Mike Cooley (American musician)

Mike Cooley
Background information
Origin	Tuscumbia, Alabama
Genres	Rock Soul Alternative country
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter Guitarist
Instruments	Vocals Guitar
Years active	1985–present
Labels	ATO Records
Associated acts	Drive-By Truckers Jason Isbell Shonna Tucker

John Michael "Mike" Cooley (born September 14, 1966) is a songwriter, singer, and guitarist from Tuscumbia, Alabama, near Muscle Shoals. He is a member of the band Drive-By Truckers.

Cooley received his first guitar at age 8, spending time with a local bluegrass musician to pick up the instrument. In 1985, he formed the punk-influenced band Adam's House Cat with Patterson Hood. The band was chosen as a top ten Best Unsigned Band by a Musician contest in the late 1980s. After the demise of Adam's House Cat, Cooley and Hood performed as a duo under the name "Virgil Kane." They eventually started a new band, "Horsepussy," before splitting for a few years. It was during this split that Hood moved to Athens, Georgia and began forming what would become Drive-By Truckers "with the intent of luring Cooley back into the fold.

Hood and Cooley formed Drive-By Truckers in 1996. Cooley contributed one song to their debut record Gangstabilly and three songs to the follow-up, Pizza Deliverance. Cooley wrote five songs for the breakout double album Southern Rock Opera, which received a four star rating from Rolling Stone Magazine. Cooley added four songs to the Truckers' next two records Decoration Day and The Dirty South, including his signature song "Carl Perkins' Cadillac". He wrote two songs for the follow-up A Blessing and a Curse and seven for Brighter Than Creation's Dark. He has written three songs for each of the Truckers' records Go-Go Boots and The Big To Do and six songs for their 2014 release English Oceans.

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