HOUSTON PRESS: Elizabeth Cook Ain’t No Easy Kind
Elizabeth Cook will be on hand for the screening of her new movie at The River Oaks Theatre Credit: Stephen Dillon
Read the original story in Houston Press
BY GLADYS FUENTES
July 14, 2026 10:00AM
Outlaw country favorite Elizabeth Cook has taken her life story and journey as an artist from song to the big screen. Cook stars in the recently released film The Easy Kind, a film by Katy Chevigny, revolving around Cook’s life blending truth and a little fiction.
“I am in the film and the film is around me but other people made the film,” says Cook adding, “It was a labor of love for lots of people.”
The Easy Kind premiered last month and will be shown at the River Oaks Theatre [Click for EVENT LISTING] where Cook will be on hand for a Q&A and short performance following the film. The event will take place on Wednesday, July 15.
Chevigny, an accomplished documentary filmmaker, began the project as a documentary about Cook and her fascinating life and career, a naturally interesting story for audiences.
Born in Wildwood, Florida, Cook was the youngest of 12 children. Her parents were both musicians and performers with her mother playing mandolin and guitar. Her father played upright bass, a skill he gained while serving time for moonshining.
As a small child, Cook already was performing on stage with her parents at the age of 4 and by 9 she had formed her own band. Though her family believed she could launch straight to stardom, Cook attended Georgia Southern University where she received a double major in accounting and computer information systems.
In 1996, Cook shifted from working as an accountant to securing a deal as a songwriter for a publishing house in Nashville leading to her debut The Blue Album, released in 2000. After gaining mainstream attention, Cook quickly realized the disconnect between the artist she wanted to be and what major labels expected.
“Growing up, I wasn’t aware of an indie music scene much or that people toured that weren’t necessarily on country music award shows but had amazing careers like John Prine or Nancy Griffith so I wasn’t aware of that layer of existence that could happen. I thought that you had to get these big holy grail deals in order just to do it so I was focused on achieving those deals and I did achieve those deals but then once I got into them how I was growing and developing artistically was not really what they did.”
Fighting to remain her true self led her to leaving Warner Bros. Records and releasing music and performing on her own terms. Cook is about to release her eighth album, Great Television, produced by Shooter Jennings, and has been hosting her acclaimed show Elizabeth Cook’s Apron Strings on the SiriusXM Outlaw Country station since 2011.
“A core characteristic I think that was distilled in me when I was younger was that we didn’t have a lot of money or a lot of things or even particularly a nice house or anything like that but we took a lot of pride in trying to be authentic and good people and we were prideful in that sense and so that sort of emboldened me to stay true to who I am and who I want to be.”
All of this made her life a natural choice for a documentary film but somewhere during the filming process, the idea shifted to becoming a partially fictional film with actors, including Cook playing herself. Cook describes the narrative scenes as moments that are “Truth adjacent to be explored and with a layer of protection.”
“Basically, Katy would have an idea for a scene that she wanted to inject into the script and she would send me the dialogue for that scene and I would rewrite that dialog to accomplishthe same thing but, in my voice. That way the same person that is talking in the documentary footage is talking in the scripted scene,” says Cook.
The film contrasts the quiet solitude of writing at home with the intense preparation required before stepping onstage. Scenes of Cook finally receiving the green light to perform “Balls” at the Grand Ole Opry alongside moments of her applying her own makeup before the show, reveal the steady energy building before each performance.
The Easy Kind took on a rare approach to telling Cook’s story blending facts with fiction and just like everything Cook has fought for, maintains her authenticity, “It really is amazing,” says Cook of the final product.
“I’m really proud of it and just feel lucky to be part of something that feels so original and truly creative in real time and what a luxury it was to get to do that. There’s nothing more joyful and validating and fulfilling than creating with your friends.”
The Easy Kind has been years in the making for Cook, Chevigny and their team with Cook describing the many challenges to completing the film such as COVID and family emergencies forcing them to stop production at times.
“We were able to push it across the finish line, which was a very hard thing to do. I think there were times where it almost became a plight, and this sense of determination and mind over matter. It doesn’t make sense that we would be able to finish this film but we are going to because we have been challenged by the universe and we are going to meet that challenge and do it and we both adopted that fierceness about it and that is what has gotten us to this point and able to come to Houston.”
Elizabeth Cook will be part of the screening, performance and Q&A following the showing of The Easy Kind on Wednesday, July 15, 7:30 p.m at The River Oaks Theatre, 2009 W. Gray. For more information visit theriveroakstheatre.com
