FROM:  TODD BRODGINSKI/LATHUM NELSON

  ELIZABETH COOK

COUNTRY SINGER/SONGWRITER

TO RELEASE ‘THIS SIDE OF THE MOON’ MAY 17

ON EMERGENT/HOG COUNTY RECORDS

Country singer/songwriter ELIZABETH COOK will release her third album THIS SIDE OF THE MOON May 17 on Emergent/Hog County Records. Hailed by No Depression as “reminiscent of Dolly Parton or a more burnished Julie Miller” and “an artist to whom attention must be paid,” the Florida native has performed on stage since she was four and has been invited to play at the legendary Grand Ole Opry more than 200 times over the last few years.  A full summer tour is being planned now, as are more shows at the Grand Ole Opry.  “I love to play, so when they call me, I show up,” admits ELIZABETH.

THIS SIDE OF THE MOON follows her 2002 release HEY Y’ALL, which earned substantial critical acclaim. Country Music magazine said of her major label debut, “the album’s charms lie in its lack of compromise and announces the arrival of a phenomenal talent whose honky-tonk soul and heartfelt voice compliment an entertaining wit. Elizabeth Cook is the real deal.”

THIS SIDE OF THE MOON is country through and through, as seen from the eyes of someone who’s been through the highs and lows of the music business, and life itself.  “My producer [Jeff Gordon] told me that I write to heal myself. That’s probably true, because I can’t afford therapy beyond a lavender-scented candle,” laughs ELIZABETH.  The track “Funny Side Of Love” is what she calls “one of the first songs to come out of my first divorce with music row.  It was all so heavy and painful–the disappointment and sense of lost opportunity.  Comic relief has become a necessary survival skill in my family and career.”

Though filled with ELIZABETH’s sharp wit, the album also shows her to be a writer of substance and honesty. Of the title track, she says, “I think relationships are hard work. This song addresses going through struggles and becoming disenchanted with what you started working towards in the first place.  That’s a sad and melancholy feeling, especially when it’s mutual.” “Heather Are You With Me Tonight” is a haunting song that was written as the first bombs were falling on Baghdad and chronicles a fighter pilot’s ambivalence toward his task and need for the understanding and support of his love.

A regular on the Nashville scene, ELIZABETH blends traditional country sounds with her seductive modern flair, which the Tennessean described as “old-time Country spirit and twang, updated with a twist of bohemian cool.”  ELIZABETH is the youngest of 11 children, whose parents had a musical group where her mother played mandolin and guitar, while her father–who honed his skills in a prison band while doing time for running moonshine–played bass.  By age four, ELIZABETH was performing with them and had her own group by nine.  She released her first single in her teens, but put aside her music to attend Georgia Southern University, where she earned degrees in accounting and computer information systems. She relocated to Nashville and started a career in accounting, but her love of music was too strong. Soon after re-focusing on music, ELIZABETH scored a songwriting deal and then a recording contract with Atlantic. A sudden label closure found her on Warner Bros. Nashville, which released HEY Y’ALL.

With THIS SIDE OF THE MOON, ELIZABETH COOK consolidates all of her strengths and delivers an album full of emotional heart and musical power.

For the latest news, check her out online at www.elizabeth-cook.com.

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