Sitting in a leather wingback chair in his brightly lit office in Hilbun Hall, it’s hard to imagine this is the same Bill Cooke seen crooning out bluesy tunes in the smoky, low-lit atmosphere of Dave’s Dark Horse Tavern every Thursday night.
Yet, this Jackson native, doctor of forestry and the man at the Tavern are one in the same. However, before coming to a rest 16 years ago (to finish his masters and PhD in forestry), Cooke lived all around the States and even coached the Portuguese Davis Cup tennis team in Lisbon.
“I do have a happy balance,” Cooke said of dealing with his musical and academic sides.
“I’ve always loved teaching,” Cooke said. “I love the stage, and I guess you could say that [teaching] is a different stage.”
Cooke claims that, while loving teaching, music is his real passion. And having picked up the guitar at the age of 8, Cooke’s musical career has been as restless as his feet. From playing rockabilly songs to the people of Lisbon to rocking out in Colorado with the band Medusa (whom, according to Cooke, played pretty much whatever the hardest rock was in those days.), music has always been a part of his life.
After listening to Cooke belt out a rendition of The Allman Brothers’ “Whipping Post”, it’s hard to not take note of his throaty voice.
“I was the guy that could not get into the choir in high school,” he said. “But blues was my first love of singers that might not be characterized as great voices or technically trained singers.”
Yet his guitar playing and his blues styled voice are what kept the crowds coming and eventually led to his steady gig at Dave’s.
His local presence is also how he got the gig at Bulldog Bash this year.
“We knew we wanted to have a local artist that everyone knew and liked,” explains Lauren Burns, co-director of external events. “We immediately thought of Bill Cooke. He accepted and we’re honored to have him.”
However, the road to notoriety wasn’t paved with gold.
“When I first got to Starkville I didn’t know anyone so I couldn’t get into the available pool of musicians. Then, out of desperation, I just grabbed my acoustic guitar and went down to a bar called Choices and asked if I could play some James Taylor songs and the like.”
Things slowly took off from there as the owner of Dave’s, Dave Hood, started hiring Cooke to play every now and then. Along the path Cooke picked up a couple of accompanying musicians; Jim Beaty on bass and Bob Damm on drums. Then two years ago he got the call from Hood asking if he wanted a steady night to play.
The Dark Horse is not Cooke’s only current gig however. Apart from the intermittent solo act, he also occasionally plays with Swingshift of Columbus.
Even if everyone is booked and Cooke finds himself in a solo spot, he likes to occasionally get a musician in the crowd to sit in for a song or two.
“There’s a great pool of musicians that play together in the area,” Cooke said. Sometimes I’ll have them come in and sit for a song or two. It’s refreshing.”
When asked what the future holds, Cooke sounds confident yet settled in.
“I’ve tried the music scene in my twenties,” he said. “But I do want to continue writing and recording. That’s really my passion. I’d just like to write a great song. I’d like to think that something in all my life experiences would mean something to someone else.”