Colin Lake’s career began a few years ago in Portland, Oregon. Long captivated by blues and roots music but raised without any formal musical training, Lake was out of high school before he began spending rainy days and nights alone with a guitar. Very quickly though, Lake developed a strong individual style marked by innovative lap-slide guitar playing and soulful, pleading vocals. In 2007, Colin began recording and touring and in September of that year, he won the Telluride Blues Competition. Influenced heavily by the late Chris Whitley, Lake has also become known for mature songwriting and honest, dynamic delivery.

In Early 2009, Lake left Portland, embarking on a one-way tour that would end in New Orleans, Louisiana. Colin arrived late one evening with no place to live and few prospects. It wasn’t long, however, before his powerful voice could be heard regularly at venues throughout the city and over the airwaves of WWOZ fm. Heavily informed by the blues, Lake’s music incorporates elements of soul, rock and folk to create a sound and feel that is strongly original and disarmingly familiar. Shows with his band have become known as high-energy, gospel-infused house-rockers, while Lake’s poignant solo performances can silence audiences of any size. In 2011 Lake recorded and released the album “The Ones I Love”, which was soon named one of the top ten local releases of the year by Keith Spera of the New Orleans Times Picayune. As his reputation for authentic, down-home presentation continues to grow, Lake can be found on a variety of stages performing for captivated audiences and alongside some of the biggest names in New Orleans music.