We recently connected with Erin Cole-Baker and have shared our conversation below.
Erin, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?
I am fortunate to be able to earn a living from playing music live! This summer has been my busiest yet. Hmmm giving advice is tricky – every person’s journey looks different and earning a living from your creativity is always an adventure. The business side of things is tough for me, but often when I step out and do what I love it circulates more work and ideas. The motion of being in public, making connections with people – and the new ideas that pop up that are harder to come by if you’re sitting at home not making those connections. It’s easy to get insular – but we have to keep going, follow the creativity and work on connecting with others in our community.
Erin, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I am a musician, singer-songwriter. My parents noticed my interest in music from a very early age and supported me in that – I started learning classical piano – then branched out into jazz piano…. I was learning some guitar through my brother, and some fiddle for a few years, and took a few vocal lessons. When I left home my dad gifted me his Martin guitar and I began to write songs on guitar and started to develop my voice. There was a magic I found in these songs that naturally came out of me that got me hooked and I have been following that ever since. I’ve played in different projects over the years from jam bands, acoustic folk duo, to more recently playing electric guitar and harmonies in a friends band and my own solo project and band.
I am so fortunate to be able to play music for my job. I perform at venues and events around where we live and I also have a studio where I work on my own music, and with other musicians and writers on various projects, which I began setting up in 2020.
I was born in Santa Barbara, but my family moved to New Zealand when I was 7. I married the drummer from the high school jazz band I was in, and we got one way tickets to the USA after I recorded my first album. We fell in love with Oregon and spent a good handful of years there getting into the music scene before going back to New Zealand to start a family. I had a few years when the kids were small where I didn’t have any extra energy for music, I thought I was able to let the music go….but when they got a little older, and I had more sleep and space I began writing again and recorded my most recent full length album “til the feelings right”. We moved back to the USA in 2019, living in an RV for 7 months and playing venues and house concerts around the Northwest until we settled in Oregon again in 2020. I have released a few singles from my home studio and I’m releasing a single “Hide the Key” on Dec 8th on streaming. I am currently working on finishing an album this winter to release in the spring!
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
My family and I gave away most of our things and came to the USA with one way tickets in 2019. It was terrifying and exciting all in one. We had a sweet 7 months of traveling around the NW, playing music and connecting with old friends and making new ones while exploring the beautiful country together. We had intentions of keeping open minds about where to settle and hoped to get a feeling of somewhere we liked best to settle in and get into the music scene. We liked everywhere we went so it made choosing somewhere difficult! We ended up settling in Oregon where we had lived pre-children. When the pandemic happened we decided to stick out our decision to move to the USA. It was challenging not being able to do gigs and get into the community like we had hoped. I stayed up late nights when the kids were sleeping and wrote songs on a new Jazzmaster guitar, I bought recording gear and started learning how to use it. I have had the busiest summer ever playing lots of shows and I’m really grateful to be able to do that!
Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?
My most favorite book on creativity is Big Magic – creative living beyond fear by Elizabeth Gilbert. It’s such a good read, its funny and really got straight to a lot of my struggles with creating. I loved her take on all of humanity being creative, and I believe it. Lately I’ve been enjoying Jaiya Johns new book “Dear Artist – a love letter” which you can open any page and get a paragraph or two of something positive to think on….it’s really quite extraordinary! I also love Amy Mcnee (@inspiredtowrite) on instagram., what she writes and shares hits me where it needs to.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.erincolebaker.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/erincolebaker
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/erincolebakermusic
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@erincolebakermusic
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6qVdQaG8EErTV4QGyFE8c6?si=GmdGD0lnT-KdcXK4TK0V7g
Image Credits
Bruce Cole-Baker Jennifer Kinney Katy Nevisnsky Chris Fitzpatrick