{"title":"Phil Cook","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePhil Cook is an American folk\/bluegrass musician and songwriter. Originally from Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, Cook has been a part of various music projects throughout his career. He has made significant contributions to the North Carolina music scene as a solo artist, session musician, and regular member of *Hiss Golden Messenger*. In addition to being a cofounder of the band *Megafaun*, Cook has also collaborated with artists such as *Blitzen Trapper* and *Langhorne Slim*. His music reflects his deep roots in traditional American folk and bluegrass genres.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eCook's musical journey began in Chippewa Falls before he relocated to Durham, NC in 2005. Since then, he has become an integral part of the local music community. With his soulful vocals and skillful instrumentation, Cook captivates audiences with his heartfelt performances. His solo work showcases his ability to blend elements of folk, blues, and country into a unique sound that resonates with listeners.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eInfluenced by artists like *Bonny Light Horseman* and *Jeff Tweedy*, Phil Cook's songwriting explores themes of love, loss, and personal growth. His rich storytelling combined with intricate melodies creates a captivating listening experience for fans of Americana music. Whether performing on stage or collaborating with other talented musicians, Cook continues to make waves in the folk\/bluegrass genre.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"all-these-years","title":"All These Years","description":"\u003cp\u003eFor Phil Cook, it all started with piano. A prolific songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, solo artist, and in-demand musician whose collaborations have run the gamut of genre -- as a founding member of beloved band Megafaun to work with The Blind Boys of Alabama, Bon Iver, Kanye West, and Hiss Golden Messenger, to name a few -- Cook has always been a musician’s musician. A sweet and affable presence whose musical dexterity elevates every project he touches, Cook’s musical output and true sound has been hard to pin down. But even across all the work he’s done in his decades as a musician, he’s yet to release a proper piano album. In that way, \u003ci\u003eAll These Years\u003c\/i\u003e is sort of the first proper introduction to Cook, to the way he can express himself with the most ease and reveal the deepest compartments of his heart. \u003ci\u003eAll These Years\u003c\/i\u003e is Cook’s first solo instrumental album on his primary instrument, recorded at NorthStar Church of the Arts in Durham, NC by his cousin and collaborator Brian Joseph (Bon Iver, Sufjan Stevens, Indigo Girls). \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Psychic Hotline","offers":[{"title":"Clear | LP","offer_id":50389403795787,"sku":"1148696","price":29.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50389403664715,"sku":"1148697","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/de3658d0-b814-4942-9f86-16f6fc048cd7_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726359726"},{"product_id":"people-are-my-drug","title":"People Are My Drug","description":"\u003cp\u003eTransforming pain and injustice into love and compassion is a rendering that has been universal to poets and prophets for centuries. In present times, choosing to amplify community and positivity through art can seem like a radical act. With the arrival of \u003ci\u003ePeople Are My Drug\u003c\/i\u003e, Phil Cook is taking the spark from lights left on by musical heroes and offering a torch for listeners as they navigate their own dark corners. Having only recently stepped to the center of the stage as a solo artist, Cook now takes a moment, citing the power of community as his thesis statement. Each track asserts that he alone is no greater than the sum of the people who have brought him to this moment. Since Southland Mission, Cook has performed with childhood heroes including Mavis Staples, Bruce Hornsby, John Prine, Amy Ray and The Blind Boys of Alabama. His band The Guitarheels forged a common language touring the world with Cook and he crafted each new song with reverence for each players’ artistic brilliance. He imagined vocalist Tamisha Waden (Foreign Exchange) soaring above \"Steampowered Blues\" and turned to collaborator Amelia Meath (Sylvan Esso) to co-write \u003ci\u003eMiles Away\u003c\/i\u003e. He heard Brevan Hampden's distinct sanctified tambourine in his head the whole time he was writing for the sessions. The composition of the record plays as a love letter to Phil’s greatest inspiration of all: People.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLP - Gatefold Sleeve With Download.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Psychic Hotline","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":50471562281291,"sku":"1036366","price":19.