Critic Turns Musician: Alex Cook from The Rakers

Alex V. Cook is a journalist and music critic who has written for an assortment of publications including The Believer, The Oxford American, DownBeat, and Paste Magazine. His book Darkness, Racket and Twang: Essential Listening from the Fringes of Popular and Unpopular Cultureis a compilation of his music essays, which includes commentary on artists ranging from Lou Reed to Bob Dylan to the Mountain Goats. He has also written a book on Louisiana's Juke joints, honky-tonks, and dance halls called Louisiana Saturday Night: Looking for a Good Time in South Louisiana's Juke Joints, Honky-Tonks, and Dance Halls. Alex also sings and plays guitar for The Rakers, a Baton Rouge band that has played at a number of prominent venues around town including The Baton Rouge Gallery. The band describes itself as "The thinking man's drinking band." He's one of the few critics I know of who started playing music after working as a critic. As you'll hear from Alex in the interview, he got started as a musician relatively late, compared to other musicians, but he still holds his own amidst musicians who have been playing far longer. Some of the things we discuss include What makes for a great album Why a good critique can be a gift to person receiving it The relationship between critic and artist and how they influence each others What popular bands Alex likes and dislikes and why How his background as a music critic informed his music sensibilities Why showmanship and point of view matter to an artist   # For more tips on how to succeed as a musician, check out this interview I did with Bree Noble, a musician who got to sing at Dodger Stadium and who now coaches other musicians and interviews industry luminaries.  # Sponsor for this Episode nsavides productions– I make videos and tell stories. Some of my videos are here.   Say hello: podcast@nsavides.com # Related Things Alex's site Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter The Rakers, other band members: Lance Porter (guitar, drums, vocals), Lewis Roussel (bass, guitar, drums, mandolin), Leon Lejeune (guitar, bass), Anna Byars (drums) Facebook   Baton Rouge Adult Music Club, where Alex developed his skills as a musician Teddy's Juke Joint, where the Rakers had their album release party Shortcut for the podcast: nicksav.show Music for the show provided by Rob Costlow. # Book Mentioned Better Living Through Criticism: How to Think About Art, Pleasure, Beauty, and Truthby A.O. Scott Darkness Racket and Twang- Essential Listening from the Fringes of Popular and Unpopular Music by Alex V. Cook # Bands & Musicians Mentioned Belle and Sebastian  Bob Dylan Dean Martin  Devo The Fall  Glyn Styler  Johnny Cash Lydia Lunch Kenny Rogers Kiss  KC and the Sunshine Band Moby  The Mountain Goats Nancy Wilson  Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds The Rakers Rolling Stones  Ruyter Suys Ryan Adams, albums mentioned Demolition    Prisoner  Tony Cobb, "Share My Whiskey" The Velvet Underground, albums mentioned Loaded   The Velvet Underground & Nico  # Other People Mentioned Amanda Petrusich, music journalist at The New Yorker Greil Marcus, music journalist for Pitchfork, Rolling Stone John Ruskin, Victorian-era art critic Lester Bangs, music journalist for Creem, Rolling Stone Rick Rubin, music producer # Shows & Movies Mentioned Big Bang Theory Hustle & Flow Lawerence of Arabia Raging Bull Ratatouille Taxi Driver # If You Liked the Show Sign up for The nsavides Newsletter. Subscribe or leave an honest review:   Apple Podcasts   Spotify   Overcast Say hello on Twitter:  @nsavidesPRO Thank you for visiting!