Photo by Kevin Millet
Over the course of the last two years, Metro Moncton audiences have become rather familiar with musician Zack Lane. He can typically be found holding down the stage at one of many venues in the city on any given night of the week, delighting audiences with a catalogue of music that runs the gamut from current pop hits to songs from yester-year.
While Lane’s talent has never been called into question, the release of his new single “Take It Easy On Me” stands to bring him to an even greater level of recognition on both a regional and national scale.
Last year, he released the song “Tell Me,” which served as his entry into CBC’s annual Searchlight competition. Although he failed to walk away with the grand prize when all was said and done, the contest helped provide Lane invaluable exposure to Canadians in all corners of the country.
Venturing into the world of original material is still somewhat of a new process for the 19 year-old Lane, but is one that he is excited to continue exploring.
Recorded at Montreal’s Planet Studio late last year, Lane feels “Take It Easy On Me” – released yesterday via digital music providers, including iTunes – is most representative of the direction that his original work is taking.
“I’m still proud of ‘Tell Me,’ but feel that ‘Take It Easy On Me’ is more representative of who I am as a musician and the direction in which I am headed,” Lane says.
He shares his latest single had been kicking around in various forms for the last three years before ultimately cutting what would become the definitive version of the song.
“Although the basic premise of the song remained the same, it lived through a few different iterations before this version of the song was cut in Montreal last year. This is the one I am most happy with, obviously, and am looking forward to sharing with people all across the country.”
With the excitement of having new material to share with fans looming large over his conversation with The Times & Transcript, Lane also acknowledges that the hard work is just beginning in some ways.
While he has successfully built a name for himself in the region, breaking out to a wider audience with his original material is a whole other challenge, but is one he is excited to embrace.
“I started playing in bars when I was 15 years old,” he says. “Over the last couple of years, I have been playing three to four shows a week, on average, and if there is one thing that I’ve learned, it is the importance of not becoming stagnant. Artists today can’t expect everything to be handed to them. They have to go out there and earn it, which is exactly what I’m intent on doing, now and in the future.”
Zack Lane’s “Take It Easy On Me” is now available via all digital music service providers.