This Side of the Moon

Elizabeth Cook collaborated with eight producers, including Randy Scruggs (pictured in 2009), on "song experiments" "that were later grouped together for This Side of the Moon.

Elizabeth Cook signed a recording contract with Atlantic after receiving positive reviews for The Blue Album, her 2000 self-released debut studio album.[1][2] The recording sessions for her second studio album Hey Y'all began in the spring of 2001, but its release would be delayed to 2002 because of record label issues.[3][4] When AOL-Time Warner—which owned Atlantic—closed its Nashville office, the company transferred Cook's contract to its parent company Warner Bros. As a result, Hey Y'all and its lead single "Stupid Things" received "little label support", and neither received any airplay.[4] Cook left Warner Bros. voluntarily to look for another record label in 2003.[5]

According to Cook's website, This Side of the Moon was constructed from separate "song experiments".[3] No Depression's Grant Alden described the album as a "collection of demos she scraped together" after her Warner Bros. deal.[6] "Funny Side of Love" was one of the first tracks recorded in this process.[7] Five producers, including Randy Scruggs and Sugar Hill's A&R director Steve Fishell, handled the songs recorded at eight recording studios throughout Tennessee.[8] Jeff Gordon is the executive producer for This Side of the Moon; along with producing a majority of the album, he mastered all of its songs.[9] Cook had met Gordon when he was looking for a "traditional girl country singer" to re-record his demos.[10]

This Side of the Moon was inspired by Cook's departure from Warner Bros., which she characterized as her "divorce from Music Row" and a "period of extreme frustration".[4] Gordon told Cook that she used songwriting to heal and joked it was because she "can't afford therapy beyond a lavender-scented candle".[7][9] In 2005, Cook told the Country Standard Time that she preferred being an independent artist, saying: "This is much more grass-roots, more real to me."[4] While reflecting on her career in 2017, Cook said that her first three albums were "tethered to Music Row", and recalled being "very conflicted with the responsibility of having mainstream radio hits". She said this changed with the 2007 release of her fourth studio album Balls, which she said allowed her to feel "very liberated as a songwriter".[11]

Cook has writing credits on the album's thirteen songs;[3] she co-wrote seven of them with songwriter Hardie McGehee[9] with whom she worked because they were signed to the same music publisher.[12] The pair had collaborated on seven songs for Hey Y'all.[13][14] After the release of This Side of the Moon, McGehee moved to Birmingham, Alabama, and Cook shifted to writing music by herself. She believed they "reached a real good stride" with the album, saying: "And I'm not sure where we would go from there."[10] Cook wrote two songs, “Ruthless" and "Heather Are You With Me Tonight", by herself and worked with her then-husband Tim Carroll on "Where the Blue Begins", which they recorded as a duet.[2][9]

This Side of the Moon had a "soft release" in August 2004.[4] However, in a June 2004 article, The Tennessean's Peter Cooper said the album was already available.[22] Media outlets described the release as independent.[23][24] Hog Country Production gave This Side of the Moon a larger release on May 17, 2005 as an audio CD.[4][9]

According to a 2005 press release, Cook planned to embark on a summer tour and perform at the Grand Ole Opry to support the album.[7] Prior to the release, she had performed its music as part of her live shows.[23] Cook also promoted This Side of the Moon by performing at international music festivals.[25] The album was later released on streaming services.[26]

In 2005, Cook recorded a music video for "Before I Go That Far" in New Mexico.[10] Entertainment company Thirty Tigers uploaded the video to its YouTube channel on April 10, 2007.[27] Cook was a part of Thirty Tigers when the company changed its name from Emergent Music Marketing in 2006.[28] According to the company's YouTube channel, This Side of the Moon was later licensed to the Orchard Music on behalf of Hog Country Production.[27]

This Side of the Moon received little airplay,[29] and following the album's release, Cook worked as a waitress to secure a steady salary.[25] She recounted taking that job because she was not emotionally attached to it, and felt comfortable quitting to perform at live shows.[25] In a 2007 CMT interview, Cook said she developed a fanbase from "a small handful of cult country music fans" that she thought were frustrated with her lack of commercial success. However, she described reaching a sense of peace about her experiences with different record deals.[29]

Cook (pictured in 2009) received positive reviews for This Side of the Moon.

This Side of the Moon was met with generally positive reviews from music critics.[30] Including the album on his list of 2005's best obscurities, Sanneh described the album as "lovable" and said Cook's vocals complimented the songs' productions.[16] Thompson felt the album was "consistently good, competently-put-together", and enjoyed the variation in its musical style.[31] Praising Cook for remaining "bracingly straight-up country", Cristiano thought This Side of the Moon was an improvement over Hey Y'all, and appreciated how "disappointment obviously didn't dull her artistry".[19] Bell commended Cook for providing a "steely conviction" to the music, and thought she deserved "a hard-earned, well-deserved second chance" to work with another major record label.[2] Alden praised the album's cohesion as well as Cook's vocals and songwriting, describing her as "an artist to whom attention must be paid".[3]

Some critics highlighted specific songs in their reviews. Cristiano said Cook proved herself to be a "thoughtful and deeply affecting balladeer", pointing to "Before I Go That Far" as an example.[19] While dismissing the notion that Cook was a guilty pleasure, Cooper singled out "Here's to You", "Where the Blue Begins", and "Somebody's Gotta Do It" as "music fit for smiling, humming and other admirable pursuits".[32] Alden highlighted "Heather Are You With Me Tonight" as "the first great song" from the Iraq War years,[3] and in his review for her fifth studio album Welder (2010), he said it was his favorite song.[6] In 2006, Randall, Carter, and Little singled out "Before I Go That Far" when praising Cook for creating "lush harmonies, traditional arrangements, and simple production".[33]

Retrospective reviews of This Side of the Moon remained positive.[15][24] In a 2006 article, a contributor for The Tennessean described it as Cook's best album.[15] Two years later, an NPR writer said Cook had achieved "some commercial and artistic potential" with the album.[24] Critics identified the album as an important part of Cook's career.[34][35] A staff writer for the River Cities' Reader attributed This Side of the Moon and Balls to helping establish Cook as a "soulful country singer and impassioned songwriter".[34] In a similar sentiment, Louisville's Brent Owen said This Side of the Moon gave Cook further exposure in the music industry.[35]

Credits adapted from the liner notes of This Side of the Moon:[9]

The following credits are adapted from the booklet of This Side of the Moon and AllMusic:[9][36]