May 2021

MENDO-UTOPIA NEWSLETTER

Meet Blue Luke

Exclusive interview with local musician Blue Luke. He talks in- spirations, aspirations from his humble beginnings and making his musical dreams come true. May Music Calendar

Check out our Mendocino Coun- ty Music Calendar and find an open mic or a show near you! Join Mendo-Utopia Make a donation or sign up for a LOCAL ARTIST PROFILE: BLUE LUKE yearly membership to our news- letter for just $12/year and help us build a musical movement in I had heard of Blue Luke through the Mendocino County Mendocino County. grapevine before, but I had never seen him play live or listened to any of his music. After a year of pandemic lockdown and the void of not having live music, I decided that I would go to Rivino Winery and see what all the “hoopla” was about. “Hoopla” mean- Sponsors ing that I had heard that Blue Luke was a “monster” on the guitar and that he could play, so I decided to go check him out and en- joy a nice afternoon with some live music. I am the founder of Mendo-Utopia which is a non-profit committed to promoting mu- sic and performing arts in Mendocino County and being a non- profit, we decided to publish this monthly newsletter with a music To advertise in our news- calendar that would feature local musicians and artists to help letter visit us online@ bring awareness to our cause. So, in our inaugural edition we decided to feature local musician and songwriter Blue Luke. www.mendo-utopia.org Upon arriving at Rivino, I was struck by the beauty and the serenity of the venue and since I was a little early it was sparsely seated with a handful of people. Noticing that this was a great chance to possibly talk to the band, I approached who I assumed was Luke and sure enough it was him. He was very inviting and kind as I asked him for a moment of his time. He graciously agreed and I gave him my best elevator pitch about Mendo- May 2021 Join Us!

To join our musical revolution and volun- teer just visit us online at:

