Kamloops Teenage Blues Phenom Jake Soberlak Releases Debut Single 'You Gotta Leave' Ahead of September Album 'I'm In Trouble'

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VANCOUVER, BC, July 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- At 17-years-old, Jake Soberlak of Kamloops, British Columbia plays the blues with the authority of someone who has lived inside the music for half a century. Today, the young guitarist, singer and harmonica player shares his debut single "You Gotta Leave," the first taste of his forthcoming album 'I'm In Trouble', arriving September 11, 2026. The song announces the arrival of one of the most compelling young voices in Canadian blues today.

Soberlak's path into the blues began with a discovery that reached across generations. Digging through a collection of his grandfather's old records brought over from England, he found something scratchy, raw and utterly alive that grabbed hold and never let go. He followed the threads the way devoted blues listeners always have, one name leading to another, one record to the next, building a deep self-education in a tradition more than a century old. B.B. King, Peter Green and Eric Clapton became his teachers. He picked up guitar at thirteen and harmonica at fourteen, and word soon spread through Kamloops that something special was happening.

"You Gotta Leave" is an original Soberlak composition inspired by "Wine, Whiskey and Women" by Papa Lightfoot, where the vocal sounds as though it is being sung straight through the harmonica microphone. Soberlak set out to recreate that effect, channeling a vintage technique into a fresh new song. The result swaggers with confidence, anchored by a piano solo he counts among his favourite moments on the record.

The single arrives from sessions that honour the way the great records were made. Soberlak cut his debut album at Afterlife Studios in Vancouver with producer and drummer Leon Power, known for his work with City and Colour and Frazey Ford. Power assembled Darren Parris on bass, Darryl Havers on piano and engineer John Raham. Every track was recorded live off the floor across two days, capturing the spontaneity and feeling that the form demands.

Soberlak has been building his live reputation across Kamloops and the surrounding region one room at a time, and his goals remain refreshingly uncomplicated. "I just want to be playing music and gigging," he says. "That's all I want to do." That clarity of purpose runs through every note of "You Gotta Leave" and points toward a debut album that introduces a genuine old soul finding his voice.

Contact:
Eric Alper
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SOURCE Jake Soberlak