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50471562510667,"sku":"1036364","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/f6b96fe3-2240-4746-8d4f-afaf9e6e4cf2_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727407942"},{"product_id":"southland-mission","title":"Southland Mission","description":"\u003cp\u003eWith elements of mid-seventies Southern Rock, with a little Blue-eyed soulfulness and Little Feat style shuffles, there's a pleasing combo vibe at work - musically, it kind of reverses into the present day, if that's not too much of a contradiction. Southland Mission is a soundtrack of shared experiences and Phil's purity in leadership is self-evident from the moment the needle hits the record. The songs have no prerequisite, no pretension. Instead, as a collection, they call on listeners to witness and immerse themselves in their own journey.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Thirty Tigers","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50509382254923,"sku":"398260","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/468be53b-a789-4f80-afdd-0c1100c144f5_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727864633"},{"product_id":"appalachia-borealis","title":"Appalachia Borealis","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn the Fall of 2022, Phil Cook found himself living alone in a small home at the edge of field and forest in North Carolina’s Piedmont. For most of Cook’s life he lived near the hearts of the towns he had called home, near the groan of traffic and hubbub of coffee shops. Such close quarters helped make the gregarious Cook a prolific collaborator, from co-founding Megafaun to working with The Blind Boys of Alabama, Bon Iver, Hiss Golden Messenger, and endless others. But Cook’s closest neighbor now was a trailhead, so he went and listened, enraptured first by the stillness and then by the manifold birds. He began leaving his windowsill slightly cracked each night, so that the dawn chorus greeted him. Cook began recording these tangled bird songs, and he slowly joined them. With the sun finally high, Cook would listen to the day’s recordings and improvise in real time on the instrument that remains the first and most steadfast love of his musical life, the piano.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen Cook left that cabin after a year, he moved into a home of his own in Durham, with plenty of space for his two boys to play and for something he’d never actually owned—a proper piano. Over the next several months, Cook spent untold hours drilling down on these pieces. During lessons with the Southern gospel great Chuckey Robinson, the pianist had challenged Cook to sustain fewer notes, to stop clouding and crowding his melodies by using the instrument’s pedals ascrutches. His music suddenly had more clarity, with the sounds and the feelings they ferried given more room to function. Cook dug into the danger and delight, into the idea that we twist our bodies into knots trying to understand what is best for our hearts.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn April 2024 Cook returned to Wisconsin’s Chippewa Valley where he was raised. His lifelong friend and bandmate, Justin Vernon, had just finished an overhaul of April Base, the studio compound where Cook has worked on more than a dozen records during the last 15 years. Cook asked Vernon to produce \u003ci\u003eAppalachia Borealis\u003c\/i\u003e as simply as possible - merely to listen and offer feedback in two extended afternoon sessions, to talk about the right takes and make sure that they’d captured the heart. It, of course, got more complicated, as they experimented with the process. Vernon would add or subtract the bird songs to Cook’s headphones, seeing how they impacted his playing. Or they would route his notes through a massive reverb chamber, Cookresponding in gossamer improvisations. \u003ci\u003eAppalachia Borealis\u003c\/i\u003e is a deeply poignant and personal set of 11 piano meditations, built with the emotional range of a full and open existence. Inspired by those windowsill improvisations, it reflects not only the turmoil and sadness of a fraught time for Cook but also the hope, light, and joy of looking for the other side. You can sometimes still hear the birds whose tune and time helped to inspire so many of these songs. Even when they’re not within earshot, their essence remains.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Psychic Hotline","offers":[{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":51148487852363,"sku":"2241001","price":23.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":51148486639947,"sku":"2241000","price":11.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/9a074cf8-05a9-533c-5975-c7814838bbb4_8a0003f8_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1737720934"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/collections\/test_4eaaa67b_thumbnail_4096_abe42e05-80dc-4681-a38b-d8f1b6570232.jpg?v=1726359700","url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/fr\/collections\/phil-cook.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}