Dana "Short Order" Cooke, is a Syracuse-based songwriter, singer, and sometimes buffoon. Cooke writes gently humorous, wry, quirky songs about daily life that somehow relates to things in our own lives such as a fear of going bald, a tendency to swear at other drivers or your secret desire to abandon your loved ones and go live somewhere in the woods. His songwriting has been compared to Roger Miller, The Roches and Loudon Wainwright III with the absurd and ironic playing  huge roles in his songs.

His Band Joe is Joe Cleveland on clawhammer banjo and harmony vocals. The addition of His Band Joe imparts a bluegrass/old-timey shading to the music, lending it an utterly false patina of timelessness and import. At least, that's how Cooke explains it.

"Cleveland's sweet harmonies are the perfect foil to Cooke's sardonic narratives.... Add to that Cooke's easygoing, conversational manner with an audience, and you get a performance as comfy and unaffected as a living-room jam session."
--Tammy DiDomenico, Syracuse New Times.