Phil Cook

Schedule

Sat, 22 Nov, 2025 at 08:00 am

UTC-06:00

Location

2262 Winnebago St, Madison, WI 53704-5321, United States | Madison, WI

Doors 7PM / Show 8PM
Seated show
$25ADV / $30DOS
You already know Phil Cook, at least if you’ve listened to any of the most essential folk-rock, indie rock, or even gospel records of the last decade. The spirited piano solo on Hiss Golden Messenger’s “Day O Day,” the incisive melody of Bon Iver’s “AUTAC,” the mesmerizing elegance of the keys on Hurray for the Riff Raff’s “Life on Earth”—yes, those are all Phil Cook, a beloved collaborator capable of transforming an entire song with a pretty lick here, a sharp line there. The War on Drugs, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Ani DiFranco, Nathaniel Rateliff, Frazey Ford, the Indigo Girls: Cook’s partnerships in just the last dozen years shape their own best-of.
But now, Phil Cook has returned to his first musical love: solo piano. It is, after all, the instrument of his upbringing and now the most direct line between his fathoms-deep sensitivity and the ears of his audience. On the new release, All These Years, Cook’s playing—a chronicle of gorgeous and emotionally expansive meditations—reorients expectations of solo piano composition and improvisation. Indeed, that exquisite album is just the start for a player approaching the grand old instrument from the perhaps unlikely foundation of American folk music.
Two decades ago, Cook left his native Wisconsin for North Carolina, largely to be closer to the American roots music that had taken over his life. The blues, bluegrass, old-time, country: They formed a composite lingua franca for Cook, who began to deliver his keen understanding of these sounds with a guitar or a banjo, a slide or fingerpicks. He funneled that information into his pioneering avant-folk band Megafaun and subsequent duties as an in-demand sideman. But in early 2020, Cook paused his relentless touring duties with others, intent on focusing on how all his experiences and erudition could fit into his own songs. He found a cabin in the North Carolina mountains and woke early and wrote late, penning aubades and nocturnes and endearing reflections on his own life. The results feel like a mirror held to a heart and mind squinting to find light in our age of darkness, hope in a moment where it’s easier to believe in its absence.
Traditional folk music, we are rightly told, was often the sound of people getting by, of chronicling despair and worry so that they might get through that stuff, if only for the next five minutes. Technique and melody and vocabulary aside, that is the absolute essence Phil Cook summons at the piano, whether supporting some famous singer or offering the warm flicker of his solo work. This is music that makes you glad to have heard it, glad that it exists, glad that you’re here with the chance to be glad at all.
— Grayson Haver Currin (2022)

Where is it happening?

2262 Winnebago St, Madison, WI 53704-5321, United States
The Bur Oak

Host or Publisher The Bur Oak

It's more fun with friends. Share with friends

Discover More Events in Madison

Parking Jeff Tweedy
Sat, 22 Nov at 01:30 am Parking Jeff Tweedy

Shannon Hall

Jeff Tweedy
Sat, 22 Nov at 01:30 am Jeff Tweedy

Shannon Hall

Lamp
Sat, 22 Nov at 02:00 am Lamp

The Sylvee

CONTESTS TRIPS-ADVENTURES
Parking Rod Tuffcurls & The Bench Press
Sat, 22 Nov at 02:30 am Parking Rod Tuffcurls & The Bench Press

Majestic Theatre - WI

ART THEATRE
Sennett Middle School Winter Craft Market 2025
Sat, 22 Nov at 09:00 am Sennett Middle School Winter Craft Market 2025

502 Pflaum Rd, Madison, WI 53716, United States

Holiday photos with Becky Van Boxtel Van Boxtel Photography, LLC
Sat, 22 Nov at 09:00 am Holiday photos with Becky Van Boxtel Van Boxtel Photography, LLC

3758 E Washington Ave, Madison, WI

HOLIDAY KIDS
Pathways Fall Craft Fair
Sat, 22 Nov at 09:00 am Pathways Fall Craft Fair

2040 Sherman Ave, Madison WI

CHRISTMAS-MARKETS-AND-FAIRS
Madison Gem, Mineral & Fossil Show
Sat, 22 Nov at 09:30 am Madison Gem, Mineral & Fossil Show

Alliant Energy Center

A Date Night Adventure! - Artistic and Musical Madison
Thu, 31 Oct at 08:00 am A Date Night Adventure! - Artistic and Musical Madison

716 Langdon St

ART TRIPS-ADVENTURES
Return to Wholeness - A Breath, Music & Energy Workshop
Thu, 20 Mar at 09:00 am Return to Wholeness - A Breath, Music & Energy Workshop

Madison Virtual via Zoom

WORKSHOPS VIRTUAL
September Open Mic
Tue, 30 Sep at 06:00 pm September Open Mic

The Bur Oak

OPEN-MIC MUSIC
Live DJ + Artisan Wines
Tue, 30 Sep at 07:00 pm Live DJ + Artisan Wines

11 N Allen St, Madison, WI

ART MUSIC
Colter Wall, Red Shahan in Madison
Tue, 30 Sep at 07:30 pm Colter Wall, Red Shahan in Madison

Orpheum Theater

CONCERTS MUSIC
Colter Wall, Red Shahan in Madison
Tue, 30 Sep at 07:30 pm Colter Wall, Red Shahan in Madison

Orpheum Theater

ART LIVE-MUSIC
almost a.m. in Madison
Tue, 30 Sep at 08:00 pm almost a.m. in Madison

High Noon Saloon

CONCERTS MUSIC
AFI, TR\/ST in Madison
Tue, 30 Sep at 08:00 pm AFI, TR/ST in Madison

The Sylvee

CONCERTS MUSIC
Tue, 30 Sep at 08:00 pm AFI at The Sylvee

The Sylvee

TRIPS-ADVENTURES CONTESTS
AFI
Tue, 30 Sep AFI

The Sylvee

Colter Wall with Red Shahan
Wed, 01 Oct at 12:30 am Colter Wall with Red Shahan

Orpheum Theatre - Madison

ART THEATRE
Parking Colter Wall
Wed, 01 Oct at 12:30 am Parking Colter Wall

Orpheum Theatre - Madison

ART THEATRE

What's Happening Next in Madison?

Discover Madison Events