According to Joplin School District Superintendent C.J. Huff, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. arranged for Cook to play the show at homecoming, and will be making $100,000 to Joplin Bright Futures.

Huff said the event was being “played very close to the vest,” to keep Cook’s performance a surprise for the students.

Cook was raised near Kansas City, Mo, and is the winner of the seventh season of the popular reality series American Idol. Since then he has released two albums and is currently on tour.

Globe staff writer Josh Letner contributed to this report.

SOURCE: www.joplinglobe.com
WRITTEN BY: Alexandra Nicolas

DAVID COOK – This Loud Morning CD Review

David Cook’s second post-Idol album This Loud Morning was released at the end of June and there has just been so much musical goodness out there, I haven’t had time to put my thoughts to paper until now. That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it.

The rest of the album is much the same and ending with “Rapid Eye Movement” only reminds me again how sleepy and unimpressed I am with the whole effort. If you’re a David Cook fan, this album will be just what you’ve been waiting for, and if you, like me, can take or leave him with equal happiness, I suggest leaving him and saving yourself a few bucks for a Starbucks coffee.

Review by HippyGirlHeather @ www.blindedbysound.com

Song available starting today for free in advance, David DavidCookOfficial.com the next album. It ‘also for sale on iTunes and other providers of digital March 8.

David Cook has been busy in the studio working on his highly anticipated second album from producer Matt Serletic (Rob Thomas, Matchbox Twenty, Collective Seoul) releasing 19 Recordings / RCA Records later this year.

I am working on a new record, when we came off the road late last year, said Cook. Batch writing, and we are looking at early next year to get it off.

David said he had “way more time” to engage in this debut album. He said fans can expect “a large number of different instruments, the expansion of what we have done in the last record, and hopefully some new peaks in the group.”

As for American Idol, Cook told us he is “hopeful” the show can not survive without Simon Cowell. “Simon has been a big part of the process for me,” he said. “I think the show will live or die on the giants.”

Cook also told us their thoughts, J. Lo and Steven Tyler to join the jury. “I’m excited to go back and meet them … “I’m going to try really hard not to fan out to Tyler.”

He hopes that the two new judges to bring some “new perspective.”

Particularly impressive on Cook’s ship is that he is not only a talented singer. She is also a songwriter, which can be written or co-author of ten of the thirteen songs on the disc, will present his versatility as an artist. His album, opens a "declaration" is a song written by Johnny Rzeznik of the Goo Goo Dolls, who will present Cook songs and instrumental rock of fire.

His first single “Light On,” a rock song as the ability to showcase Cook to belt a grade of C high, peaked at # 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts and became a Top Ten hit on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary. Although his second single, “Bar-ba-sol,” has failed; to identify and received rave reviews from music critics, he cited numerous that their favorite song on the album.

His third single “Come Back To Me,” peaked at # 63 is the Billboard Hot 100 and the number reached 11, Adult Contemporary charts. It’s compatible with catchy radio-friendly melody, which presents the feelings of voice Cook. Moral behind “Come Back To Me,” deals with the boy tells the girl he is willing to temporarily let go until it finds to be an attempt “Come Back To Me.”

Is there a possibility you’ll be debuting a single on Idol before the season is over?
Well, we’re working on it, and it’s definitely something I’m cognizant of. I would love to be able to debut a single on Idol this year. But at the same time we certainly don’t want to rush anything. Rest assured, we’re trying very, very hard. I can give a definite maybe at this point.

Is it better than a 50-50 chance?
It really is a coin flip right now. I would say no, it’s not better than 50-50, but it’s not worse than that either.

Any new collaborators you’ve worked with since our last chat in February? Any flights of fancy you’ve gone on for the new album? Last time we spoke you had mentioned wanting to do a song that’s all vocals, no instruments.
I’ve been so busy traveling lately that we haven’t gotten to really delve into that too much. In reference to the all-vocals idea, I’ve got one or two songs in the till right now that could work in that direction, but the demos, as such, are instrumental. As for new collaborators, I got a chance to work with Matt Squire (Good Charlotte, 3OH!3) a little bit. Wrote a song with him and Claude Kelly called “Four-Letter Word” that I’m really excited about.

