MUSIC CITY ZOO by DAVE COX

If you like REAL country music and/or clever songwriting then you will love this CD. Just take a listen to a few song samples and you will agree with Country music author Timothy Edward Jones that "a singer/songwriter genius has finally arrived to take country music where it should have been all along… Back to its roots while pressing forward to uncharted musical territory."

"MUSIC CITY ZOO" LINER NOTES

By Timothy Edward Jones

The year 2004 was a great year for country music. You wouldn’t know it by listening to the radio or attending mainstream “country music” concerts that year. It was great because Nashville was introduced to a new reviver of country music.

A young singer/songwriter named Dave Cox packed up his songs, guitar and country soul and left Louisville, Kentucky with nothing more than a tank of gas and enough grit to take Music City back to its roots.

Dave’s story isn’t a new one; it’s actually as old and worn out as the history of country music itself. Dave Cox did not come to Nashville with a lot of money in his pocket or a ready-made life awaiting him like so many of today’s modern artists do. Dave did it the old-fashioned way; the way it was done when broke country boys like Hank Williams and Webb Pierce found their way to town.

For the first two months of his existence in Nashville, Dave looked for paying gigs by day and slept in his car by night. His search paid off. Not only did he find a home as a featured stage act at legendary Robert’s Western World, one of the last real honky-tonks on Nashville’s lower Broad, Cox also landed a “straight” job at The Ernest Tubb Record Shop sharing his love and knowledge of country music with the store’s many visitors. These paying gigs afforded him the luxury of occasionally having just enough cash to get a few winks of much needed sleep in a seedy Music City motel or the gas to go back to Louisville when home and a warm bed sounded better than a record deal.

With this kind of Nashville education under his belt, Cox recorded two previous albums, "The Song Stylings of Dave Cox" and "Stuff". Both albums were entirely written by Dave showing off his witty style of word and rhyme, reminiscent of the late Roger Miller. His smooth and seemingly effortless vocal ability is only rivaled by the great Rodney Crowell. Drawing from what he had experienced from his time on-stage at Robert’s, Cox’s recordings highlights his ability to tap into our collective conscience and tell our stories better than we ever could. From tales of tenderness to the tongue-in-cheek realities of one night stands due to an excessive night on the town, Dave’s music is as good on the stage as it is in a recording studio.

"Music City Zoo", Dave Cox’s third album, is simply a traditional country music connoisseur’s treasure. It features a combined sound that contains hints of western swing, hardcore honky-tonk toetappers and even the high lonesome sound from his home state of Kentucky. Listen to this collection of Dave Cox originals and you will find subject matter and emotions that are still as relevant today as they were a half-century ago complimented by Cox’s uncanny ability to write them with a modern twist.

From drinkin’ to dyin’ and sexual innuendo to Gospel, this album affirms what Dave Cox fans have known all along….A singer/songwriter genius has finally arrived to take country music where it should have been all along….Back to its roots while pressing forward to uncharted musical territory.

2006 is a different story than it was for Cox in 2004. When he first hit Nashville with his guitar a-blazin’, a country music “professional” reviewed Cox’s repertoire and not only pronounced him “un-country” but even accused Dave of being a folk singer. This evaluation of his musical roots was somewhat confusing to Cox. The fact is, as many country music historians will be happy to point out, country music in its bare bones beginnings was referred to as “folk music.” Dave doesn’t mind being called “folk,” just as long as you don’t leave out “country” when describing his definitive brand of music. You’ll agree that Dave Cox is as country as they come, but in the words of Dave Cox himself:

“I sing country music and a little folk, too…

If you don’t think I’m country, then Folk you!”

-Timothy Edward Jones, Author of "Country Conversations: Timeless Stories from the Legends of Country Music"

CHECK OUT DAVE's WEBSITE - davecoxmusic.com

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