Musical movement
Idol David Cook calls coming to Tulsa a ...
'Idol' David Cook calls coming to Tulsa a ... Musical moment

Music moves David Cook in surprisingly literal ways. When the "American Idol” champion started looking for a new adventure after graduating from the University of Central Missouri, a Tulsa band in need of a guitarist helped lay out his path to stardom.

"When I graduated from college, I had a choice of moving to Tulsa and playing music or staying in Kansas City and getting a real job,” Cook told The Oklahoman in a Friday teleconference, two days after winning "American Idol.”

"And so I moved to Tulsa to join a band called the Midwest Kings,” he said.

"They needed a guitar player, and I'd known them for years and consider them great friends still.

"It seemed like I wasn't ready to give up on music, and I didn't think music was ready to give up on me, so I just made the decision to chase the dream a little bit.”

A 2007 road trip to support his younger brother Andrew in an audition for "American Idol” provided the next leg of Cook's travels.

Cook had no intention of trying out for the show, but an "Idol” producer would not let him off easy. Before he knew it, Cook was belting out Bon Jovi's "Livin' on a Prayer” in the middle of a downpour.

"Standing in line at 5:30 in the morning in Omaha, and it's raining, the sun hasn't come up,” Cook said, recalling his unlikely audition. "And a producer comes by with a camera and interviews my brother, then turns to me and I'm like, ‘I'm not auditioning.' And he goes, ‘Well, you are now.' Life has a weird way of working out sometimes.”

And it worked out beyond his expectations. With Simon Cowell's caustic critiques now behind him, Cook said he owes much of his success on "Idol” to the time playing in Tulsa clubs, never knowing if anyone would be in the seats.

"I think working in the clubs and bars and stuff, I mean, it helped me ... from a humility standpoint,” he said. "You get pretty humble playing shows to five people. I definitely think my time in Tulsa was needed in order to have any form of success on the show.”

The support Cook received from friends and fans in his adopted home state kept him going through the competition. He said he kept hearing about a groundswell of interest from music lovers back home and that "Idol” helped him build a fan base well beyond the 18th and Boston club scene.

"I've heard from a lot of them,” Cook said of his fans and friends in Tulsa.

"It's amazing the level of support I'm getting. Not just from my friends — they tell me things that are going on in Tulsa with people that I've never met who are supporting me,” he said.

"The bottom line is I just want to come out of the gate with a solid record. If I can do that, I'll be happy,” Cook said. "It'll probably be a rock record, but I think that's a pretty vague generalization.

"I just want to make a record that makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up.”

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