Erin Cole-Baker reveals 'Late Summer' single
Singer Songwriter Erin Cole-Baker was raised in the beach filled rural Northland of New Zealand. Erin called Oregon home for six years in which she released Talon and Spur in 2009 and Big Sky in 2011, and where she established herself as "One of the more constant and compelling voices on the Central Oregon music scene” (GO! Magazine), becoming a Breedlove artist and returning to her roots in New Zealand to raise a family.
After a seven year break to focus on raising her two daughters, Cole-Baker released her album “Till the Feeling’s Right” in May 2018. Erin was funded by Outward Sound (NZ) to attend the International Folk Alliance Conference in Kansas City, and in August and September toured through California, Oregon and Washington.
In 2019 Cole-Baker left NZ with her husband and two small girls to move to the USA, buying a motorhome and traveling the northwest of the states for seven months playing shows and pondering where to settle.
In early 2020 Cole-Baker and her family settled back in central Oregon. Erin was eager to get into the local music scene and began by earning an opening slot before the popular band Joseph at iconic downtown venue The Tower Theatre. This was basically the last live music show in Bend before not being able to freely travel and play shows, and connect with the music community like she was expecting.
Cole-Baker launched herself into a world of writing and home recording. She gathered gear and spent late nights figuring out how to navigate the recording software.
“Late Summer” was one of the first songs Erin started to record, in a collection of six tracks which will be released as an EP in the new year. These new songs explore an expanded sonic pallet, with “Late Summer” being written on synth and mixed by recent Chicago transplant sound engineer Andrew Arbetter.
The single was written after a family trip to the Oregon coast, after a very isolated stint of “distance learning” from home with Cole-Bakers’ 5 and 8 year old girls. This trip let some light and perspective in, watching her girls splash in the waves, run down the dunes and laugh and have fun. “Late Summer” is about being changed by the goodness of nature, that magic shift of getting out of your head and seeing beauty again.
Besides working on her EP, Erin has been writing and crafting an engaging live show with longtime friend Tyson (bass and BVs) and her husband Bruce (drums and synth), carving a band sound that is solid and fun.
"I find myself wanting to sing and play with more grit, stomp on a pedal and let my fingers explore the fretboard, something I might not have explored if it weren't for the last 18 months".
Listen here:
