Listen to Jake Walden "Alive And Screaming"

The Advocate features Jake Walden as one of the hot new queer artists to look out for this year in its upcoming annual music issue. The Los Angeles based crooner recently released his debut album "Alive & Screaming," which is filled with intensely personal stories wrapped in moody pop and folk arrangements that are truly compelling.

Walden grew up in Northern California and was raised on a hearty muscial diet of classic singer/songwriters like Joni Mitchell, Carole King, Cat Stevens, Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young. After traveling overseas in his late teens, the bright blue-eyed singer moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career as an actor in TV and film. But eventually his passion for music and love for performing made him decide to explore his musical ambitions. He started to perform at Hollywood's famous Hotel Cafe that garnered him a small legion of fans.

"I want to be as raw and truthful as I can," he says in his press biography. "When I'm playing a show, I try and engage myself fully with every person. If I haven't made half of the audience cry, not out of sadness, but out of hope, then I haven't done my job, or lived up to my dream. I am trying to inspire them to remember what it is they are seeking. For hope is so easily swept away by the storms of our lives."

Lead single from his album is "Alive And Screaming, a heartfelt song about getting your heart broken that shows off Walden's knack for personal storytelling. It succeeds to convey an emotion that many people can relate to because it comes from a place that is real and that is true. Listen to it in the audio player below. (Click here to purchase "Alive And Screaming on iTunes.)