co·op·er·a·tive (k – p r- -t v, – -r t v, – p r -). adj. 1. Done in cooperation with others: a cooperative effort. 2. Marked by willingness to cooperatee.
I’m not officially a member of a co-op but given the number of co-operative ventures that populate my life: the SF Bike Coalition, City CarShare, the Bay Area Songwriter Collective, eating at Cheeseboard, or shopping @Rainbow Grocery, it’s clear how much I’m drawn to that model. And as I described the process of recording and assembling my latest EP, the about-to-be “Other Halves,” to an engineer, it became clear that it was hardly MY CD.
Not much happens if you don’t communicate and collaborate clearly toward a common goal, aka cooperatively, and while yes, the recording is of songs I penned, it has not been solo endeavor. From my band mates, to the handful of local studios both seasoned and newly-minted in which I recorded, to the artwork & duplication by, it’s been a seriously collective, and local, experience.
I couldn’t have planned a better way to commemorate National Co-Op month. The EP is just getting pressed this week. If you’re at my November shows, you’ll be able to pick up a copy. In the meantime, you can listen to the lead-off track “Off Sides”:
Off Sides by Deborah Crooks
Deborah Crooks (www.DeborahCrooks.com) is a writer, performing songwriter and recording artist based in San Francisco whose lyric driven and soul-wise music has drawn comparison to Lucinda Williams, Chrissie Hynde and Natalie Merchant.
Singing about faith, love and loss, her lyrics are honed by a lifetime of writing and world travel while her music draws on folk, rock, Americana and the blues. She released her first EP “5 Acres” in 2003 produced by Roberta Donnay, which caught the attention of Rocker Girl Magazine, selecting it for the RockerGirl Discoveries Cd. In 2007, she teamed up with local producer Ben Bernstein to complete “Turn It All Red” Ep, followed by 2008’s “Adding Water to the Ashes” CD, and a second full-length CD “2010. She’s currently working on a third CD to be released in 2013.
Deborah’s many performance credits include an appearance at the 2006 Millennium Music Conference, the RockerGirl Magazine Music Convention, IndieGrrl, at several of the Annual Invasion of the GoGirls at SXSW in Austin, TX, the Harmony Festival and 2009’s California Music Fest, MacWorld 2010, Far West Fest and many other venues and events. She toured the Northwest as part “Indie Abundance Music, Money & Mindfulness” (2009) with two other Bay Area artists, and followed up with “The Great Idea Tour of the Southwest in March 2010 with Jean Mazzei.
