Roberts, Luke

***I was born into a charismatic-nondenominational family in Nashville, TN.. My mother sang hymns and spoke in tongues. My dad played bluegrass. I hopped trains for the first time when I was eleven years old under the Ben Allen Bridge in East Nashville. At thirteen I was sent to live with my father in Cuhllowhee, NC. Neglected to be enrolled in school, I spent the year running through the backwoods of my father's government-housing-cabin. Soon I ran away from home and traveled around the United States on Greyhounds and trains, looking to start a band. In Olympia, 2004 I formed hardcore band Spread Eagle 1979 with Judd Taylor of Sex Vid and filmmaker Brittany Pisano releasing two live cassette albums and a video. Over the past few years, inspired by folk and world music, I focused on the guitar and writing songs of my own. My greatest influences being southern folk, Delta and Appalachian Blues, I bought a pair of white shoes and moved back to the South. This past year, I have written and recorded my first collection of songs entitled, "Big Bells and Dime Songs", recruiting Kyle Spence of Harvey Milk to back me in his studio in Athens, Ga.. I am currently living in New York, writing my second album, and planning for a tour of US.” -- Luke Roberts, April 2010. “Luke Roberts voice evokes both the great and lonesome Pacific Rail and the wild heart of the Brooklyn J/Z line.” -- Thurston Moore