Resilience: Choosing to Say “Yes I Can!”
Country music singer / songwriter Corinne Cook is no stranger to wearing multiple hats and assuming roles that others may question. On the empowering, anthem-styled title track to her latest single “Yes I Can”, Corinne Cook sings about four American icons whose triumphs deeply impacted the way our culture viewed women – Rosa Parks, Susan B. Anthony, Amelia Earhart and Sally Ride. The chorus resounds like a personal mission statement: “I’m that kind of girl. . .To those who say no you can’t, I say yes I can.”
“When I was sent this song, it resonated with me personally as I always follow my heart and strive to be a strong example to my children and fellow women,” shared Corinne Cook. “Serving four years in the Air Force and now making my dreams come true as a Country music artist and songwriter, I hope to show my children they can do anything they put their mind to.”
Breaking Through
The emerging independent country artist connects profoundly with the song because she, too, is an extraordinary woman who has broken through the limitations and expectations of what someone of her gender can do. On her way to pursuing her career and breaking through as a Nashville based singer, songwriter and performer, she served the Air Force during the Gulf War, raised two daughters and a son as a single mom, waitressed and worked graveyard shifts, even DJ’d for a country radio station.
While engaging in a whirlwind balancing act both personally and professionally, Corinne has enjoyed a handful of accolades for her previous albums. “I Don’t” from her critically acclaimed 2015 release Dressed Up For Goodbye won a Nashville Industry Music Award (NIMA) for Song of the Year in 2016. Her debut album I’m Not Shy included two tracks that reached the Top 5 on the Inside Country chart – the #1 hit “Uninvited Guest” and the title track, which reached #4. “Yes I Can” marks an important breakthrough for Cook as a songwriter of great storytelling skill and depth and Corinne perfectly understands the work ethic of a woman willing to do anything to put food on the table for her kids.
Roots
The songwriter and performing artist has fond memories of family jam sessions with her mom on guitar, stepdad on bass and brother beating on the chairs (drums) while she sang. She incorporated singing into her time in the Air Force, which she joined after graduation at 17. Corinne was stationed at Travis AFB during the time of the Gulf War. She returned home to Tracy after her military service, and a few years later, she won a singing competition at a bar in Riverbank, CA, which led to a trip to Nashville to record songs for her first album.
Reconnecting with her passion for singing and performing, Corinne began singing at festivals in Northern California and worked part-time as a radio DJ for the classic country station 93.9 “The Ranch” in Ripon, CA. As her radio persona “Ranch-Hand Jane,” she presented legendary country artists like Charlie Daniels and Johnny Lee when they performed in town. Fully committing to the dreams that were coming to fruition, Corinne moved to Nashville to focus on developing her career as a singer, performing at more festivals and enjoying significant radio play for several tracks from her albums. She currently performs at songwriters’ nights in the Nashville area, gigging at such places as The Commodore, the Millennium Maxwell House and the Bluebird Cafe.
Sharing The Journey
“Whether I’m one of the songwriters or not, I have a lot of life experience to draw from, and for me everything is driven by the opportunity to relay a message and convey the emotion behind it,” Corinne says. “I want to find and write songs that I care about so I can tell a meaningful story. Each of my albums represents different points in time of my life, with special memories and dreams attached to them. I love taking people on the journey with me, from the moment I wrote or first heard the song through the recording, mixing and mastering process. Now that I am co-writing as well, there’s a whole different dynamic happening because I’m putting my heart, and my art, on display in the hopes people are going to love it. I’m anxious and excited at the same time to hear what everyone thinks.”
About Corinne Cook
While still engaging in a whirlwind balancing act both personally and professionally, Corinne Cook has enjoyed a handful of accolades for her previous albums. “I Don’t” from her 2015 release Dressed Up For Goodbye won a Nashville Industry Music Award (NIMA) for Song of the Year in 2016. Her debut album I’m Not Shy included two tracks that reached the Top 5 on the Inside Country chart; #1 hit “Uninvited Guest” and the title track, which reached #4.
Cook’s current project, Yes I Can, marks an important breakthrough for Cook as a songwriter of great storytelling skill and depth. The California native has been accumulating and telling stories all her life, all grounded in her years growing up in an intensely musical family in the Central California towns of Tracy and Escalon.
After spending 4 years in the Air Force, she returned home to Tracy and won a singing competition, which ultimately led to her first album. Reconnecting with her passion for singing and performing, Corinne began singing at festivals in Northern California and worked part time as a radio DJ for the classic country station 93.9 “The Ranch” in Ripon, CA.
Fully committing to the dreams that are now coming to fruition, Corinne moved to Nashville, to focus on developing her career as a singer and songwriter.
