Old Man Luedecke

Brief Biography

An auditioned Mariposa Showcase performer at the 2005 festival, Old Man Luedecke went on to become one of Canada’s best loved and most intriguing roots singer-songwriters. He has earned a 2011 Juno Award for My Hands Are On Fire And Other Love Songs and a 2009 Juno Award for Proof of Love. His performances are exciting and totally entertaining, and his un-clinched banjo playing style sparkles. He’s a young man with an old soul who doesn’t sugar coat his fears, and this lets his songs breathe with bittersweet hopefulness. It’s almost as though Luedecke channels Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger, with maybe a hint of Loudon Wainwright III, and the result is modern old-time originality that is pleasing to the ears and the soul.

ARTIST WEBSITE: www.oldmanluedecke.ca

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Old Man Luedecke is one of Canada’s best loved and most intriguing roots singer-songwriters. “An original, he is a musical singularity to be savoured and shared”, says the Vancouver Folk Festival. His memorable melodies, poetic sense and easy charisma appeal to anyone searching for new growth from old roots.

Old Man Luedecke was born in Toronto but has made his home for years in the music rich maritime province of Nova Scotia, on the east coast of Canada. There, his music has been wholeheartedly adopted and is becoming representative for its traditional storytelling folk elements. It speaks to a new generation of people craving such meaning in their music.

Luedecke is a young man with an old soul who doesn’t sugar coat his fears, and this lets his songs breathe with bittersweet hopefulness. He channels folk giants like Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger, with maybe a hint of Loudon Wainwright III.

But it’s Luedecke’s contemporary lyrics coupled with the irresistible rhythm of the old time banjo that connect and make him so loved by his audiences. Anchored in his music’s melodic confidence is a common, muddled and dark search for meaning. It keeps people singing his songs and his praises after he’s traveled on.

His performances are exciting and totally entertaining. His uncliched banjo playing sparkles beautifully and dynamically. Alomg with his thumping foot it creates a complete and pleasing sound. People are drawn into singing along, yet his singing is his own. Clear and unadorned, it is totally emotive and suits the sincerity of his tunes.

In the breaks between songs come wild and charming stories of meeting heroes and easygoing, but gripping, musings on things ridiculous and sublime that have a wink of contemporary vaudeville. Equally at home on festival main stages, theatres and living rooms, he can even hold court in an indie rock bar.

Luedecke has been a featured performer at all the major folk festivals in Canada and Australia, and at an increasing number of American festivals like Strawberry in California. He has appeared with and shared the stage at concerts with such performers as Feist, Tim O’Brien, Joel Plaskett, David Francey, Buck 65, The Be Good Tanyas and Jill Barber. He’s also shared festival stages alongside Bela Fleck, Tim O’Brien, Jack Elliot, Kris Kristofferson, Ashley MacIsaac and countless others.

Old Man Luedecke was commissioned by the CBC to write and collaborate on symphonic music, which he performed with Symphony Nova Scotia to great acclaim and an outpouring of joy. That show united the high and low dimensions of the folksinger’s art.

His three albums have brought growing acclaim and a broader canvas for his songs. The latest, Proof of Love, won the 2009 Juno Award for Roots Solo album and won legions of new fans at home and abroad. The album is a gathering of musicians making music in a room (Vancouver’s famed Factory Studio) with Luedecke’s tunes. It’s nothing fancy but it is an exciting and unique roots album combining Luedecke's trademark clawhammer style and compelling originals, backed up by a full band.

His next album, tentatively titled My Hands Are On Fire And Other Love Songs will be released in 2011 on Black Hen Music in Canada, and will be again produced by Steve Dawson. It will feature an exciting batch of new tunes and instrumental and vocal contributions from American bluegrass singing/songwriting whiz Tim O’Brien.