Cook's New Album Forged in Shadow of Snider's Death
Get the Culture newsletter
Daily culture — film, music, books, the trends and ideas worth your attention. Free.
- Elizabeth Cook releases 'Great Television,' her eighth studio album and first since 2020's 'Aftermath,' produced by Shooter Jennings and recorded at Sunset Sound Studio 3 in Los Angeles.
- The 11-track LP features collaborations with Wynonna Judd on 'The Easy Kind' and Turnpike Troubadours frontman Evan Felker on 'Razorwire Wall,' both enlisted by Jennings during sessions at the studio.
- Cook built the album as a companion to 'The Easy Kind,' a docudrama based on her life that premiered at IFC, in which she appears as herself.
- Todd Snider's death in November 2025 from pneumonia complications at age 59 is what Cook calls 'the unkindest cut of all,' prompting her to urge fans to 'study him — study every phrase, every verse, every album cut.'
- Lead track 'Sunset Promenade' is an ode to three women in Cook's life — Ashley Monroe, Chelle Rose, and a niece — built from voicemails Cook saved and divided into three verses, one per woman.
- At the Grand Ole Opry, Loretta Lynn told Cook that her song 'Sometimes It Takes Balls to Be a Woman' wouldn't be buried by Nashville despite its title, revealing Lynn had nine songs banned from country radio.
Why it matters: Cook is releasing her most complete and personal album while grieving the friend she called her 'sounding board,' and she is using the platform to keep advocating for female country artists — a role she has played for nearly two decades since 'Sometimes It Takes Balls to Be a Woman' became a North Star for younger performers like Kaitlin Butts, Ella Langley, and Willow Avalon.
Ask SkimNews