www.mendo-utopia.org

Utopia and our mission statement as well as a sticker and a flyer with our logo and contact info. He introduced himself as just, Sign up for a $12 membership by sign- “Luke” as I almost had expected him to say, “Blue Luke”. This ing up on our mailing list online and would be the first of many subtleties that would lead me to believe making a yearly donation for $12 or more that he was in fact a very humble and non-pretentious person. He to our GOFundMe link, or send a check was supportive and receptive of our cause and agreed to be the or money order to Mendo Utopia with first local musician that Mendo-Utopia would profile in our news- your information and we’ll do the rest. letter. “Approachable” would be a good way to describe him, how- ever with an aura of quiet confidence in himself and the mastery of You will receive our digital monthly news- his craft which he would soon demonstrate. letter, and be eligible for future promo- He is tall and slender and wore black glasses, a rimmed hat, tions at Mendo-Utopia events. Thank you slacks and a vest. He looked the part of a seasoned performer for your support. Our ultimate goal is to which in fact, he is. He was already well on his way to becoming a build an outdoor music venue one day in local success story by age 14, started producing by age 16 and this county to showcase our local talent recorded his first album by age 18, graduating from the Berklee and also to put on festivals and concerts College of Music in Boston in 2006 after he had already worked for the community. and co-written with grammy nominated producer and musician Dennis Walker. Luke has also had his music featured in film scores, toured around the world and been the lead guitarist for Julian Mar- ley’s Uprising Band where he co-produced two tracks “Violence in Membership by Mail: the Streets” featuring Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley and “All I know”. (Send check or money order for $12) So, his resume is extensive and impressive to say the least. How- ever, upon meeting him for the first time and knowing very little First Name: about him, he seemed extremely down to earth and did not exhibit even a shred of the arrogance that often accompanies some per- Last Name: formers of his stature. I was impressed by my initial introduction to Luke and sat down in the sun to enjoy my first musical experience Mailing Adress: at Rivino Winery in Ukiah. Sipping on his red wine, Blue Luke took center stage and began Phone #: with a song that I thought was Black Magic Woman but later learned was an “old jazz tune that sounded similar”. Nonetheless, Send to: 1300 West Clay St. it was an excellent rendition hooking me in immediately and making Ukiah, Ca 95482 me almost forget that I was in little old Ukiah. The bass and the congos mixed perfectly together along with the drum beat that held down the percussion section as Luke’s silky lead May 2021 licks cascaded over the rhythm and instrumental melodies. He effortlessly shredded through the notes like the consummate pro that he is, and left me wanting more when the song’s last note rang true. It was a beautiful instrumental version and I instantly knew that Blue Luke was one of those local talents that had already spread his wings well beyond the Mendocino County border as a professional, touring musician. He already carries himself with the mystique of a rock star, and it was apparent, that he and his band were seasoned pros who had been doing this for a while. Blue Luke’s soulful fusion of blues, funk, and jazz rhythms along with his genuine, artistic style and approach to music makes for a very pleasurable musical experience. Luke knows how to lay back in the pocket and allow his band mates the time to shine in their solos and seems to choose the perfect moment to let loose and showcase his skills as a lead guitarist. Mendo-Utopia was honored to be able to sit down with Luke at this point in his career before he starts making some major noise in the industry in the coming years. We sat down and spoke to him to learn more about him as a person and the roots of his musical prowess in a candid interview. He is our first featured artist in this series of exclusive interviews showcasing our own local Mendocino County talent. Without further ado, here is “Blue Luke” or as he so humbly put it, “Luke”. Luke Andrews was born in Ukiah, but moved to Dos Rios near Laytonville “out there in the hills a couple miles from the Eel River” when he was 7 years old. He is now 40 and started playing gui- tar when he was just 12 years old. Quickly pick- ing it up, he used to accompany his father to his job sites doing construction where his dad lis- tened to blues tapes and classic rock on the job. After a day’s hard work, his father and his friends would drink beer, hang-out and play music. Luke was hesitant at first, so he stuck to the bongos and shied away from the guitar, until one day they told him to try playing an electric guitar. “I plucked the bottom string and felt that electricity go through me and I was like whoa what is this? I have to do this and that was it. From then on, I just begged my Dad for a guitar everyday.” After 3 to 6 months, Luke came home from school one Blue Luke at Rivino Winery April 3, 2021 day and his Dad had bought him one. “And, I never stopped”, he says reminiscing about his early musical memories. Luke immersed himself in his music completely, as he had grown tired of the “cliquey high school dramas” and went on home schooling. His teachers supported his musical pas- sion by allowing him to do reports on Jimi Hendrix, Robert Johnson and Jim Morrison. He studied ”A Peo- ple’s History of the United States” by Howard Zinn and his teachers helped him “do the packets, you know whatever I needed to do to pass.” But, his eyes and ears were already focused on doing music and he claimed “he never thought of anything else” to do for a career. He recalls doing a project on demonstrating blues styles as one of his reports for his teacher. “When we were kids, we were all into reggae. You know, it was like the hot, cool thing. Reggae on the River was happening. When I was 12, that was the first year I went to that too. So, all my friends were into reggae. I wanted to play reggae initially.” Andrews remembers listening to the lead guitar parts in reg- gae songs and he quickly realized that all the lead riffs were based off the blues. “My Dad would listen to blues tapes, and classic rock is what I grew up with. You know, The Stones, The Beatles, Jimi and all that kind of stuff. So, I figured I better learn the blues if I want to play reggae.” And learn the blues he did, get- ting so serious about it, that he quickly surpassed his dad’s friends and his dad thought it was time for a real lesson. Apparently, Luke had gotten to the point where he was getting a little “cocky” because he May 2021 could play lead so well that he was playing over the other musicians and they didn’t want to play with him anymore. “I could play