Jeff Bates New CD Out Tuesday

4/4/2008 Lisa Ann Schleipfer Singer-songwriter Jeff Bates releases a new album April 8 with his new label, Black River Music Group. The self-titled Jeff Bates is the artist’s third studio release.  His previous RCA albums, the 2003 Rainbow Man and Leave the Light On in 2006, produced seven charted singles. Bates was released from RCA in 2006, and kept busy touring and writing songs.  He said the time spent creating was, “…a little rougher around the edges, a little more progressive, a little more of ME and the music I really feel inside.” The Mississippi native penned 10 of the album’s 13 songs.  Bates had a team of songwriters to work with, including Lonnie Wilson, Kim Williams, Ben Hayslip, Brandon Kinney, Jimmy Yeary, Robert Arthur, Kirk Roth, Jim McCormick, Jason Matthews and Kenny Beard. “It’s the most honest and accurate representation of me and my music yet,” Bates said.  “Nobody told me what to sing or write, what direction to go with it, or how it should be done.  We all just went into the studio and did our best to bring life to words I’d written on paper.  And the words written on paper? Well, those came from little pieces of the life I’ve lived.” Bates just filmed a new video for the album’s first single, “Don’t Hate Me For Loving You.”  Fans also can catch a feature of Bates in an upcoming issue of Country Weekly due out April 21. For more information visit http://www.jeffbates.net.