Shane Cook

It is often said that to be an authentic country artist and to write an authentic country song, you have to have lived it. If that is the criteria, then we will definitely hear more from Shane Cook. Without a father in his life, Shane and his sister bounced back and forth, living sometimes with their mom and other times with his grandparents. The only constants in his life were his music and his sister. At 16, Shane left home and worked as a day laborer. At 18, he found himself in prison. After serving time in a boot camp to lessen his sentence, Shane committed himself to learn from his mistakes and began working as a car salesman. But music continued to tug at him and he began to perform and promote concerts. A wife, a child and a good job with music as more of a hobby seemed to be his path until he lost his sister to suicide. That tragic loss brought Shane to the reckoning that his life would never be complete without music in the center of his world. As Shane puts it, "I have something to offer with my music, because I have lived what I sing. I know I can help others through my songs." Authentic indeed.