a lead now, so I was doing it all the time and I really didn’t know any kind of eti- quette with music” he recalls. My dad sat me down and said, “You’re not giving them any chance to play. You’re just “noodling” all the time and they don’t want to play with you anymore.” Andrews was crushed and broke down in tears, but he soon would learn a valuable lesson from none other than local Legend, In- diana Slim. “My Dad took me over to one of his friends who is an old blues legend from around here, Indi- ana Slim. He lives and breathes the blues and has for years and years around here,” Andrews said. Indi- ana Slim showed a young Luke the basics about muscianship, “Alright you can play lead,” Slim said to An- drews. “But what are you gonna do when someone else is playing lead? You can’t just keep playing lead you know.” Luke recalls being at a loss for words, “Oh, I don’t know?” He replied. “You gotta learn to comp man.” Indiana Slim told him. “You play rhythm and compliment the other person.” And, so began a mentor relationship of the young virtuoso guitar player and the wise, seasoned blues man. To this day, you can tell Andrews regards Indiana Slim with reverence and respect for the lesson and mentorship through the years. “The next time, I went to go play with my Dad’s friends they were way more happy and excited to play with me because I was being re- spectful. I only needed one lesson from Slim and I was good for like the rest of my life. Basically, he taught me the stuff that I still use today.” When Andrews was 14 or 15 he was already getting a reputation as a prodigy guitar player, playing with his band at local bars like Crossroads, John’s Place, Caspar Inn and The Hopland Brew- ery. His father eventually brought him down to L.A. to play for Dennis Walker who produced B.B. King and wrote songs for Robert Cray. His Dad knew he had something special, so he got his son in front of Walker for an audition/showcase. An- drews got a management/production deal and starting writing and playing with Walker down in his house in L.A. “I started going down there, hanging out and writing songs with him out at this guy’s house, and he had platinum records on his walls and we were going into the studio, making songs and recording an album.” At the time, An- drews was playing with his band, a local Lay- tonville crew who were older than him. Unbe- knownst to Luke they were getting into the drug scene a little too much. Andrews’ producer pleaded with him to surround himself with some “real musicians” as Walker put it. Luke was loyal to his friends and in- sisted that they were his band. His loyalty would come back to bite him as during a showcase in Lay- tonville the bass player and drummer got into an argument on stage in front of the producers and Andrews’ record deal fizzled out. “They had me doing photo shoots and interviews and they were like, “Do you want to be in Connecticut tomorrow playing a show?” Well, I was like no, not really.” They told him that he was going to burn out if they tried to turn him into a rock star right then. “By the time you’re 20, you’ll be ad- dicted to drugs. My advice to you,” the producer said to his dad. “Is to take him back home and build him a studio.” So that’s what they did. “That’s when I got back into reggae. Making dubs and copying Grego- ry Issacs and doing all the instruments myself. I started getting good at that, and one day my Mom came home. She worked in town at the high school and she said, “Hey, I met this real Jamaican guy in town to- day. He said, he used to know Bob Marley.” And, I was like “Cool, whatever.” She said, “Yeah, if you see him in town, you should talk to him.” And sure enough, An drews was in town and saw a Jamaican guy May 2021 with dreadlocks and introduced himself. “His name was Desmond (Dessie) and he came to my studio and we made a recording of ‘Blowing In The Wind’ by Bob Dylan, but reggae style. We did a few other things and I would send him little things that I was doing, whatever cassette tapes every once in a while. We maintained contact and stayed in touch for years. I would always see him around town and he would say, he was gonna hook me up.” Desmond had raised Bob Marley’s sons and Stephen Marley was like his adopted son because after Bob had died, Desmond was one of Bob’s best friends. He was a famous soc- cer player in Jamaica named Desmond Smith and he ended up in Laytonville. “He was a good song writer and one time Bob’s sons came around to Reggae on the River around 2000. Desmond told me that he was going to take me backstage and meet Damian, and then it never happened. You know, whatever ‘cause I’d been hearing about this stuff for 10-15 years…So, finally I ended up going to Ireland for a while. A buddy invited me to go over there and play in the pubs every night. I went to Hawaii for a while and kind of messed around. I went to MI (Musician’s Institute) for about 3 months. Then this Berklee thing came around where you audition for a scholarship. My Dad was like, “You should do it”. So, I said okay I’ll do it and went and did the audition and got the scholarship. So, then I went to Berklee in Boston for 4 years in 2002. That was great. I really got into it.” Andrews got tendonitis from practic- ing so much and had to take a break from playing for a while. After he Julian Marley and Andrews graduated, he was still sending Dessie little tracks and “stuff that I made every once in a while” he recalls. “Alright, you’re ready. I’m gonna tell them.” Dessie told Andrews referring to the Marley brothers again. “And, I was like yeah, okay, whatever Dessie, and then one day sure enough Julian Marley called my house and spoke to my step-mom and said “I’m looking for Luke”. I was like whoa.” That was the beginning of Luke’s reggae journey as Julian Marley flew him out to Miami, had a stretch limo pick him up trying to win Andrews over. It worked. Imme- diately, Andrews found himself at Stephen Marley’s Miami home which was previously Bob’s house. The Marleys have a studio there and they were working on songs. “I was just sitting there for hours smoking joints and listening and they said, “Well, do you hear anything? Can you do anything? I said of course, so I grabbed a guitar, l plugged it in and laid it down. It was like the first thing I did. I just closed my eyes and they pressed record and it was the first take and I opened my eyes and they were like “Yes!” (thumbs up through the glass). And, that was on the song “Little too Late” featuring Stephen Marley on Julian Marley’s Awake album. After that, I was in. That was my audition and the first gig we did was over in Cyprus, which is an island next to Greece, opening up for 50 Cent. We flew all the way over there for one show. Then after that it was tour after tour after tour, recording non-stop.”

To be continued… (STAY TUNED FOR PART 2 OF BLUE LUKE’S INTERVIEW DEPICTING HIS UNIQUE MUSICAL JOURNEY AND) TALENT IN MENDO-UTOPIA’S NEXT ISSUE.

May 2021

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