Album Notes

Just back from an Australian Tour Colin is hard at work on his next record tentatively titled "Water In The Sky". It is due out mid summer 05 and will be accompanied by a release of the more naked and intimate demos of old and new songs.

"Colin Brooks from Austin Texas was moodily magnificent in two gigs at The Troubadour. These were the highlight of the festival for me. Only Jeff Lang five years ago had a similar effect." Woodford Folk Festival 04/05 The Fly, Cairns Australia


Colin is one of the Kerrville New Folk Winners of 2003

Colin Brooks communicates his tales with a dark and wistful voice that is at once both intimate and powerful, creating a hypnotic and nocturnal sound that is very much his own. He is also an accomplished guitar player, who can make his steel-body dobro sound deceptively graceful while still attacking it with his heavy brass slide.

His songwriting talents are already garnering him notice. He is the 2002 Abe Olman Scholarship Award winner from the Songwriter's Hall of Fame. He received the award largely because of the strength of the material on his debut album Chippin Away At The Promised Land, which was recorded primarily in Woodstock, New York. Performing Songwriter says "The spotlight is not unwarranted. Driven by Brooks' ragged-but-right vocals and greasy dobro licks, the album delivers a refreshing 50/50 mix of blues-based Americana roots and good old fashioned pop hooks."

Making the album was, in its own way, a testament to the respect he has already earned. He is joined on the album by such musical luminaries as drummer Jerry Marotta (Peter Gabriel, Sheryl Crow), who also produces one track, Sara Lee (Ani DiFranco, Indigo Girls) and legendary bassist Tony Levin (Peter Gabriel, King Crimson).

Chippin' Away At The Promised Land was actually born in Taos, New Mexico. Brooks had been playing extensively in the local club scene there for some time, and was eventually persuaded to make a recording. In no time, local radio took note, and began giving a song called Drive Me Home significant rotation. That song became the lead track for Chippin' Away At The Promised Land. Brooks moved to New York to finish the record, splitting his time between Woodstock and Brooklyn, and built a strong following while working on the record

Colin Brook's approach to songwriting is a combination of bluesy informality and sophisticated craftsmanship, a duality easily traced to his musical upbringing and development. On one side is the boy who played his father's Gibson Hummingbird guitar while sitting on his lap in the living room of their Michigan farm. On the other side is the serious and driven young man who honed his craft at Boston's prestigious Berklee College of Music. What results from the collision of these influences is the sound of Colin Brooks, whom Linda Lorence, VP at SESAC, says is "the freshest talent I've seen in NYC in a long time. He is an Americana artist on the rise."

Allowing no grass to grow under his feet Colin has moved to Austin, Texas and is already hard at work on his next collection of songs, while supporting the release of Chippin Away At The Promised Land.