Society Hall  "where community celebrates!"

Dana Cooper

Friday, May 20th, Doors open at 6:30 pm, Show at 7:30 pm,

Tickets are $15 in Advance and $20 at the door.

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Cooper is one of the most experienced road warrior song poets there is anywhere, writing and delivering songs of the heart, of great depth, beauty, and wry humor, harvested from his heartland background, his breadth of experience, and his 40-plus years on the road. Audiences around the world are engaged and inspired by his quick wit, insightful stories and commanding presence. Cooper’s songs have been recorded by top-notch artists such as bluegrass star Claire
Lynch; Irish vocalist Maura O’Connell; and luminary songwriters Pierce Pettis and Susan Werner.

Dana is no stranger to the San Luis Valley, having been one of the featured songwriters in the SLV Cancer Relief Fund’s “Concert for Cancer Relief” in 2015, as well as other appearances at area venues. He has also performed at Michael Hearne’s Big Barn Dance Festival in Taos. This will be Dana’s third appearance at the Hall!

He is the recipient of the 2014 Heritage Musician Award from Pilgrim Center for the Arts in Kansas City, MO, and was also named the 2015 Spirit of Folk award winner by Folk Alliance International. He has performed on Austin City Limits, Mountain Stage and the Kerrville Folk Festival where he was nominated for their Hall of Fame.

Cooper’s mixture of flat-picking, finger-picking and percussive strumming style is legendary among other guitarists. He is also one of the best harmonica players around. An expressive singer, his voice is ageless, evoking his rich lifetime of experience.

Dana started out early - at 12 he sang, played drums, guitar and harmonica in local bands. By 13 he began writing his own songs and at 16 he performed regularly at the prestigious Vanguard Coffeehouse in Kansas City. His deep love and commitment to a life of music drew Cooper away from an art scholarship. He took to the road touring midwest college coffeehouses for one year then sold an electric guitar and his entire record collection to buy a one-way ticket to Los Angeles. Four months later he was signed to Elektra Records where his eponymous first album was released in 1973. The record features such acclaimed players as Leland Sklar, Russ Kunkel and Jim Horn.

Cooper eventually moved to Texas writing, performing and recording with Shake Russell in the late 70s and with his own power trio, DC3 during the early 80s. Returning to his roots as a solo performer Cooper relocated to Nashville in 1988. He has become an integral figure in the Music City songwriting community collaborating with renowned writers such as Tom Kimmel, Sally Barris, Kim Carnes and Don Henry. Cooper has been invited to participate in songwriting
workshops from Belfast to Copenhagen to Austin.

His prolific endeavors have resulted in 28 albums. The critically acclaimed Miracle Mile on 2 Compass Records was nominated for a Nashville Music Award as “Best Pop Album” and was chosen by Performing Songwriter magazine as one of the top DIY recordings for the year. Harry Truman Built a Road was named one of the best records of 2002 by The Tennessean and was also chosen as one of the top twelve DIY recordings for that year. Made of Mud released on
King Easy Records in 2005 won Cooper the “Best Male Songwriter Award” by Indie Acoustic Project. Working with co-producer/guitarist Thomm Jutz, Cooper released his 27th album, Building a Human Being, in September, 2015. Cooper and Jutz also coproduced his 28th recording, Incendiary Kid, which was released October 20, 2017 on Travianna Records.

 

Robert K. Oermann in Music Row Magazine says of Building a Human Being “Nashville
veteran Cooper wins the Disc of the Day prize. Highly recommended.” Fellow singer songwriter Buzz Holland says “Cooper is a person who can sing like an angel and play like the devil.”
Legendary Texas singer songwriter Eric Taylor said of Cooper’s performance at Kerrville Fall Festival 2015 “Dana Cooper gave the best solo performance I’ve seen and heard for many years.
Could be the best I’ve ever.”