Elizabeth Cook Live in Portland

Two weeks ago tomorrow my wife and I traveled to Portland to see Elizabeth Cook in concert. For those of you who do not know Elizabeth Cook is a country, kind of , singer. I say kind of because she is an interesting mix of what could be called traditional country, outlaw country and roots rock and roll. Cook, also hosts the very popular show called Apron Strings on the Outlaw Country channel on XM radio.

I suspect that Cook's persona is one that is either love or hate but for me at least I very much enjoy her music and her personality.

So I dragged my wife, who is always willing to do anything or see anything, to Portland to One Monument Square, a small venue off State street. When I say small, I mean small. This place was small. 200 people maybe in removable chairs. When we arrived we literally could have sat in the front row but instead decided on the third row at a good angle to the stage.

Cook's opening act was her guitar player and husband Tim Carroll. Carroll played some interesting songs and clearly has talent. He told some interesting stories and referred to his headliner/wife as the Good Witch of the South and with a wink" hoped that she was not listening just then."

The first thing noticed when Cook takes the stage is she is not nearly as tall as I thought. Wearing boots, an above the knee skirt and blonde hair she is an attractive lady but she also is forty and in her face looks like she has spent plenty of time at second rate dives on the road trying to make a career.

When she took the stage she did not look happy through the first couple of songs. My wife commented later that it was a shock to her, as her personality on her radio show is so flighty/bubbly it was a shock to see her with an almost frown stitched on her face. Soon after a couple of songs the reason became apparent, the monitor in her ear was not working and she was struggling to sing on note and pace correctly. Once this corrected she became the Elizabeth Cook we expected.

When she smiled at the end of a song and the wrinkles or perhaps better said crinkle lines appeared at her eyes she was a very attractive woman.

Beyond that though this lady can sing. She can wail as I have said in other descriptions. Quite a drawl makes her a bit hard to understand for the uninitiated but she has a solid catalog of songs that most of the faithful there well knew. We heard Heroin Addict Sister, Say yes to Booty ( A crowd favorite she describes as about drunk sex) and her most popular song El Camino. El Camino is an outlier however, not like most of her songs but her ode to a creep in an El Camino who " must have slipped quelide in my beer" is a tough song to not like.

What made the concert special however was her promotion of her new gospel rock album. Ending the show with Burn this Building Down and gracing us during the show with Gospel Plow songs like the Velvet Underground song Jesus we heard a gospel range that is perfect for Sunday morning after a tough Saturday night.

Cook has a deep appreciation for her musical heritage, a wonderful cover of Merle Haggard " I started loving you again " which her soaring vocal was wonderful for. She played a song of the recently deceased Doc Watson, and a fifties singer, I forget his name, now a car salesman in East Texas, who Cook deadpanned " was making dozens of dollars a year from her singing his song."

The stories Cook tells were personal and while rehearsed and told at all stops were still winners. Hearing about her Mom and Dad's hillbilly romance, her being the first child or their union, her ten older half brothers and sisters, her Dad's time in prison for running moonshine, and her Mother's pragmatic approach to their romance are all parts of the show. Hearing her and Tim tell us the story behind the song they call " The Roof Song" makes all understand the challenges of performers on the lower end of the pay scale.

A very good show, a great singer, a funny entertainer and a nice night. My wife who knew next to nothing going in of Elizabeth Cook said she had a great time and thought she was a very good singer.

And still hearing that twang asking if anyone out there drove any " Creepy Cars" in the intro to El Camino proved that she was the girl we loved on the radio.

If you get a chance see the girl next door Elizabeth Cook.