Bio / Albums / Free Downloads / Promo Stuff / "Wildman" Video / "Centro Bus" Video / Hank Aaron Story / The Dana Cooke Project

 

 

 

   
Quirky, witty, instantly likeable songs. Pleasing Americana instrumentation. Harmonies and light-hearted stage rapport. Perfect for coffeehouse and concert settings.
   

Dana "Short Order" Cooke with a Side of Stantons combines one of Central New York's wittiest, most respected songwriters with the multi-talented husband-and-wife team of Jeff and Judy Stanton. Dana plays guitar; Jeff, stand-up bass; and Judy, fiddle and mandolin — giving this group an instantly likeable acoustic/Americana sound suitable to many settings (including concert and coffeehouse).

More important than the musicianship, though, are the songs. Cooke's songs are famously quirky and sardonic, mixing humor, sentiment, clever word-play, and often unusual topics. This is not your run-of-the-mill, navel-gazing songwriter act. Cooke's songs are well crafted and distinctively focused, in a way that makes them enjoyable on the first listen (and rewarding on multiple listens). Some are apt to make you laugh, others make you misty. The best do both. The Stantons also contribute a few of their own songs, and the trio has a large catalog of country, pop, and bluegrass songs ready to go when needed.

Plus, Cooke and the Stantons share back-and-forth humor and camaraderie on stage. When they aren't playing and singing, they're cracking wise and keeping things fun for all.

The players . . .

Dana "Short Order" Cooke has been active as a songwriter and performer in Central New York since the mid-1990s. He has self-produced three albums — "Wildman" (1996), "County Fair" (1998), and "Snowball's Chance" (2003) — each of which was nominated for album of the year, folk category, in the Syracuse Area Music Awards ("Sammy's"). Cooke was also twice nominated as songwriter of the year in the Sammies. Many of Cooke's songs are noted for being simultaneously wry and mildly poignant. Songwriting influences include Roger Miller, Loudon Wainwright III, Dar Williams, and Don Henry.

Judy Stanton got her first violin and her first Beatles album at the age of seven, which set the course for her career as a freelance violinist/would-be rock star. Along the way she taught violin, composed music for school orchestras, wrote songs, performed improv comedy, and married Jeff. From klezmer to classical, from bluegrass to Broadway, Judy plays it all! (But not simultaneously.)

Jeff Stanton started his musical career on accordion at age eight. To the relief of his family, he switched to guitar and bass after just one accordion lesson. Jeff has been writing songs since before he could drive. After four CDs, one vinyl record, and dozens of demo tapes, he still has a clean driving record. His latest project – entitled “Best of Friends” and co-produced with Judy Stanton – was nominated for a 2015 Sammy in the Americana category.

 

Sample Recordings

These are new recordings of three Dana Cooke classics, performed with the Stantons. (Downloadable MP3s, each around 4 megs.)

  • My Father's Bald. A raucous, tongue-in-cheek paean to inherited follicle deficiencies. > download
  • Treehouse. Celebrating a son's private hide-away. > download
  • Sky Diver. Wistfully revisiting the small-town fair that wasonce the center of every summer. > download

Downloadable Photos

Each of these is a large, 300-dpi JPG suitable for print use. File size is approximately 9M for each.


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Website contents copyright 2018 Dana L. Cooke
E-mail him at shortorder@danacooke.com