Luke Powers; Tommy Spurlock; Garth Hudson; Suzi Ragsdale; Randy Hardison; Jimmy Karstein; Jamie Oldaker; John Gardner; Anthony Crawford; Jim "Moose" Brown; John Davis; Sam Powers; Kenny Vaughan;
Influences
Bob Dylan; Uncle Dave Macon; Syd Barrett; John Prine; William Blake; Neil Young; Joe Hill; CCR; Richard Thompson; Lou Reed; Johnny Cash; Jonathan Swift; Bob Marley; William Faulkner; Jack Webb; The Clash; Luke the Drifter; J. J. Cale; Porkchop; The Band; John Lennon; James McMurtre; James Joyce (a pretty good singer too); James Wright; Charley Patton; Howlin' Wolf; Jon Wayne; Johnny Unitas; Flannery O'Connor; Guy Clark; Steve Earle; Zora Neal Hurston; Sgt. Barry Sadler; James Ellroy; The Beatles; The Book of Revelation; Charley Poole and the late great Townes Van Zandt
Sounds Like
I've been compared to artists more well known than me, but I always thought I sounded more like me than them. Personally, I like what one critic called me: "the freaky folkie."
You can listen to Picture Book (2007) or Texasee (2008) for yourself on CDBaby.com or
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Luke Powers is not your ordinary Nashville songwriter. A PhD in English
from Vanderbilt University and MA in Folklore from UNC, he writes quirky, at times haunting, songs--usually in 3 minutes or less.
"Picture Book" is a semi-autobiographical song cycle of "the portrait of the songwriter as a young man." The songs take inspiration from Luke's upbringing on Signal Mtn, TN, to his view of the music industry from the gutter of Music Row. The Americana collection was produced by Austin's Tommy Spurlock (Rick Danko, Rodney Crowell, Rosanne Cash) and features the legendary Garth Hudson of The Band, Anthony Crawford (Neil Young, Black Hawk) and Luke’s brother Sam Powers (Superdrag).
Randy Hardison (Garth Brooks, Lee Ann Womack) plays drums. The CD
is dedicated to Randy, murdered during the making of this record (his tragic
story was profiled on CBS’ 48 Hours). Rather than find another drummer,
Luke and Tommy decided to leave drums off the remaining tracks. No one
could match Randy‘s grace and groove.
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