Elizabeth Cook

Elizabeth Cook (born July 18, 1972) is an American country singer from Florida. She has made over 400 appearances on the Grand Ole Opry since her debut on March 17, 2000, despite not being a member. Cook, "the daughter of a hillbilly singer married to a moonshiner who played his upright bass while in a prison band", was "virtually unknown to the pop masses" before she made a debut appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman in June 2012. The New York Times called her "a sharp and surprising country singer" and an "idiosyncratic traditionalist".

Early life The youngest of 12 children, Cook was born in Wildwood, Florida. Her mother, Joyce, played mandolin and guitar and performed on radio and local television. Her father, Thomas, also played string instruments. He honed his skills playing upright bass in the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary prison band while serving time for running moonshine. In prison he learned welding; Cook would name her 2010 album Welder. After his release from prison, he and Joyce began playing together in local country bands. Elizabeth was onstage with them when she was four, singing material like songwriter John Schweers' "Daydreams About Night Things", a 1975 hit for Ronnie Milsap. She formed a band when she was nine years old.

Cook graduated from Georgia Southern University in 1996 with dual degrees in Accounting and Computer Information Systems.

Career Cook moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 1996 to work for PricewaterhouseCoopers. She got a publishing deal and ended up sleeping on the floor of the publishing house for three years while she worked on honing her craft, with The Blue Album, which contained demo recordings she had made in Nashville, finally being released in 2000. She cut her major-label debut, 2002's Hey Y'all, for Warner Bros. Records. Hey Y'all was not a commercial success. After taking a shot at co-writing, Cook asked to be released from her contract. A proposed deal with Sony Records subsequently fell through.

She released 2004's This Side of the Moon, which was eventually picked up by record label Thirty Tigers. It received positive reviews from The New York Times and No Depression. Produced by Rodney Crowell, Balls, which included a song Cook had written with songwriter Melinda Schneider, "Sometimes It Takes Balls to Be a Woman", was released in May 2007. Welder featured appearances by Dwight Yoakam, Crowell and Buddy Miller.

Cook toured in the United States, as well as in South Korea, Japan, Norway, Sweden, Poland, France and the UK. She appeared at the Cambridge Folk Festival, the Maverick Festival and the Borderline in London. She has continued to play the Grand Ole Opry, making over 400 appearances—the most by a non-member of the radio show.

She toured the UK in support of Welder, performing 18 dates with her then-husband, guitarist and songwriter Tim Carroll, and her upright bass player Bones Hillman, formerly of Midnight Oil.

Cook was invited by the Atlanta Braves to sing the national anthem before their 2011 home opener on April 8, 2011.

At the suggestion of Paul Shaffer, Cook was invited in August 22 2011 to be a guest on Late Show with David Letterman, where she discussed satellite radio and growing up in Florida. She considered starring in a CBS sitcom about a single mother whose life is disrupted by the arrival of her criminal father, but the show never came to fruition. In June 2012 Cook returned to the Late Show to perform with Jason Isbell. They sang covers of Townes Van Zandt's "Pancho and Lefty" and "Tecumseh Valley". On March 14, 2013, she appeared a third time on the Late Show with David Letterman and was interviewed by Letterman. She worked extensively with Carlene Carter on Carter's tenth studio album, Carter Girl. On June 2, 2014, she appeared a fourth time on Late Show with David Letterman, performing Lou Reed's "Pale Blue Eyes".

In June 17, 2016, Cook released her sixth studio album, Exodus of Venus.

In 2020, Cook began hosting Upstream with Elizabeth Cook, a fishing show on the Circle network.

On September 11, 2020, she released the album Aftermath.

She can also be heard on select episodes of the Adult Swim series Squidbillies, where she voices Tammi.

Cook hosts the mid-day radio show "Elizabeth Cook's Apron Strings" on the Sirius XM radio station Outlaw Country. She has been nominated for two Ameripolitan Music Awards for her radio work, including 2011, and she won their Outlaw Female award in 2014.

Personal life After Welder was released in 2010, she and Carroll divorced. In addition, her father, mother, brother, mother-in-law and brother-in-law died during this period. She cancelled an upcoming tour and entered rehab. Inteviewed in 2016, Cook later said, "I needed some help. I did not feel like rehab was what I needed and I tried to desperately convince some key people around me that in that moment I needed intensive therapy and I probably needed medication. They cancelled the tour and said you can't go because we don't trust the state that you're in. You're saying you're not addicted to anything and you're saying you don't have an eating disorder but we don't know that." She was critical of the treatment she received during rehab.

Discography Studio albums Title Album details Peak chartpositions Sales US Country US Heat The Blue Album Release date: November 20, 2000 Label: Self-released — — Hey Y'all Release date: August 27, 2002 Label: Warner Bros. Nashville — — This Side of the Moon Release date: August 16, 2004 Label: Hog Country — — Balls Release date: May 1, 2007 Label: 31 Tigers 72 — Welder Release date: May 11, 2010 Label: 31 Tigers 43 23 Exodus of Venus Release date: June 17, 2016 Label: Agent Love 23 7US: 3,700 Aftermath Release date: September 11, 2020 Label: Agent Love — — Great Television Release date: August 14, 2026 Label: Thirty Tigers — — "—" denotes releases that did not chart

Extended plays Title EP details Gospel Plow Release date: June 12, 2012 Label: 31 Tigers

Singles Year Single Album 2002 "Stupid Things" Hey Y'all 2007 "Sometimes It Takes Balls to Be a Woman" Balls 2008 "Sunday Morning" 2010 "All the Time" Welder 2012 "Leather & Lace" (with Aaron Watson) Hearts Across Texas

Music videos Year Video Director 2002 "Stupid Things" Chris Rogers 2005 "Before I Go That Far" 2007 "Sometimes It Takes Balls to Be a Woman" Roger Pistole 2008 "Sunday Morning" George Nicholas 2010 "All the Time" Kristin Barlowe 2012 "Rock n Roll Man" Stacie Huckabee 2020 "Perfect Girls of Pop" Curtis Wayne Milliard 2020 "Bones" James Southard 2020 "Bad Decisions" Jeff Adamczyk 2020 "Thick Georgia Woman" Alan Steadman 2020 "Two Chords and a Lie" Curtis Wayne Millard

Guest appearances

Awards and nomination Year Association Category Nominated work Result 2007 Americana Music Awards Song of the Year Sometimes, It Takes Balls to Be a Woman 2011 Americana Music Awards Album of the Year Welder 2011 Americana Music Awards Song of the Year El Camino 2011 Americana Music Awards Artist of the Year Elizabeth Cook 2014 Ameripolitan Music Awards Outlaw Female Elizabeth Cook 2015 Ameripolitan Music Awards DJ Elizabeth Cook - Sirius XM Outlaw 2016 Ameripolitan Music Awards DJ Elizabeth Cook - Sirius XM Outlaw

Live radio appearances Bob Harris Country, BBC Radio 2, July 8, 2010. Cook performed 3 songs live: "All The Time", "El Camino", "My Heroin Addict Sister". The Back Road Radio Show, Indianapolis, IN 91.9FM WITT, Cook did a live interview