Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Joey Cook reacts to feedback from the judges during the Kansas City auditions for American Idol Season 14. (FOX Photo)

We only got to hear her play the accordion, during a unique cover of “King of Spain” that drew rave reviews during Kansas City auditions.

Keith Urban called the 23-year-old from Woodbridge, Va. “my favorite voice of the whole day, and we’ve heard some really good singers today.”

Jennifer complimented her on being unique and for that fact that she looks “like a little doll,” complete with bright blue hair on audition day.

And Harry Connick classified her audition as “absolutely terrific,” though he cautioned Joey to beware of “how close to the edge of being novelty you are.”

In a meet the contestant video on Idol’s website, Joey says she auditioned at one of the bus tour stops partly at the urging of her grandfather.

“He’s always wanted me to do American Idol,” she explains.

A 2009 graduate of Woodbridge High School in Virginia, she performed around the Richmond area, but apparently now lives in New Orleans.

As for those instruments …

“I’ve always had a thing for obscure instruments, so I started playing the ukulele,” she says. “Then, one night, I had a dream I played the accordion. And I woke up and thought, ‘that would be really cool to do that.'”

There’s a practical reason, too, based on this interview. Joey says she has small hands and had trouble playing the guitar when she tried it in high school.

“I kept coming up with these songs in my head, and I wanted a way to translate them,” she says.

Her grandfather came up with the idea of playing a mandolin or ukulele, and she’s been doing the latter since her sophomore year in high school.

In November 2012, she released a 14-track ukulele album to bandcamp.com called “Hey, I Love You.”

Clearly, this is a young lady with a sense of humor. The first six tracks are Love Song #1, Love Song #2, etc., followed by A Sad Song About Love and Another Sad Song About Love.

At the time, she said she hoped to follow up with an accordion EP, but I can’t find any evidence that it ever made it to bandcamp.

Her goal on Idol is pretty simple.

“I’d like people to see that I’m better at more things than just waiting tables,” says Joey.

Here are some Joey links, followed by a couple of samples of her music.

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