside of the HotelHavana, Amy Cook tamps a Natural AmericanSpirit cigarette from its blue pack and lightsit. The cirrus smoke floats into the cloudlesssky, drifting one way then twisting another.Tattooed on the inside of her right arm is theword “bird.”“It’s an ex-girlfriend’s nickname; we’re stillgood friends,” she explains then giggles. “Wecall it ‘lesbian Scrabble,’ because she had myinitials, ‘ANC,’ tattooed on the inside of herarm. For her new girlfriend, all she did wasadd a letter at the beginning and at the end. Itwas perfect.”Looming is the release of Let the Light Inand a tour with the Heartless Bastards. Also inthe cards is Amy Cook: The Spaces in Between,a documentary directed by Todd Robinson.While it’s not Cook’s current look or repertoire,the film is symbolic of her ongoingprogress.“As a singer and a songwriter, but mostly asa person, I’ve grown into my skin since then,”she muses. “I’ve been lucky enough to findsome great teachers and cohorts in AustinI’ve learned so much from. And I also have agirlfriend who’s really inspiring to be around.She makes you believe anything is possible.That you can do what you set your mind to,and you should have a good time doing it.”On cue, Lambert appears behind her holdinga menu – anyone want to order lunch?Her hair is short, sandy blonde, tousled like awell-loved stuffed animal. Cook looks up witha winsome smile, shaking her shoulder-lengthlocks no. Lambert leans down and kisses thetop of her head.Amy Cook Let(s) the Light In at the Hotel San José CDrelease, Thursday, April 8, 6pm.56 T H E A U S T I N C H R O N I C L E APRIL 9, 2010 a u s t i n c h r o n i c l e . c o m