All you RVA art/punk kids might have a reason to watch American Idol this season. Last night on the show, a blue-haired accordion-playing lady named Joey Cook passed the audition process with flying colors, and appears to be headed for this year’s top 24.
All you RVA art/punk kids might have a reason to watch American Idol this season. Last night on the show, a blue-haired accordion-playing lady named Joey Cook passed the audition process with flying colors, and appears to be headed for this year’s top 24. Cook auditioned for Idol in Richmond back in July, and advanced to the next round in Kansas City, which produced the segment of last night’s episode in which she appeared. Armed with an accordion, she wowed the judges with a version of “King Of Spain” by Tallest Man On Earth, after which Keith Urban described her as his “favorite voice of the whole day.”
People who’ve been attending DIY/underground shows around Richmond for a few years might be familiar with that voice; a former resident of defunct local artistic collective The People’s Art House Of Richmond, Joey Cook and her accordion played gigs around Richmond regularly a couple of years ago–she even toured with RVA/Harrisonburg indie rockers Mammoth Indigo back in the winter of 2014. These days, Cook divides her time between Woodbridge and New Orleans, but RVA is still in her heart, and her presence on American Idol might just make a normally unbearable TV show worth watching this year.
Check out Joey Cook’s audition below:
