Look Me Up By The Ocean Door from Amanda Cook Band

For the past several years, one of the most consistently interesting female vocalists in bluegrass has been Amanda Cook, who moved from Florida to southwestern Virginia in tandem with her extended contract with Mountain Fever Records.

Her husband, Dennis, made the move as well, along with her long time banjo picker and co-writer, Carolyne Van Lierop, who is now married to the band’s mandolin player, Troy Boone.

Amanda is not only a compelling vocalist, she has a real knack for choosing material, something that has kept her on our Bluegrass Today Weekly Airplay charts with each new release.

Mountain Fever has dropped the latest today, Cook and company’s reworking of a terrific song, Look Me Up By The Ocean Door, originally recorded by The Cox Family in 1993. Written by Sidney and Suzanne Cox, the song has such an alluring story and unusual chord changes that it holds your attention throughout.

Amanda says that it was her banjo picker who introduced the song to the band.

“On a road trip to play in Michigan last year, Carolyne played Look Me Up By The Ocean Door by the Cox Family. I immediately said, ‘OOOOh, we should totally do this song!’ Her response was, ‘yeah, that’s why I played it!’ So many times, we forget about songs we love so much, and they come back to us randomly. I’ve always loved the Cox family and their contribution to bluegrass music. This was so much fun to record, and it’s even more fun to perform live. I hope everyone loves what we did with such a classic song.”

Boone, along with fiddler George Mason, really get to stretch out on this one.

Check it out…

Look Me Up By The Ocean Door by Amanda Cook is available now from popular download and streaming services online. It will be included on her next Mountain Fever project, Changes, set for release on October 14.