Kevin John Cook lives in a cabin in the woods. The logical assumption is that such an existence would divorce one from many of the troubles those of us in less secluded circumstances face. Not so. On his latest release, Shake Your Faith, Cook tackles the torment, confusion, and uncertainty we all feel about our interactions with others. Relationships govern the record from the start, as in the opening track’s reflection on the spell cast by the mysterious Rena (“Too Good to be True”). But Cook is no self-absorbed whiner; he takes personal relationships into a broader set of narratives in songs like “Cold as They Come”, a tale of a down-and-out waitress never to recover from her trials. He also meanders further into existential concerns in songs like “Yellow Belly” and “Early Warning”.
If you’re like me, though, and lyrics pass you by the first, second, twelfth time around, you might be more inclined to focus on the stylistic variety of Shake Your Faith. Cook seems to be a bluesman at heart, but he interrupts the more conventional realizations of the genre (for example, the title track) with rootsy acoustic arrangements (“Yellow Belly”) and country-inflected rock (“Dog on Dog”). Horns offer a slight mariachi tinge to “Turquoise Sky”, and make another appearance on the lazy-summer-night tune “In the Middle of the Night”, a nice contrast to its warm backing vocals.
The culmination of the record’s overall warmth, Cook’s quiet, intense voice, and the laid-back delivery of the band might be “Backslider”, a highlight of the record for me.
Cook is joined by Duke Paetz on drums and Thom Golub on bass; Terry Morrison and Dale Ladouceur’s backing vocals are showcased in careful production and mastering by Scott Franchuk and Miles Wilkinson, respectively. If you’re looking for a new roots record that hits all of the influential genres – folk, blues, country – this is the album for you.
Cook works out of Alberta and tours through the region occasionally. Like many of his contemporaries, he’s no stranger to the rural hotel bars that pepper Western Canada, offering his compositions to a diverse crowd of labourers and bikers. He’s got a couple gigs coming up in B.C. and Alberta in May; in the meantime, you can listen to and buy Shake Your Faith on his website.
