Good Positive Article

http://blogcritics.org/archives/2008/08/08/213443.php

Here is a good article I just ran across.

Great Article About DC Pre-Idol

Sorry if this has been posted before, but I came across this article a couple of days ago. I think I read it right after DC won. But now that I know so much more about him, I really enjoyed it. It's long, but it is awesome and worth the read!

'American Idol' Front-Runner David Cook's Former Bandmates Recall His Early Years'He's a killer songwriter,' friend says, 'and once people hear that, it's gonna be all over.'
By James Montgomery


Long before David Cook was an "American Idol" front-runner, a spiky-haired heartthrob or even a bartender in Tulsa, Oklahoma, he was just another kid from Blue Springs, Missouri, obsessed with baseball, chasing girls and playing rock and roll.

At least that's how Bobby Kerr remembers him. He and Cook first met as teammates on the Blue Springs Bombers when they were 12 years old, and over the next decade, they became best friends and bandmates, bonding over a shared dream of rock superstardom and all the trappings that went along with it.

"David and I went to middle school together, and neither of us were really musicians at the time, but we played baseball together," Kerr told MTV News from his home in Blue Springs. "We were both pitchers, but pretty much right then and there, we both realized that we could sing a bit. And that was the ticket to the ladies, so we started hanging and playing music. In high school, we figured out we were gonna be good musicians — we didn't play a lot of covers, maybe a little bit of, like, the Presidents of the United States of America or whatever — we were writing our own stuff. I mean, it was pretty embarrassing stuff, like, when you're 15 or 16 everything sucks, so the songs were about that, or about girls we went to school with or the pain our parents caused us. You know, stupid sh-- like that. But it was where we started."

The duo rehearsed at Kerr's mother's house, recorded a demo in a local church and then finally decided that it was time to play some real gigs (their first concert, in the driveway of Kerr's house, didn't count). So, they dubbed themselves Red Eye and got to work trying to land some shows — which proved tougher than they had initially planned.

"We weren't the most popular guys in school — there's not a lot of musicians around here — so everyone kind of made fun of us, which is why we decided to call ourselves Red Eye, because we were thinking, 'What do you do when you're pissed at someone? You give 'em the finger or you moon 'em, so, like, you show 'em your brown eye.' And that was a little too obvious, so we decided to call it Red Eye," Kerr laughed. "Like I said, we weren't the most popular guys. And so in order to get some gigs, we had to befriend a couple of guys who were on student council, so they would let us play school assemblies and stuff like that."

After playing more than their fair share of assemblies, Kerr and Cook decided it was time to ditch the Red Eye handle and step up to the big time. They renamed themselves Axium and headed south to Warrensburg, Missouri — the home of Central Missouri State University. There, the duo became a trio, with the addition of guitarist Jeff Shrout, and began playing shows at college bars. And that's when things started happening.

"At CMSU, David and I shared a dorm room together, and us and Jeff spent every day together," Kerr recalled. "Axium played a ton of bars in our regional area — Missouri, Kansas, Indiana, Wisconsin — we got asked by a sorority in Texas to go down and do a charity event. ... Then, in this bizarre coincidence, this girl who was the distributor of Axium CDs when we were in high school, her dad was a co-founder of this Movie Tunes thing at AMC Theaters, where they play music before movies. He contacted us and said, 'I want to put an Axium song in Movie Tunes,' and so one of our songs — a song called 'Hold' — was played in 20,000 movie theaters across the country, from the spring of 2003 to the spring of 2004. We were wide-eyed and thinking, 'This could be huge for us.' "

But it never quite panned out. Axium were courted by several indie labels and one major, but Kerr said that "it was one of those things where we'd be about to take the next step, only that step would never come." Discouraged — and feeling that the band had run its course — he decided to part ways with Cook and Shrout and took a job as a graphic designer in Wisconsin. That decision put a strain on his relationship with his oldest friend.

"I left at a time where the Movie Tunes thing had ended, things with the labels had fallen through, and I had felt like we had peaked and things had gone out the window, so I decided to move on," Kerr said. "And at that point, David and I were having a lot of musical differences and personal differences. But we had grown up together, and as is the case with anyone you've know that long, there's brotherly love and brotherly hate. And at that point, there was a lot less love between [us].

"When I left, they tried to keep Axium going, but it never went anywhere, so the band kind of sputtered out. Shortly after that, [David] went to Tulsa to pursue graphic design," Kerr continued. "And obviously, once we moved apart, we spoke a little less, but we were always keeping in touch."

For a pair of Axium farewell shows — in Lincoln, Nebraska, and Kansas City, Missouri — Cook and Shrout called on drummer Nathan Russell, who had shared the stage with them in his band, the Sound and the Fury. Knowing Cook to be a good guy, Russell agreed to take the kit for the gigs.

