David Cook to debut his new band on SNL on 11/1!

Two powerful forces come together on November 1st: an up-and-coming rock star and the NBC institution known as Saturday Night Live.

The American Idol season 7 champ demonstrates once again that he's fearless. And ambitious. Just last week he announced his newly formed band. In their very first public gig together, they will perform the brilliant and very hard-to-sing new single, "Light On." Think about it. Just three weeks after they formed, and 4 1/2 weeks after the single dropped, Cook and his boys take on live television, on what will likely be the highest rated SNL all season. It's the Saturday before Election Day, Ben Affleck is hosting (he's one of the show's best hosts), and Tina Fey will likely make her last appearance as Gov. Sarah Palin. Even though Cook is the musical guest, look for him to appear in a sketch or two.

So let's meet David's new band (they're a bunch of lookers!). Some fans have dubbed them "David and his boy scouts..." David, Neal, Andy, Kyle & Joey... don't you just love the names! Don't let that fool you; these guys are hard core rockers. And two of them are David's closest friends and bandmates from his time with The Midwest Kings (MWK). That David was able to get RCA to sign them is more evidence of his clout (and how good they are).

Neal "Dr." Tiemann (middle, with Andy & David) - Lead member of MWK (he managed the band and played lead guitar). He's a kickass guitar player and will continue in the role of lead guitar with David. He was the first to join David's band and is the one band member who played on every track on the soon-to-be released album.

Andy Skib (right, with David) - keyboards and backup rhythm guitar (David will play primary rhythm guitar). He will also do backup vocals during live performances. Andy was the lead vocalist for MWK; he also performs (sometimes with Neal) under the solo project "To Have Heroes." He has an amazing voice.

Joey Clement - Bass guitar

Kyle Peek - Drums

No other AI contestant has ever been given this much creative control. Rock producer extraordinaire Rob Cavallo (Green Day, My Chemical Romance, Kid Rock) was tapped as producer of Cook's new self titled album, which drops on 11/18. Cook wrote or co-wrote (with some big name rock stars) 11 out of the 12 tracks. "Light On" was written by Chris Cornell (Soundgarden, Audioslave) and Bryan Howes (Hinder). Very smart of Cook to go the band route instead of purely solo with studio musicians. This will help him build "rock cred."

This SNL gig is just the first of several TV appearances to promote the new album. Cook and his band will also appear on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," "The Ellen Degeneres Show," "Regis & Kelly," "Good Morning America" (11/17), and will headline a huge fundraiser thrown by NY Mets star David Wright on 11/12 (the two have become fast friends).

Sample the new single "Light On," now avaialble on itunes & amazon.com:

Cook's official website - DavidCookOfficial.com

For more info on Andy Skib, http://www.myspace.com/ToHaveHeroes

For more info on MWK, http://www.myspace.com/mwkmusic