Erin Cole-Baker

      In Whangarei, New Zealand, and at the age of five, 1986 saw Erin Cole-Baker born into the world of music via classical piano and a family full of talent. Five years later and carrying a hundred bucks from Great Aunt Honey, Erin and her older brother purchased their first guitar. Quick to feel out the chords on her own, Erin learned the basics of guitar playing quite rapidly and wrote her first song later that year. The early years of guitar playing led to a path with plenty of ups and downs, moves, style changes, and even a stint with a family band.

      Setting the guitar down at one point and playing the piano, Erin's love for other genres of music and improvisation lead her to entertain at jazz festivals around New Zealand. Then, 18 years old and leaving home for the first time to travel abroad, Erin picked the guitar up again and rediscovered her love for the strings during five months in the U.S. and Europe. Once home and studying sign language interpreting, Cole-Baker started to translate her emotions and experiences into her first collection of songs. In 2005 The United States called to her as the place to begin her dream of building a career in music and she came ashore eager to sing that dream into existence.

      Settling in Bend, Oregon, Erin quickly joined forces with violin player and songstress, Erin Zurflu, forming one of the town's most beloved duos "The Erins". Playing thoughtfully simple folk music, and telling stories, to crowds throughout the Pacific Northwest, Cole-Baker's songwriting talents shined. Inspired lyrics about life's journey and following your dreams eventually led to an album with Zurflu in 2007.

      With a lot more to say and the loss of Zurflu to the East Coast, Erin Cole-Baker leapt at the chance to begin writing and recording more of her heart on her own. Having explored instruments like the banjo, dulcimer, and baritone ukulele, Cole-Baker endeavored to create a new album using the classical sound from those early experiences with music back home in New Zealand as a subtle backdrop. In late 2009, after two years of work and completing a small tour of France, the triumphant album "Talon & Spur" was released. A collection of strength driven stories, "Talon & Spur" is an uplifting folk album that teaches listeners to trust in good things and to not shy away from putting forth real work to realize goals and change the world.

      Erin Cole-Baker continues to make sharing these kinds of messages her mission, and in America, has found a land full of people more than willing to listen.

by Ethan Maffey