"Dave was probably one of the nicest guys I've ever met in a local music scene," Russell remembered. "Even if he wasn't playing, he'd come out to shows and stand at the side of stage and watch you play. Not a lot of people would do that. They tell you they loved your set, but really they'd be drinking beer at the bar the whole time you were playing. He'd watch your whole set, tell you it was awesome, and then help you load your stuff up. You'd be like, 'Dude, you're not even playing a show. Go have a beer!' "

After Cook moved to Tulsa, he spent time with another local band, the Midwest Kings, and worked on his solo record, Analog Heart. He also tended bar at area clubs, like Rehab Lounge and the Blank Slate. Though he occasionally spoke to both Kerr and Russell, neither had any idea that he was thinking about trying out for "American Idol."

"I play in an amateur baseball league in Kansas City, and I was in the on-deck circle, waiting to come up to bat," Kerr explained. "And a mom of one of the guys on our team, she knew about Axium, and she told me, 'Hey, did you know David was going on "American Idol"? And I was totally unaware, but right then and there, I remember saying, 'Well, he'll probably win.' "

"I've never watched ['Idol'] until this year," Russell said. "I ... went to Honduras and played drums for a portion of last year, and when I got back, it was right around Super Bowl, and I went to my cousin's house to watch the game. And during the game, there was an 'American Idol' commercial, and I hear this voice, and I was like, 'No way.' So I turned around real quick and, sure as sh--, it's him."

Ever since finding out their former bandmate was going to appear on "Idol," both Kerr and Russell have watched the program religiously. And while they've both put their dreams of rock superstardom on hold — Kerr works as a casino host (though he did record an album of Sinatra and Rat Pack standards in 2006), and Russell teaches music in Madison, Wisconsin — they're both hoping that Cook is crowned "Idol" champ when the show wraps its seventh season in May. After all, they knew him before he was famous, and they only want the best for him now.

"I spoke to David while they were doing Hollywood week, and I told him to let me know when he's gonna hold auditions for his band," Russell laughed. "People aren't getting the full vibe of him yet. They haven't heard his songs. He's a killer songwriter, and once people hear that, it's gonna be all over. I mean, he can rearrange songs and make 'em sound like stuff you'd hear being played on rock radio, but when people hear his own songs, they're minds are gonna be blown."

"I think now that flat out, he's got more stage experience than anyone else on that show — from '97 until 2005 we probably played 400 shows — and he knows what works up there onstage, and he knows what people will respond to," Kerr said. "He's honed his craft; he's a pro. David being on 'American Idol' is the oddest and coolest thing I've ever had to deal with in my life. I own every T-shirt, concert poster and demo Axium ever made, and I've got multiple copies of everything. I held onto all this stuff because I want to have something to show my kids someday. ... But now, who knows what could happen? One day, these things that I own could end up in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame or something."

What David Does To Me!!!

I just posted this in the wrong area, so I am re-posting it in this area, sorry about the repeat!

Okay, I am almost embarrassed to admit this, mostly cuz of my age and all! But, I have to say it! And I have been wondering if this happens to you all, too! When I look at a lot of pics and/or videos of DC, I get totally.....ummmmm......AROUSED!!! There I said it! And my heart starts to race! Tell me, please, what affect does he have on you???? I just looked at D'Alice's pics in photobucket, and I think I need my heart restarted! ****THUD****

What David Does To Me!!!

Okay, I am almost embarrassed to admit this, mostly cuz of my age and all! But, I have to say it! And I have been wondering if this happens to you all, too! When I look at a lot of pics and/or videos of DC, I get totally.....ummmmm......AROUSED!!! There I said it! And my heart starts to race! Tell me, please, what affect does he have on you???? I just looked at D'Alice's pics in photobucket, and I think I need my heart restarted! ****THUD****

I Met David Cook Before Las Vegas Concert!!!

Hi All!

My daughter, Stephanie, and I went to the concert here in Las Vegas last night! Boy, did we have the best day ever!!! I stayed up till 3 in the morning writing this, so enjoy!

