It's not always easy to carve a unique path in the artistic realm, but a Chester, Nova Scotia singer-songwriter named Chris 'Old Man' Luedecke has managed to take the road less travelled. The two-time Juno award winner has released a deep body of work that stems from the prominence of one instrument: the banjo.
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It's not always easy to carve a unique path in the artistic realm, but a Chester, Nova Scotia singer-songwriter named Chris ‘Old Man' Luedecke has managed to take the road less travelled.
The two-time Juno award winner has released a deep body of work that stems from the prominence of one instrument: the banjo.
Showing no signs of slowing down his pluck-speed, Luedecke will be picking and grinning his way onto the stage at Communitea Café on Friday (March 20) at 8 p.m.
With warm production on his fifth and latest album, titled Tender Is The Night, from legendary Nashville producer Dave Ferguson (who worked with Johnny Cash), the grateful Luedecke is living proof that you can make music in a simple, fresh and creative manner.
“Well, I just discovered that I could write songs for the banjo early on,” Luedecke said.
“I had always been looking for a way to find my voice and all of a sudden, after I bought one, I was so thrilled to get to play it and perform for people. And I found that not only did I like writing songs in isolation and in a solitary atmosphere, but that I also liked the social setting of a live show. I was always thrilled to just be on a stage somewhere. It's a great challenge for me to be able to maintain that relationship with an audience on a nightly basis.”
Being interested in banjo mechanics in his early teens, Luedecke never felt drawn to the guitar and felt an instant connection and kinship with the membrane-covered, stringed resonator.
“I didn't know very much about (the banjo) and most of my friends played guitar, and I didn't have much access to a banjo, but I lived up in Dawson City, Yukon with a friend who had a banjo, and nobody really knew what to do with it,” he added.
“But I just loved the sound of it. I never felt like I had to be the guy at the campfire who played Neil Young songs on guitar, but I really wanted to be the guy playing a banjo, for whatever reason. And not only did I want to play, but I wanted to write songs with it too – and that actually happened naturally and right away.”
A master of wordplay, the mellow east-coaster is never shy about injecting a healthy dose of humour into his lyrics.
“The A&W Song” is a perfect example of his pithy poetics, as Luedecke talks about a night of drinking that was followed with some easy, greasy fast food.
“I often tell people on stage that if I could write songs like Nickelback, I would, but I end up writing songs like the A&W song,” he said, laughing.
“For whatever reason, inspiration strikes me that way and it's a little more every day. I'm not just writing about teenage love over and over again. I try to write about the way that I see the world.
“I'm in a unique position in that I don't feel any pressure to try and write songs that have been written a thousand times before. I think I can write something unique. It makes for a more rewarding and truer expression form for me.”
Although his own website bio references F. Scott Fitzgerald as an inspiration for his latest album's title, the self-deprecating songster says it was mostly a nod to a Louis C.K. joke.
“I've never read the book, so I don't know if that's fair or not. That song was more of an ode to Louis C.K. and being away from home,” Luedecke noted.
“(Louis) talks about air travel and how impatient people are with air travel, but what a miracle it is at the same time, and he's so right. In the third verse, it's a reference to Louis and what he drew attention to in that bit.”
With a multi-pin map of musical influences, Luedecke makes no bones about his love for a plethora of other songwriters.
“You sort of start doing what you do, but as you go on, you realize that there are other people who have helped set the stage for what you do,” he said.
“I mean, Bob Dylan is important to anyone who writes songs and I've also discovered a great love for Loudon Wainwright over the years because he writes about his families and the dysfunctional domestic scene. Tim O'Brien, who just recorded with me, is also someone who writes songs in a contemporary folk manner, so yeah – there are no shortage of good songwriters out there who inspire me.”
Having collaborated with O'Brien and many other musicians in many different projects, Luedecke had the chance to recently record in a Halifax studio owned by folk-rocker and multi-award winner Joel Plaskett.
“I recorded an EP (with Joel) at the New Scotland Yard in Dartmouth about a year ago, and that was a great experience. It came out last January, and I loved everything about it.”
With a brand new album that is ready to roll out in the next few months, the lively Luedecke will start his tour in Alberta and B.C. and end with shows in Ontario and Eastern Canada throughout spring and summer.
