2/5/2008 Melissa Coker 
Jeff Bates, formerly with RCA Records, has since signed with the new Independent label Black River Music Group and is already loving laying down songs for his next project. The tentatively planned first single from the self-titled album is cleverly called "Don't Hate Me For Loving You." The collection is set to contain 13 songs, ten of which Jeff had a hand in writing. That first foray may vary; however, as according to Jeff, all involved remain in the early stages of playing the album for radio and getting feedback from them. Jeff also tells us that this album will be "very different than my other albums because it's a little more progressive, not so ballad heavy. And not as autobiographical." And in debating his new label home, he chose to sail with Black River because "I wanted to be at a label where my music was a priority, where I didn't have to wait in line behind a lot of other acts waiting to get their music heard...they have some unique ideas in mind for our format, and they really seem to get me and what I'm about, musically. I continue to grow as a writer and a performer, and I don't believe I've even scratched the surface of what I can do or want to accomplish with music," adds the "Long Slow Kisses" star. Joining Jeff at the label is songstress Sarah Darling, a finalist on The Entertainer, a talent competition on E! Television hosted by Wayne Newton. In fact, she and Jeff recently peformed a duet of a ballad called "Somebody's Falling In Love" on stage for an industry crowd at Nashville restaurant Sambuca. GAC will soon hit the high seas with Jeff and Black River, featuring his Album Release Cruise, to take place at the end of the month. It will be the first time for so many fans and TV viewers to hear the new music. "I'm a little nervous!," says Jeff. Jeff Bates is due out April 8.
