Clay Cook

Last updated

Clay Cook
Zac Brown Band Rocks the Marne (Image 4 of 7).webp
Cook with the Zac Brown Band in 2010.
Background information
Birth nameDouglas Cook
Born (1978-04-20) April 20, 1978 (age 46)
Origin Snellville, Georgia, U.S.
Occupation(s)Songwriter, producer, musician
Instruments
  • Guitar
  • keyboards
  • vocals
Years active1990—present

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. After dropping out of college, he and classmate John Mayer 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 , including "No Such Thing", "Comfortable", "Man on the Side" and "Neon". Cook was also a member of The Marshall Tucker Band and Y-O-U.

Contents

Biography

Clay Cook attended Smoke Rise Elementary, Tucker High School, and is a graduate of South Gwinnett High School in Snellville, Georgia in 1996. Following this, Cook enrolled at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. While there, Cook met fellow student and singer-songwriter John Mayer. 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, Georgia, 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." [1] Cook and Mayer wrote songs in Atlanta which later appeared on Mayer's record Room for Squares , 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 The Marshall Tucker Band. 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 Zac Brown Band, 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 for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals for "As She's Walking Away" with Alan Jackson. 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. [2]

Discography

Albums

TitleAlbum detailsPeak chart
positions
US Country US
Heat
Lead Me On
  • Release date: 2001
  • Label:
Self Serving
  • Release date: 2003
  • Label: self-released
Smoke & Mirrors (as Clay Cook & The Torches)
  • Release date: 2004
  • Label: Unknown
Natural Progression (as Clay Cook & The Torches)
  • Release date: 2005
  • Label: Unknown
Year I Grew Up
  • Release date: August 26, 2008
  • Label: CDBY
On Mountain Time
  • Release date: November 17, 2009
  • Label: CDBY
North Star
  • Release date: October 22, 2013
  • Label: Southern Ground Artists
Unobstructed View
  • Release date: November, 2017
  • Label: Southern Ground Artists

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Music of Georgia (U.S. state)</span>

Georgia's musical history is diverse and substantial; the state's musicians include Southern rap groups such as Outkast and Goodie Mob, as well as a wide variety of rock, pop, blues, and country artists such as the late Ray Charles, Otis Redding, James Brown, and The Allman Brothers Band. The music of Athens, Georgia is especially well known for a kind of quirky college rock that has included such well-known bands as R.E.M., The B-52's, and Pylon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MUSC Health Stadium</span>

MUSC Health Stadium was a soccer-specific stadium located in the Daniel Island area of Charleston, South Carolina that served as the home of the Charleston Battery of the USL Championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tucker High School</span> Public high school in Tucker, Georgia, United States

Tucker High School is the only public high school in Tucker, a city in DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. It is operated by the DeKalb County School District. Its student body consists of over 1,600 students.

<i>Inside Wants Out</i> 1999 EP by John Mayer

Inside Wants Out is the debut EP by American singer-songwriter John Mayer. Released by Mayer Music on September 24, 1999, the album was later re-released by Columbia Records on August 2, 2002, with the omission of "Neon 12:47 AM". Basic tracks were to be recorded at Full Moon Studio in Athens, GA. The songs "Back to You", "No Such Thing", "My Stupid Mouth", and "Neon" were later re-recorded for Mayer's 2001 full-length debut album Room for Squares.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Georgia Theatre</span>

Georgia Theatre is a live music venue and event space in Athens, Georgia. National and local acts across all genres have performed at the Theatre, including rock, folk, country, indie, alternative, hip hop and electronic. The venue is on the Athens Music History Walking Tour sponsored by the Athens Convention and Visitors Bureau. Georgia Theatre opened as a music venue in 1978, but spent a few years in the early 1980s operating sporadically as a movie house. It was reopened as a music venue in 1989 and has since hosted many of the major touring acts that come through the state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Why Georgia</span> 2003 single by John Mayer

