ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE COMPARES COOK CAREER TO PAST VOCAL SUPERSTARS Nashville – “All my life, I kept looking for someone to produce in the studio that reminded me of Nancy Sinatra or Olivia Newton John,” MCA Universal Hall of Fame producer Robert Metzgar was quoted in a Toronto newspaper during the Canadian Country Music Awards. During the year of 2000 (New Millennium), I finally found someone who had that kind of depth, greatness of character, and sang the right kind of music. Her name is Kimberly Ann Cook. She’s the greatest torch singer that I’ve ever heard in 30 years of production. You have to understand that I grew up in the studio with Producer Billy Strange who produced “These Boots Are Made For Walking,” for Nancy Sinatra. I not only admired Billy whose legendary credits printed out, are over 12 pages in small type, but I longed for the day that someone would walk into my office with that kind of incredible magic in their music. During the glory days of Nashville’s Faron Young building, Billy Strange had a publishing and production office in the building. George Strait & Erv Woolsey were there, along with Music City News, the Jordanaires, and so many famous people. “That’s where I began,” Metzgar said, “in an office across from Faron Young’s manager, Billy Deaton.” There’s where I learned the craft of producing great records and looking for great artists. That’s where I met Billy Strange and Nancy Sinatra the first time. Then in May of 2000, I had the exciting privilege of meeting Kimberly Ann Cook while working on a country album for a student of hers, Emily “Tiger” Horton. It was later when I was discussing with her the type of music that she liked, that I found out she was a “torch” singer, swimming upstream against all the traditional country that Nashville is so famous for. While Nashville hasn’t had an Olivia Newton John or Nancy Sinatra come out of here in years, this particular artist just burned a hole in my heart every time I heard her sing. One of my favorite expressions as a boy was, “any old dead fish can float downstream, but it takes a live one to swim upstream.” Kimberly Ann Cook is a woman with a made up mind. She has been swimming upstream in Hillbilly Hollywood for a long time. There are no torch labels in Nashville and yet she continued to play, sing and perform her kind of music at venues like the Gibson Bluegrass Theater, Performance Hall, and on her television show called, “American Music Showcases,” which featured all country acts. She even opened at CMA FEST/Fan Fair on the opening night at the Coliseum in Nashville and just openly defied the status quo with her band of 7 players and a full horn section. “When I completed the album, I had no idea that it would just jump onto the charts of some of the largest international radio stations in the world,” Metzgar said. When I mailed the album out, it literally debuted in the top 10 at every international radio station that I sent it to throughout the most traditional music markets in Europe. “I was shocked that radio saw her as a “new Nancy Sinatra,” Metzgar commented. “Boots” came out before Kimberly Ann Cook was even born. International radio DJ’s have named her the “New Nancy.” That makes me feel really great that radio makes that comparison. Just as many domestic radio stations have heralded Kimberly Ann Cook as the “New Olivia.” Her vocal performance not only sounds like Olivia but it has that special “feeling of love” that you hear when you listen to artists like Roy Orbison, Elvis Presley and Dean Martin. What are her plans? Kimberly says, “I intend to just keep on doing what I’m doing in the future. I’m a torch singer, no more or no less. I have a dog named Melody that I love. I’m most comfortable, on stage singing and performing the songs of the great torch singers. I love Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holliday, Eartha Kitt, Julie London, and Dinah Washington. The people that I most admire are the torch singers who had a career that lasted. I’m no flash in the pan. I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be here doing what I’m doing and singing what I’m singing. So, if you get a chance, look for me.” Billboard Magazine has called her the “only torch diva in Nashville.” Rolling Stone Magazine said “her new torch album rocks!” And, the people at Disney music’s Go.com web site compare her album to Olivia Newton John and said, “it puts pure passion in your soul.” Country Music “Live” Magazine is doing a special “spotlight” on her career and other magazines are lined up to talk to her about doing torch music in Nashville, the country music Capitol of the world. While swimming upstream, she seems to be picking up a lot of steam in the music world as well. For further information go to the following: Charles E. Fach, Jr. Charles Fach Entertainment 330 Franklin Road Brentwood, TN 37027-3282 800-767-4984 Toll Free 615-321-0600 (wk) 615-338-4497 (fax) info@capitolmanagement.com www.capitolmanagement.com Kimberly Ann Cook TORCH DIVA RECORDS ® 330 Franklin Road Brentwood, TN 37027-3282 615-321-0600 (phone) 615-338-4497 (fax) www.kimberlyanncook.com info@kimberlyanncook.com Robert Metzgar PLATINUM PLUS INTERNATIONAL 330 Franklin Road Brentwood, TN 37027-3282 800-767-4984 (toll free) 615-321-0600 (wk) 615-338-4497 (fax) www.platinumplusinternational.com info@platinumplusinternational.com To contact Mr. Metzgar directly send an email to robertmetzgar@aol.com and he will get back with you immediately