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 and was the Breedlove artist for Sisters Folk Festival in 2018.

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 after being asked to record some parts for different friends' projects.  She gathered gear and spent late nights figuring out how to navigate the recording software and gear.  “Late Summer” (Dec 2021) was one of the first songs Erin started to record, in a collection of six songs which will be released as an EP in 2022.  These songs explore an expanded sonic pallet with the addition of new gear bought early in 2020.  A fender Jazzmaster, some new pedals, a synth and drum machine all collided, to provide an outlet for the tangle of 2020 in this collection of songs.  Late Summer is written on synth as the main instrument and has been mixed by recent Chicago transplant sound engineer Andrew Arbetter.

Late Summer 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 and not really seeing people.  This trip let some light in, and a shift of perspective, 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.

Cole-Bakers’ brand new release is a stunningly heartbreaking self-produced song and video “I Didn’t Want To Take Your Things”, which came out of her after the sudden and unexpected loss of someone special to her last year. She wrote and recorded the main parts all in the same day, and there it sat gathering dust until the end of last year. She was supported, mentored and buoyed again by Andrew Arbetter to get it over the finish line. She hopes this song will allow people to process their own grief in any way small or big...

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.  Over the summer they opened for Joseph at the very popular outdoor series “Munch n Music”, Bend Fall Festival, and played backyard concerts around Bend.

"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 18months."

Notable past performances:
Treefort Fest 2022, Opened for Joseph at Munch n Music 2021 & the Tower Theatre 2020, Auckland Folk Festival 2020, Opened for Sean Hayes at the Domino Room 2019, Anacortes Arts Festival 2019, Bend Summer Festival 2019, Fritter Fest (NZ) 2019, Sisters Folk Festival 2018 (as the Breedlove sponsored artist) 2011 (as Consider the Fox) 2009 (as The Erins), Funded by Outward Sound (NZ) to attend the International Folk Alliance in USA 2018, The Auckland Folk Festival 2012, The Tower Theatre (Bend OR) 2011, Les Schwab Amphitheatre Summer Sunday Concert Series (Bend OR) 2009

Musical influences; Laura Veirs, Deep Sea Diver, Phoebe Bridgers, Brandi Carlile, Margaret Glaspy, Joseph

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Genre; Indie Electric Folk-Rock