"Why Georgia" is the third single released by John Mayer from his first album, Room for Squares. As a B-side, the international version single featured the live version of "Why Georgia" as it appeared on Mayer's first live album, Any Given Thursday, as the single followed the live album's release. The international single was released only four and a half months prior to Mayer's second album, Heavier Things.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zac Brown Band</span> American country music band

Zac Brown Band is an American country music band based in Atlanta, Georgia. The lineup consists of Zac Brown, Jimmy De Martini, John Driskell Hopkins, Coy Bowles, Chris Fryar (drums), Clay Cook, Matt Mangano, Daniel de los Reyes (percussion), and Caroline Jones.

<i>The Foundation</i> (Zac Brown Band album) 2008 studio album by Zac Brown Band

The Foundation is the first major-label studio album by American country music band Zac Brown Band. It was released on November 18, 2008. Originally slated for release on the Home Grown label and Big Picture Records, the album is distributed by Atlantic Nashville in association with those two labels. The financing for the album was provided by Atlanta, GA entrepreneur Braden Copeland through his investment company Braden Copeland Ventures, LLC. On December 2, 2009, the album was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Country Album. and also earned the band the Grammy Award for Best New Artist on January 31. The album also has been nominated for the 2010 Academy of Country Music Awards "Album of the Year" award. As of September 2015, the album has sold 3.4 million copies in the US. It is the only album to feature Joel Williams, who left the band prior to its release.

"Toes" is a song recorded by the Zac Brown Band, an American country music band. Lead singer Zac Brown and bass guitarist John Driskell Hopkins co-wrote the song with Shawn Mullins and Wyatt Durrette. It was released in July 2009 as the third single from the band's 2008 major-label debut studio album The Foundation. The song became their second number one hit and their third Top 10 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in November 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">53rd Annual Grammy Awards</span> Edition of awards ceremony

The 53rd Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 13, 2011, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. They were broadcast on CBS with a rating of 26.6 million viewers. Barbra Streisand was honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year two nights prior to the telecast on February 11. Nominations were announced on December 1, 2010 and a total of 109 awards were presented. Most of the awards were presented during the pre-telecast, which took place at the Los Angeles Convention Center next to the Staples Center, where the main telecast took place. The eligibility period was October 1, 2009 to September 30, 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Driskell Hopkins</span> Musical artist

John Driskell Hopkins is an American musician best known for his role as a founding member, vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter for the Grammy Award-winning group Zac Brown Band. Hopkins co-wrote, with Zac Brown, Wyatt Durette, and Shawn Mullins, the Zac Brown Band's third single, "Toes", from their 2008 major-label debut The Foundation. It was the second number-one single for the band. Hopkins also co-wrote, with Zac Brown, Wyatt Durette, and Sonia Leigh, the second single from the band's third major-label album Uncaged, entitled "Goodbye in Her Eyes". Hopkins co-wrote the band's first number=one hit on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart, "Heavy Is the Head", which featured Chris Cornell and was the second single from their fourth major-label studio album, 2015's Jekyll + Hyde.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">As She's Walking Away</span> 2010 single by Zac Brown Band featuring Alan Jackson

"As She's Walking Away" is a song by American country music group Zac Brown Band. Written by lead singer Zac Brown, along with Wyatt Durrette, it features guest vocals from veteran country singer Alan Jackson. The song is the sixth single release by the band, and the first from the album You Get What You Give. It won the Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals at the 53rd Grammy Awards, and is the second Grammy for both the band and Jackson overall.