July 5, 2008
Well, today was one of the best days I ever had!!! Tonight I went to the American Idol concert here in Las Vegas, and it was amazing! I went with my daughter who drove in from San Diego so we could go together. Fortunately, I had been reading everybody else’s experiences and knew what to expect on my concert day. I had read someone’s post that if you want to meet any of the Idols that you should go by where their buses were parked earlier in the day, because if you get there too late, they are tied up with makeup, wardrobe and warming up. So, I told my daughter we had to be there between 1 and 2 p.m.
We got to the Thomas and Mack Center right before 2 p.m., and we started driving all around the center. We drove toward the back, and I didn’t see anything. I thought we were at a place I would have to turn around, because there was a circular drive with something in the center that was blocking my view. I thought we came to our end, and someone was in front of me. They stopped and started unloading stuff out of their trunk. I got around them and saw that I could keep going, so I did. Just as I made a little bit of a right turn, I saw the buses parked through an opening on my left. Then about 100 feet further, I saw a small crowd (about 35 people) past a fence. As we drove past the crowd, I could see David Cook in the back! He looked so much taller than everyone else there! He was wearing a fedora and taking pictures with fans and signing autographs.
I screamed to my daughter, “he’s there, he’s there�!!! She said, “where?� I just said “he’s over where that crowd is�!!!!!! So I parked right away in some space that said Staff on it, and my daughter freaked out that our car might get towed! I said, “I don’t care if it DOES get towed, we are going over there�! Then she said, “You go, I’ll just wait here and guard the car.� I told her to just come on, we wouldn’t be long! So she came with me!
Now before we had left my house, I had burned a copy of Analog Heart, just in case! Because I already knew in my mind that if I got to meet David Cook, I wanted him to autograph the CD. So, we went over to the crowd, and after about ten minutes I finally made it to get my picture taken with him and have him sign my CD!!! My daughter kept pushing me to get up to the front! I am so glad she was with me!!! I knew she would help me achieve my goal of meeting him!!! I am more timid, so if I had been by myself, I don’t know if I would have gone through with going up to meet him!
Of course, he was very nice and very low key. It was 113 degrees outside, and he had just said that he thought he could only make it about another five minutes or so! That’s when my daughter really pushed me to the front! After David took a pic with me and signed my CD, I took a pic of him with my daughter. I was shaking so bad, I could hardly hold the camera!!! LOL!!! But the pics came out great on both counts. I got to put my arm around his waist, but my daughter must have already taken the picture, because it doesn’t show that. While I was next to him, I told him his music was amazing. I told him the CD was Analog Heart, and he wrote, “wait till the next one� on it with his signature!
Then we left, and I screamed as we drove away, “I can’t believe we got to meet David Cook, and I had my arm around his waist�, etc!!!! We were both ecstatic! After that we had about four and a half hours to kill before the concert started, so we went to the Wynn Hotel on the Strip and had a great lunch and looked at the pics over and over again. My daughter also got several shots of DC himself up to the point of us having our pics with him. We were so jazzed!!!
We got to the Thomas & Mack Center about 5:40, parked and went up to wait to be let in. We figured they would let us in at 6:00, but it ended up being about 6:20. It was pretty hot, and one lady fell down and they had to call paramedics. I think it was from the heat, so I sure hope she was okay! My daughter ran up to the ticket counter to notify security of what happened. A few people started tending to her as she laid there. They gave her some water, but she didn’t get up. She started to talk to the guy helping her at that point, so it seemed she was going to be okay.
Well, then security directed us away from that area to another area where we entered the arena from. We got our beverages and found our seats and were able to start talking to the people around us. My daughter is not bashful at all! She turned around, holding my camera in hand and focused on our earlier pics with David Cook! She asked those people if any of them were David Cook fans. They said “yes, is that a good thing�? And we both said “YES�!!! Then my daughter said “we got to meet him today and have our pictures taken with him�! Of course, then she proceeded to show them all of our pics!!! They loved it! Then they took our picture together, and we had a good time talking to them.
The show finally started, and it was great! Intermission came and we were having a great time talking when all of a sudden, this lady came up the aisle (we had seats 1 & 2 on our row), and she asked the two ladies in front of us if they wanted her two seats because she had to leave. They said “no, thank you�. Then she asked my daughter and me if we wanted them. She said they were on the floor in front of the stage! We took them, and heck yeah, they were RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE STAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG, we could NOT BELIEVE this happened to us!!!
So we got to see the whole second half of the show with Jason Castro, Syesha Mercado, David Archuleta and David Cook right up front!!! It was amazing!!! Jason was really cute and fun. Syesha was breathtaking!!! She actually gave me goosebumps when she sang Crossroads. I was very impressed. David Archuleta was great, but I expected no less! Then, finally, David Cook came up through the stage singing Hello. When DC was singing up front, he saw us and WAVED at us!!! He was awesome!!! My daughter figured out how to take video on the camera, so she got most of the first song, Hello. Then security came over and said that if we were videotaping, they would have to take our camera away. So she had to stop. But, it is in that song video that he waves to us, so I have that captured forever!!!
This was one of the BEST days of my LIFE!!! It was MAGICAL!!!
And that is my account of my David Cook Experience!!!