California-raised, Texas-based singer/songwriter Amy Cook spent her formative years carving out a niche as an enterprising, independent artist in Los Angeles, self-releasing records and collecting revenue from tracks that she licensed to film and television. Weary of the grind, Cook eventually made her way to the West Texas town of Marfa, where she recorded a collection of lo-fi, cricket- and coyote-peppered originals that she dubbed The Bunkhouse Recordings. Upon relocating to Austin, Cook released The Sky Observer's Guide, which found a fan in Alejandro Escovedo, who asked Cook to open for him on his 2008 Real Animal tour. Escovedo took over production duties for Cook's next outing, the critically acclaimed Let the Light In, which featured a guest spot from Patty Griffin, who along with Lucinda Williams and Sheryl Crow, is an artist that Cook is often compared to. After spending some time on the road, Cook returned to the studio to begin work on 2012's Summer Skin, which featured appearances from Griffin, Robert Plant, Ben Kweller, Jonathan Wilson, and Meshell Ndegeocello. ~ James Christopher Monger