Little did Luke McMasters’ dad know how bringing a pile of vinyl records back home from a visit to Detroit would change his son’s life, and define his career.
“I became obsessed - the records really resonated with me,” said Luke, having heard Motown for the first time.
Born in Brandon, Manitoba, Luke left for Winnipeg to pursue his music career as soon as he finished high school.
“My roomates and I formed a Motown cover band and I ended up sending a tape of my music to BMG records.”
His big break came, being invited to play along with Justin Timberlake and NSYNC, launching a 20-year music career and a love affair with music, which he calls his greatest asset and his biggest weakness, perfecting his own unique blend of “contemporary blue-eyed soul” paying tribute to classic rhythm and blues songwriting legends.
He names a number of influences for his unique style of music; Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, Al Green, Hall and Oats, Sam Cook and of course, Otis Redding, who inspired his own unique version of Sitting on the dock of the bay.
Luke and fellow musicians Arun Chaturvedi and guitar player Chris Kirby have just finished a tour of the east coast. They start their western Canadian tour in Calgary, playing 12 gigs, travelling in a small van “Partridge family style.”
Their concert is divided into two 45-minute sets, the first focusing on collaborative work he did with Lamont Dozier and the second on Felix Cavaliere. During the performance clips from a documentary on the work he shot while in Nashville will play on a big screen. The performance will also include some classics, songs like Good Morning Beautiful from his album All Roads, and Thank You.
Luke and his band will be playing at the Mount Elizabeth Theatre on Saturday, March 9.
Tickets are available at Bradley’s Bait & Tackle or at the door and the show starts at 8 p.m. sharp!