Mike Cooley (musician)
John Michael Cooley (born September 14, 1966) is an American songwriter, singer, and guitarist from Tuscumbia, Alabama, near Muscle Shoals.[1] He is a member of the band Drive-By Truckers.
Mike Cooley | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Tuscumbia, Alabama |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter guitarist |
| Instruments | Vocals guitar |
| Years active | 1985–present |
| Labels | ATO Records |
| Associated acts | Drive-By Truckers Jason Isbell Shonna Tucker |
Background
Cooley received his first guitar at age 8, spending time with a local bluegrass musician to pick up the instrument.[2] In 1985, he formed the punk-influenced band Adam's House Cat with Patterson Hood. The band was chosen as a top ten Best Unsigned Band by a Musician contest in the late 1980s. After the end of Adam's House Cat, Cooley and Hood performed as a duo under the name "Virgil Kane." While living in Auburn, Alabama they started a new band, "Horsepussy," before splitting for a few years. It was during this split that Hood moved to Athens, Georgia and began forming what would become Drive-By Truckers with the intent of luring Cooley back into the fold.[3]
With the Drive-by Truckers
Hood and Cooley formed Drive-By Truckers in 1996. Cooley contributed one song to their debut record Gangstabilly and three songs to the follow-up, Pizza Deliverance. Cooley wrote five songs for the breakout double album Southern Rock Opera, which received a four star rating from Rolling Stone Magazine.[4] Cooley added four songs to the Truckers' next two records Decoration Day and The Dirty South, including his signature song "Carl Perkins' Cadillac". He wrote two songs for the follow-up A Blessing and a Curse and seven for Brighter Than Creation's Dark. He has written three songs for each of the Truckers' records Go-Go Boots and The Big To Do and six songs for their 2014 release English Oceans.
Solo career
In 2013, Cooley released his first solo effort The Fool on Every Corner, a live album recorded at Atlanta's The EARL.
Cooley and Hood occasionally perform as an acoustic duo under the moniker, Dimmer Twins.[5]
On May 22, 2021, he performed at a benefit concert in Brookwood, Alabama in support of striking workers during the 2021 Warrior Met Coal strike.[6]
Cooley lives in Hoover, Alabama with his wife and children.[7]
Drive-By Truckers contributions
| Year | Album | Song |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | The New OK | "Sarah's Flame" |
| 2020 | The Unraveling | "Slow Ride Argument" |
| "Grievance Merchants" | ||
| 2016 | American Band | "Ramon Casiano" |
| "Surrender Under Protest" | ||
| "Filthy and Fried" | ||
| "Kinky Hypocrite" | ||
| "Once They Banned Imagine" | ||
| 2014 | English Oceans | "Shit Shots Count" |
| "Primer Coat" | ||
| "Made Up English Oceans" | ||
| "Hearing Jimmy Loud" | ||
| "Natural Light" | ||
| "First Air of Autumn" | ||
| 2011 | Go-Go Boots | "Cartoon Gold" |
| "The Weakest Man" | ||
| "Pulaski" | ||
| 2010 | The Big To Do | "Birthday Boy" |
| "Get Downtown" | ||
| "Eyes Like Glue" | ||
| 2008 | Brighter Than Creation's Dark | "3 Dimes Down" |
| "Perfect Timing" | ||
| "Self Destructive Zones" | ||
| "Bob" | ||
| "Lisa's Birthday" | ||
| "Checkout Time in Vegas" | ||
| "A Ghost to Most" | ||
| 2006 | A Blessing and a Curse | "Gravity's Gone" |
| "Space City" | ||
| 2004 | The Dirty South | "Where the Devil Don't Stay" |
| "Carl Perkins' Cadillac" | ||
| "Cottonseed" | ||
| "Daddy's Cup" | ||
| 2003 | Decoration Day | "Marry Me" |
| "Sounds Better in the Song" | ||
| "When the Pin Hits the Shell" | ||
| "Loaded Gun in the Closet" | ||
| 2001 | Southern Rock Opera | "72 (This Highway's Mean)" |
| "Guitar Man Upstairs" | ||
| "Zip City" | ||
| "Women Without Whiskey" | ||
| "Shut Up and Get on the Plane" | ||
| 2001 | Pizza Deliverance | "Uncle Frank" |
| "One of These Days" | ||
| "Love Like This" | ||
| 1998 | Gangstabilly | "Panties in Your Purse" |
Discography
- Live Albums
- The Fool on Every Corner (2013)
Sources
- AL.com blog
- "12 Questions with Mike Cooley". Archived from the original on September 21, 2013. Retrieved November 21, 2013.
- News
- "Archived copy". www.rollingstone.com. Archived from the original on February 22, 2008. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - "Dimmer Twins".
- Kelly, Kim (May 19, 2021). "'Alabama Strike Fest' Planned to Help Striking Coal Miners". Rolling Stone. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved August 31, 2021.
{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - "Personal challenge: Mike Cooley of the Drive-By Truckers readies for solo shows at Birmingham's WorkPlay (Video)". December 16, 2011.