Ryan Cook and Sunny Acres are fitting in yet another show in their very busy schedule to release their hotly anticipated CD, Hot Times (No Scene). With the help of Jon Mckiel, Quiet Parade and Grass Mountain Hobos, this Saturday at the Seahorse should turn into a country, death-metal party the likes of which Halifax has never seen. “Last Friday at our official CD release in Yarmouth we had about 400 people,” recalls Cook. “It was one of the craziest shows we have done. I even threw in some death-metal screaming during a rowdy version of the gospel standard ‘I’ll Fly Away.’” Cook is already figuring out ways of topping that night. “A highlight for this Saturday’s show will be ECMA and Maple Blues award winner John Campbelljohn sitting in on the pedal steel guitar. John has been one of my biggest supporters and worked on this record with me.” Cook, Roger Nelson, Brian Baker, Wayne Collins, Craig Harris, Jon Landry and a rotating cast of pedal steel players (when Campbelljohn ain’t on hand) make up the band. Fitting somewhere between dyed-in-the-wool country and indie rock, the band’s crossover appeal has translated to a lot of live shows—100 shows in 2007. Beginning his music career with punk music and switching gears to country has also brought about a sentimental, introspective quality to his songs. “I sang in punk and metal groups from the time I was 15 ’til about 23. The only group you might remember would be the Eddybulls. The only type of music I said I would never listen to, let alone write or play, was country. I hated it with a passion because it represented everything I wanted to repress, like my upbringing, my parents, my childhood, etc,” says Cook. “Which turns out to be everything I want to think about.”
This article appears in Mar 6-12, 2008.
