The best kind of a song is the one where the listener can’t decide if they should sing along or listen to the lyrics. The Chad Cooke Band has cultivated a seemingly unfiltered and pure sound in a collection of songs with thoughtful, comprehensive words and themes. Unabashedly Texan and infused with the easy listening of 1970’s Southern California rock and roll, they have tapped into a rare hybrid that exceeds the expectations of the “Red Dirt Country” genre in which they reside. Originally bred from the pines of East Texas in the small town of Neches (an hour Southwest of Tyler), Cooke’s major influences stem from a culture of small town living, backroads, heartbreaks, and good friends. Released in August of 2016, Chad Cooke Band’s album “Easy Way Home” sent ripples through the Texas music scene. The hit single, “Oil Man” written by Chad Cooke and co-producer on the album, Brandon Pierson, captures the dark, gritty, and unrelenting environment of the oilfield. While serving as a first-person account of these demands, the song also pays homage to the strains inherently created by the oilfield life as well as the families who support them. The song has caught the attention and endorsement of sponsors such as the United State Oilfield Association, OilPro.com, Oilfield Magazine, and countless other oilfield-related entities as well as Texas Country Radio and Texas Music Pickers. Cooke, who spent time from 2013-2015 as a pump truck operator in the Eagle Ford Shale, attributes the authenticity of the song to seeing these cautionary burdens witnessed from a very personal view. The origins of Cooke’s music career stem from collaboration with long-time friend, co-producer, and songwriter Brandon Pierson. “I met Brandon in college at a small school in Northwest Arkansas where I was playing baseball at the time. We wrote a song together the first night we met and have been writing together ever since. I think that first song was composed on the back of a Wal-Mart receipt.”, Cooke joked. Though both of them had varying musical influences, there was one mutual similarity in their intentions - the art of capturing heartbreak and loneliness in a song. “One of our really good friends was going through a bad breakup and I had recently as well”, Cooke said. “Brandon’s ability to capture that feeling of a man to say ‘you know what - I’ve over it, I’m going to be on my own tonight’ in lyrics was unlike anything I’d come across.” The two have since embarked on what would become a lifelong friendship. The widespread and collective praise that has been recently received has not come without its share of sacrifice and discipline. “You know I tried the Nashville thing like a lot of artists do, and each one of them have different feedback about the experience. I was in a personal place where it was very necessary to get out of the small towns and basically have a litmus test of where I was and where I needed to be if I wanted to be successful” Cooke said. While in Nashville, Cooke co-produced his first EP “Time to Run” with his Nashville band, South King Runaways. “Time to Run is a rock album no-doubt with heavy influences on lead electric guitar”, Cooke said. “That experience was one that I really needed to get out of my system in a sense - to basically push the lines of how hard I could go.” Upon returning home to Texas, Cooke had diligently honed in on exactly what the next step was for him musically. “It came at a time when Neil Young, Johnny Cash, Bruce Springsteen, and the Eagles were on repeat in my truck, and I had been reunited with the friends, family, and the roots that started my passion for music. I knew it was time to simplify the process down to articulating the most basic human feelings I’ve experienced - and making them come off in a way that you could sit back on your favorite road and drive to the sound of it”, Cooke said. Together with Dallas McGilberry (Lead Guitar, Vocals, Rhythm Guitar), Jordan Klingman (Bass Guitar), Mike Neyra (Drums), and Susanna Bailey (Fiddle), the Chad Cooke Band has drawn up a set list that includes the high energy, two-stepping dancehall beat with the songwriting depth of artists such as Lucero, Wilco, and Ryan Adams. You can find Chad Cooke Band's debut album “Easy Way Home” on every online music retailer!