In the late 80’s to early 90’s I played mostly in Christian music. None was more fun than the time I spent with Bret Cook. He had a Christian rock band at the time called Bret Cook and Exodus. I joined the band in 1990 playing bass.

We would play festivals, churches, youth groups. It was a 5 piece band with some great musicians, but was mostly a weekend warrior project. Around 1991 Bret received backing from a patron that would allow him to record his own album. Most material for the album was shopped to us from other songwriters, but we wanted something of our own.

Then one day at a music store in Indianapolis, I began playing around with a melody that had been in my head on the keyboard. One thing led to another and Bret would give me a line, I would give him a line. Boom! Bob’s your uncle. We wrote Let Him In right there on the sales floor of IRC Music. It was magical.

Rescue Me was written a little later with the help of Dr Scott Walker in his basement studio. Same contributing process. “add this”, “move that”, “try this chord”. It was one of the most creative times in my life.

We would record in Nashville at Quad studios. Several studio musicians that we looked up to from the liner notes of our favorite artists played on the album. Gary Lunn from Whiteheart. Tommy Simms from Whiteheart, Garth Brooks, and Bruce Springsteen. John Cascella from John Mellencamp. Mark Douthitt was playing with Reba McIntire at the time. It was produced by Steve Millikan who produced artists like Ray Boltz and Pricilla Engle.

I think both songs charted on the CCM but they never made it anywhere close to top 40. I actually received checks from ASCAP/BMI. I was an certified songwriter. Couldn’t have been prouder. And to be able to share this experience with Bret made it even more special. Thank you Bret and Dr. Walker for the opportunity.

Bret and his wife Michelle still tour and perform as Cook and Belle. Check out their dates here: https://cookandbelle.com. Their son Seth Cook has also had success and still tours. You can check out his dates at: https://sethcookmusic.com.