Square peg: Guitarist Jesse Cook brings his fusion of music styles to ABQ, Santa Fe

In the age of digital platforms, guitarist and composer Jesse Cook has found a place to call home.

Early in his career, record stores did not know what to label his music or where to display it.

“In the old days, just to be in a store, you had to be in a bin, and the bin had to be in a section,” Cook recalls. “And if you didn’t fit in the section, they didn’t put you there. So that was a big issue at the beginning.”

Square peg: Guitarist Jesse Cook brings his fusion of music styles to ABQ, Santa Fe

After signing a record deal in 1995, his music went from being labeled as world music to classical to jazz and then new age.

“If you tried to do yoga to this, you might give yourself a hernia,” he joked. “It was always a struggle. I remember, one year, my video was being played on MTV Latino, and I’m not Latino. It was all very confusing. I sort of feel like, if I was a rock musician, it would have been so much simpler.”

Cook said he has always done his own thing and has put together the types of music he loves, all in one place, to create his music.

“It ends up being a sum total of everything I like, but it doesn’t necessarily fit a genre,” he explained. “One of the things I really did enjoy about the fact that we stopped having to fit it all into one tiny little store, was that suddenly categorization just wasn’t that important. At the end of the day, it was just about if people connect with your music, if it talks to them, then that’s all that matters. And I kind of feel like that’s always been the case. But for a long time, I was sort of struggling, I was always that square peg in a round hole in the music industry and now it just seems like less of an issue.”

Cook will bring his music to The Lensic Performing Arts Center in Santa Fe on Sunday, Feb. 2, and to the KiMo Theatre on Monday, Feb. 3.

“It’s going to be my first time in Santa Fe and I’ve wanted to go for years,” he said. “I’ve heard how incredibly beautiful it is there and I’ve never been. The KiMo I’ve played many times and I love it in Albuquerque, but I’m particularly excited to try somewhere new.”

Cook has some new singles coming out this year.

“When I first started, I would make a record, release the record, tour to support the record, and then come back off the road and spend another year in the studio,” he said. “Whereas now, I feel like I’m in a constant state of touring and then a little time off and touring. There’s no real period where I just stop completely and kind of immerse myself in the studio the way I used to.”

Cook feels many things have changed over the years when it comes to music.

“The place that music has in their lives has changed, how we can see music, where we get it, and the forms we enjoy it, have changed so much,” he explained. “And as an artist, you’re part of that because I always feel like music is a conversation between you and your audience and so as these new platforms come out, it changes the conversation.”

Social media and music platforms has allowed Cook’s global reach to significantly expand. His following has greatly expanded over the last two years, with over 70 million YouTube views, 2.5 million monthly Pandora streams, and more than half a million Instagram followers. His live concert specials also continue to be aired on PBS stations across the country, according to a news release.

“On Instagram, my biggest following is not in the United States, where I’ve done most of my touring,” he said. “I’ve toured more here in the U.S. than anywhere else in the world, but my biggest following is not in the U.S., it’s actually in Iran, where I’ve never played a single show in my life.”

He began interacting with his fans in Iran after realizing he had a notable following there.

“They’re lovely,” he said of his Iranian fans. “You realize at the end of the day, people are people. The government is a bit of a mess, but the people are lovely. And I wish I could go and perform for those folks, but I don’t think it’s going to happen anytime soon.”