Levi Lowrey is a singer-songwriter from Dacula, Georgia. He has performed extensively as a solo artist, headliner, and as the supporting act for well known names including Clay Cook, and Zac Brown Band. He is a great-grandson of Gid Tanner. Lowrey is one of the co-writers of the 'Colder Weather' performed by Zac Brown Band that went #1 for two weeks. Lowrey is also the co- writer of Zac Brown Band single 'The Wind" from their #1 Billboard album Uncaged. He is a CMA nominee for "Colder Weather" 2012 BMI Country Award Winner Top 50 songs of the year Colder Weather. 2011 and 2012 voted Best Local Songwriter- Creative Loafing. Roughstock named Levi 13 of 13: Ones to watch in 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Can't You See (The Marshall Tucker Band song)</span> 1973 single by The Marshall Tucker Band

"Can't You See" is a song written by Toy Caldwell of The Marshall Tucker Band. The song was originally recorded by the band on their 1973 debut album, The Marshall Tucker Band, and released as the album's first single. Record World called it "a strong rhythm item that continually builds and builds." A live version was released in 1977 and peaked at number 75 on the Billboard Hot 100. Cover versions of "Can't You See" have charted for Waylon Jennings and the Zac Brown Band with Kid Rock (2010).

Dywane Eric Thomas Jr., professionally known as MonoNeon, is an American bassist, experimental musician, singer and songwriter. His work, spanning multiple experimental projects and collaborations, including with American musician Prince, has seen an online cult following. Thomas was the last bassist Prince hired before his death in 2016, and he additionally played bass on American singer Ne-Yo song "Makin' A Movie" released in 2010. MonoNeon also played bass on Georgia Anne Muldrow's EP "Ms. One" (2014). He has since become known for his videos that harmonize viral videos with basslines, and his compositions that utilize microtonality. He is a native of Memphis, Tennessee.

Gareth Asher and the Earthlings are an Atlanta, Georgia-based country and folk rock band formed by Georgia-born singer-songwriter and guitarist Gareth Asher in 2011, initially under the name Gareth Asher and the Infantry. Asher is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist and son of musical parents. After releasing a solo CD in 2004 and teaming with vocalist Joshua Huff in the band Illbreak in 2005 to release a CD, followed by an album under his own name 2007, Asher assembled what was to become the Earthlings and recorded his best-selling album to date in 2010. Using revenues from a successful Kickstarter project concluded June, 2011, Gareth and the Earthlings toured venues throughout the Southeastern United States in 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paris Luna</span>

Paris Luna is a band based in Carrollton, Georgia formed in 2004. They play a blend of rock, country and Americana music. Members include Heather Russell, songwriter, acoustic guitar, piano, vocals, Michael Harris on lead guitar, Toby Marriott on bass and Kane Russell on drums. "Paris Luna" is Russell's stage name.

James "Barry" Waldrep is an American Bluegrass, Jam Band, Americana instrumentalist, songwriter, composer and record producer. Main instrument is acoustic guitar, but also plays electric guitar, mandolin and banjo. Waldrep co-founded the bluegrass/jam band Rollin' In The Hay in July 1993. The band was based in Birmingham, Alabama, and formed as a side project. Waldrep was also a full time member of the Birmingham band Telluride. Rollin' In The Hay soon became a full-time band touring the Jam Band circuit of festivals and college campuses across the country until May 2009. The band produced 7 CDs and performed over 300 dates per year for 16 years.

<i>Welcome Home</i> (Zac Brown Band album) 2017 studio album by Zac Brown Band

Welcome Home is the fifth studio album by American country music band Zac Brown Band. It was released on May 12, 2017, via Elektra Records. The album features the singles "My Old Man" and "Roots" which charted on Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay. Dave Cobb is the album's producer.

Ben H. Allen III is an American record producer, mixer and songwriter, based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. He has produced and mixed records by artists such as Walk the Moon, Animal Collective, Gnarls Barkley, Kaiser Chiefs, Cut Copy, Washed Out and Neon Indian.

References

  1. Small, Mark (2005). Although actual songwriting credits refer only to a couple of songs on Mayer's first record."John Mayer '9: Running with the Big Dogs" Berklee.edu (accessed April 23, 2007)
  2. "Gareth Asher Biography" . Retrieved February 22, 2013.