Cooker John
Biography
Performance arrangements: solo, duo, trio
Cooker John explores and explodes the rhythms and traditions of folk and blues.
"The Minnesota Music Academy Congratulates the Winners of the 1996 Minnesota Music Awards "Traditional & Modern Folk Recording" Cooker John: Larry's Road Trip"
—City Pages
—City Pages
"There is nothing false or cheap about the tragic beauty that John captures in his songs."
—St. Paul Pioneer Press
—St. Paul Pioneer Press
John Sagner (Cooker John) is a folk and blues slide guitarist who was born in Newark, New Jersey, shortly after the end of World War II. He now lives in St. Paul and plays guitar, as he has done for fifty years. Cooker's music has been described as peaceful, authentic, and gritty. He offers a genuine voice coupled with a musical sensibility informed by the folk, rock, and blues traditions. His music presents a return to the roots of folk and blues mixed with his own wry original compositions.
During Cooker's checkered career he has opened for John Hartford, Jerry Jeff Walker, Chuck Berry, and The Loving Spoonful. He has performed in countless bars and coffeehouses throughout New York, New Jersey, and the Midwest and has also played extensively in Mexico, performing at Roots in Cancun and Zamas in Tulum.
John's first CD, Larry's Road Trip, released in 1995, won the Minnesota Music Award for Best New Folk Artist. His second release Grocery Store was voted one of the top ten local releases of the year 1997 by Star Tribune Music Critic, Jim Walsh. Since that time Cooker has released several more CDs including Life Down Here, School of Life, Alive and Alone, Live at Dunn Bros, and a recent compilation available at gigs entitled Settle For You.
"Sagner's voice is rough-hewn and compact, but full of character, and he's a fine slide guitar player."
—Minneapolis Star Tribune
—Minneapolis Star Tribune
"Cooker John speaks eloquently to Middle America with his bluesy sorrow, lonely folk inclinations and sure-footed rootsy digs. "
—St. Paul Pioneer Press
—St. Paul Pioneer Press
