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The Varnish Cooks were winners of the 2008 Juried Music Competition of the International Arts Movement, and performed at the annual conference in New York City at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center.


"The Varnish Cooks... are a leading force in the region’s Americana scene."


"Good times, great music, a sense of pride playing American roots music, voices in harmony singing out… the music is happy and sad, beautifully simple but terrifyingly complicated at the same time - it’s about as real as life is, and last night the Varnish Cooks drove it home."


"The Varnish Cooks aren't looking to present the music as frozen in time. Instead, they're intent on keeping it alive by allowing for improvisation - an element which they insist was essential to its original vitality. Ironically, this only makes the music more convincing, as does its subtle but strong suggestions of human moral frailty."


"'With music traditions, we think of them as this organic process that just happens, when actually it's people exerting their will onto music that they really love.' That's where the Varnish Cooks find their songs, from like-minded archeologists of Appalachian twang."


"This is what music is all about, down to the nitty gritty of it all. No special effects or smoke and mirrors, just raw talent playing songs from the roots of the American musical family tree."