Cooper makes music on own terms

By Jeffrey Lee Puckett
jpuckett@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal

Dana Cooper has been a working singer and songwriter for nearly 35 years. Let that soak in a minute, especially since there's a pretty fair chance you don't own any of his consistently fine albums.

For more than three decades, Cooper has maintained a presence on the music scene without a hit record. He had his chances, especially when Elektra Records signed him in 1973, but what's more impressive is his tenacity and perspective.

"When I was 20 years old and signed to Elektra Records, I thought, 'This is it. By the time I'm 21, I'll be like Jackson Browne or Joni Mitchell or something.'

"For a while I tried to be commercially successful but then I realized that I was doing what I loved doing, and if I could do it in any way, on my own terms, and still make a living at it, then that was a huge success.

"It's not a cop-out. It's reality. Most people can't do that."

A Missouri native, Cooper has pursued the muse in Los Angeles; Austin, Texas; and, most recently, Nashville. He's a favorite in Europe, where records such as his latest, "Made of Mud," are highly regarded.

"I've kind of had a checkered career," he said. "I've done a lot of different things, solo stuff, band things. It doesn't seem like a direct path to where I am now, but when I think about it I guess I've kind of come back full circle to what I started doing.

"My mainstay is just getting in my Toyota and going out there and singing my songs for people. It's a funny life, but it's a good one, you know?"

One of Cooper's biggest fans is Louisville's danny flanigan, who is bringing Cooper to town Thursday for his monthly Listening Room concert series at The Rudyard Kipling, 422 W. Oak St. Showtime is 7 p.m., it's non-smoking, and all proceeds from the $5 cover go to Cooper.