At its core, music is a restless entity. It constantly sprawls from place to place as it desperately seeks out profound and novel concepts.
At its core, music is a restless entity. It constantly sprawls from place to place as it desperately seeks out profound and novel concepts. The best musicians follow suit in this restless manner, even those who break from music’s forward direction and turn an ear to the past for guidance and inspiration. As vast as music can be, there will always be something new to uncover in timeless sounds, whether they’re ten years young or seemingly infinite. Some do this so well that you wonder how we ever moved past these sonic concepts. Others though, like the celebrated musician Phil Cook, make you stop and seriously weigh the possibility that music’s just been making a steady U-Turn back to its glorious start.
Phil Cook’s interpretation of this “start” on 2015’s Southland Mission has been critically acclaimed for its passionate revisiting of enduring sounds. It’s even been hailed as a musical sermon on folk and blues with its collection of songs that are both moving and inspiring from beginning to end. But this is no weekly homily written in a week’s time for a day’s ponderance. Southland Mission plays out more like a spiritual thesis on roots rock. A culmination of years of study. It’s something that becomes clear when realizing the genesis of the record. “This record took the better part of two years to make,” Cook revealed. “I wasn’t on a clock and because of that, I was able to do just what I wanted to do with this record.”
What he wanted to do was to create a record that celebrates chemistry, something he’s come to believe is essential to music. Long praised as a great musician content with life in the background — whether it be part of his own group like Megafaun and DeYarmond Edison or session roles with bigger acts like The Mountain Goats and Hiss Golden Messenger — Cook witnessed first-hand the importance of having musicians connecting with one another in order to produce the best sound possible. “Being a sideman helps you realize that chemistry between players is something that will pay off in dividends if it’s right,” he explained. “If you have even just okay chemistry, it will affect the music and veer it in a different direction than it should go in. The right chemistry is what I wanted to chase on this record and it started with getting the right people to play on it.”
Hearing Cook discuss the players behind the scenes of Southland Mission makes you re-evaluate just what the record is paying tribute to. Is it a full-blown celebration of Americana, or is it more of a subtle nod to the great session musicians of today who carry on the glorious work of pioneers like Fathead Newman and Carol Kaye? “All the people who played on the record were just fantastic and it was essential that I get them for their parts,” he continued. “At times, it felt like the old adage: ‘You love it so much that you’d do it for free.’ I found all these people I had great chemistry with and made me feel like that and I recorded with them. Seemed like a winning formula.”
Devoting two years to the record helped Cook perfect that winning formula as he was able to track down every desired musician for every desired part. More importantly though, the two years allowed Cook the opportunity to flesh out his songs much more than he had done in the past. Unlike his first record, 2011’s modest Hungry Mother Blues, Cook himself actually sang on Southland even if he was still learning how. “As I was writing these songs, I was still learning how to sing and use my voice,” he divulged. “I’m learning which keys I sing better in — things people learn much younger, but I was just getting around to for the first time. I think I re-sang the record three or four times over and it was great being able to do that so I could get it just right. It was all about finding my voice and the time I had to revisit things to get there was just seminal to the final product.”
For two years, Cook immersed himself in the world of Southland Mission while continuing his role as a sought-after musician, both on the road and in the studio. “Every free moment was basically for Southland,” remarked Cook. “It wasn’t until I was done that I realized how entrenched in it I was. How much of it I was living and breathing. All of my friends and family were basically telling me, ‘Good to have you back,’ so that was a sign I let it control me. But I think that’s how it is for anyone making a piece of art that is monumental to them.”
It wasn’t just the music itself that was monumental to Cook, but the process itself and being the leader everyone looks to for direction. It’s something most musicians would kill for, but Cook admitted it wasn’t something he necessarily wanted. “Being in charge was a great challenge and it definitely made me step up in certain situations,” he elaborated, “but I’m not meant to be in charge 100% of the time. I’m a Libra. It’s not my natural state. I like to help be inspiration for other people as opposed to worrying about deadlines and budgets. It was great to be able to do that and expand my skillset, but as long as the music is good and I’m playing it, that’s all I care about. I could be center stage or a bit to the right, it doesn’t matter as long as I’m playing with people and collaborating to make something grand.”
Cook has plenty of opportunities to step out of the spotlight as he continues to join Hiss Golden Messenger on the road whenever he has gaps in his solo tours. It allows Cook to see the best of both worlds for brief moments at a time, even if it means that his schedule fills up for months on end. “From January until now, I’ve basically been hopping from one thing to another,” Cook stated. The enthusiasm for the music still rings in his voice as he states this, but as he prepares to welcome a new addition to his family at the end of May, it’s clear that his days of five month touring are numbered.
“I’m going to try and make my schedule work for me and my family moving forward,” Cook declared. “Reality is that some opportunities will have to be looked at though even if they overlap and conflict with things, but for the most part, I’m ready to be at home. I love being on the road, but as anyone who’s been on the road for over two months will tell you, I just miss my wife and my bed.”
As his touring life begins to wind down, Cook is excited to ease his restless heart with the next stage of his musical career: producing. It’s a chance to apply his winning Southland formula to other artists and actively seek out better and bolder chemistry. “Producing is so much fun because you get to try and create chemistry almost,” Cook excitedly described. “I think about things for other people all the time, whether it’s working with so-and-so or covering this song I just heard. I just naturally think that way so it’d be nice to explore it in a fully realized role.” In addition to production, Cook’s also interested to try his hand at more co-writing opportunities and, of course, as much session work as he can take on. “That’s never going to go away,” he laughed. “Seeking out musical connections will always be a big part of who I am.”
Even though Cook is excited to spend time at home soon with his growing family, he still has plenty of places around America he looks forward to visiting, including Richmond itself. “Oh, I love the city and there’s always stuff I look forward to doing here,” Cook gushed. “I love going to Kuba Kuba to get some Cuban and there’s always good coffee to be found in Richmond. Of course, most of what I love in Richmond is seeing my friends like Matthew E. White and Andy Jenkins and the rest of the guys at Spacebomb. They’re all really great friends.” For those who have ever looked over the album credits of White’s two records, the strong connection between Cook and Spacebomb is very apparent and Cook himself stated there’s always a chance for something more involving the studio. “Matt and I text each other all the time,” he revealed. “We’re always talking about ideas for the future. Now, where it all falls into place, that’s where it can get crazy and unpredictable so why knows? But the chemistry is there so I’ll be pursuing it as much as I can.”
Phil Cook returns to Richmond this week at Friday Cheers alongside Shovels & Rope. Tickets are $10 with Phil Cook going on at 6:30 PM and Shovels And Rope going on at 8 PM. For more information on the show and where to buy tickets, click here.
