NEWS > As 2011 came to an end, music writer Keith Spera of the New Orleans Times-Picayune gave his roundup of the local music scene. Included in his top ten albums of the year was Colin Lake's album "The Ones I Love". Click HERE to read the piece on NOLA.com. > PRESS RELEASE FOR COLIN'S NEW ALBUM: For Immediate Release: Announcing the forthcoming release of the album The Ones I Love from New Orleans based songwriter, vocalist and slide guitarist Colin Lake. Marked by soulful, pleading vocals and rich, sweeping guitar tones, The Ones I Love reveals an artist with strong individuality and an innate ability to connect with listeners. Throughout the album’s eleven original songs, Lake demonstrates a deep understanding of the blues while foregoing all of its cliché trappings. The singer’s classic sensibilities and well developed songwriting are the foundation for an album that is at once bold, sensitive and timeless. Recorded by Drew Vonderhaar at Graveyard Studios in New Orleans, The Ones I Love also features a cast of veteran musicians including bassist Jack Cruz (of Walter "Wolfman" Washington's Roadmasters) and keyboardist Marc Adams (Dixie Cups, et al), plus appearances by singer Eric Lindell and guitarist John Fohl (of Dr. John's Lower 911 band). From rollicking full production tracks to intimate solo and duo efforts, the recording runs the gamut of styles and formats that are the basis for Lake's dynamic delivery of blues-based Americana. Raised in the Pacific Northwest without formal musical training, it wasn’t until after high school that Lake began spending rainy days and nights alone with a guitar. He taught himself to play, sing and write and in 2006 he began performing original music in and around Portland, Oregon. Lake’s ongoing musical education and appetite for vibrant, authentic music soon led him to New Orleans, where he relocated to in early 2009. The rhythms of his new home have quickly become an integral part of Lake’s band arrangements and can be heard in the playful second-line groove of “In on Time” (Track 4), the infectious bounce of “Lovin’ Man” (Track 7), and the slow, pulsing syncopation of “Where Did We Go Wrong” (Track 8). In recent years, Lake’s study in slide guitar has grown to include the gospel realm of “sacred steel”. Shades of this style can be heard on the stripped-down, gospel-infused number “Ain’t Gonna’ Worry” (Track 2) and the soulful, melodic solos that lay between the verses of “Skipjack” (Track 10). As comfortable alone with an instrument and a microphone as he is leading a band, Lake saves his most heartfelt performance for his solo presentation of the beautiful, bittersweet title track. In late August Colin Lake will return to the Pacific Northwest for a run of Festival dates and CD release shows in Portland and Seattle. CD release shows are being planned for this fall in New Orleans as well as other markets in Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi. Please visit colinlake.com/schedule.html for Lake’s performance schedule.