Is that a romantic song or an angry song? That title could go either way. It’s actually a little bit of both. So it’s an angry love song. [Laughs.]

And who else have you hit the studio with of late?
I actually worked on a few songs now with a couple guys from the UK: Jim Irvin and Julian Emery. We did a song called “Paper Heart” and one called “We Believe.” And we just finished a song yesterday called “Alibi.”

How would you describe the music you’re making with them?
The choruses on all those songs are massive. They’re just massive choruses. And I will say they have pushed me vocally on these demos more than probably anybody else has. I’m definitely hitting high register on the choruses. The choruses are very open, very U2-esque, and the vocals are just up there, which pushes the intensity of them a little bit.

Was this a deliberate goal of yours?
My goal at the beginning of this was that I wanted to make a record that really, really pushed the concept of dynamic. Really pushed the interplay between loud and soft, the slow and the fast. And to make a record that catered more to the live show, and that had a versatility. To make a record that could be played at a coffee shop with an acoustic guitar, or that could be played with a mile-long catwalk in the middle of Madison Square Garden. I wanted to try to work on the interplay of opposites, I suppose.

And by “played in a coffee shop,” you mean “perform on Idolatry,” yes?
Exactly! [Laughs.] Don’t let anybody fool you, American public. Idolatry does have a 200-foot catwalk.

Totally. Any planned collaborators you’re hoping to work with before it’s all said and done?
I’m actually leaving for Nashville next week. I’m gonna write with Zac Maloy, the guy who I wrote “Lie” and “Life on the Moon” with for the last record, and he also wrote “Come Back to Me.” And then I think we’re talking about Ryan Tedder the end of this month or early next month.

I think you should write with Dolly Parton when you’re in Nashville. I still love your cover of “Little Sparrow” from the week she mentored on Idol. How genius would that be?
You know, I’m not opposed. [Laughs.] We’ll throw you a five-percent songwriter’s credit or something if it works out.

Article by: http://twitter.com/EWMichaelSlezak (Michael Slezak)
Source: http://music-mix.ew.com

“I’m an impatient man,” Cook admitted in a telephone interview earlier this week.

His enthusiasm for instant feedback is also evident in what he loves about performing live.

“It’s an immediate litmus test,” he explained.

Cook fans at Morongo Casino Resort and Spa in Cabazon on Saturday will be test subjects for at least one of the songs Cook has been working on for the new album.

Cook, who rang in 2010 at Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, said he’s observed that audiences at casino shows can be a little bit different than the average gig.

“They make you work for it a little more; I like that,” Cook said.

The singer hasn’t rested too much after winning his “Idol” crown. He played more than 150 shows in 2009 and when he got back, started working on the new record, which he thinks will have a different sound than that of his previous album.

He said that he used the guitar as the foundation for the album, which spawned the hit “Light On.”

This time, expect more piano and less of a wall of guitar sound, but the guitar will be part of the fabric as just another instrument, Cook said.

Even though he’d like to have the new album out, he realizes it’s important to take time in crafting the music.

“I want to stick around for awhile,” Cook said.

By VANESSA FRANKO
Reach Vanessa Franko at 951-368-9575, vfranko@PE.com, www.myspace.com/Audio_File or http://blogs.inlandsocal.com/music

David also talks with AMRIE to write songs for her next album.

“For now, I am currently in Vancouver, and I write with Brian Howes,” said David. “Brian is one of the co-authors of my single light for the first time. I was very happy with what we came with. I managed to write with Sam and Sluggo again we wrote Breathe all night. I am writing to Gregg Wattenberg again, and Johnny Rzeznick. ‘s great. Type obtain a different pocket, trying to write from an honest point of view. ”

David says not so choose a producer for his next album, but “if someone called tomorrow and said Brian Eno wants [products] for their input, I’d be like, yeah, right!”

At the moment, David Cook is in Indiana filming ABC’s “Extreme Makeover Home Edition.” The said episode is scheduled to went on air this January 2010.