Walker Lukens
Austin, TX | Established. Jan 01, 2012 | INDIE
Music
Press
Walk into a suburban home improvement store and you’ll hear what Stereogum is talking about when they complain about ‘the Mumfordization of pop music’: acoustic guitars, soaring choruses with tight harmonies, massive kick drum, and an earnest, trembling folksy lead vocal. It works. Imitators abound. No need to mention them by name. What *is* worth noting, however, is an Austinite who’s winning national acclaim from NPR Music and others–not just because he’s consciously running against the trend, but because he takes such care to lose none of the authenticity and attention to songcraft that has made the neo-folk phenomenon such a success in the first place. Join Texas Music Matters host David Brown for a conversation with Walker Lukens. - kut.org
"We get so much music in, we fall in love with just the tiniest fraction of it really, in the grand scheme of things, and get it on the show. So most of the stuff that comes in, I'm not always optimistic when it's something I've never heard of. I'm hopeful, but, you know, the odds are against it, right? So, I get this CD in by Walker Lukens, I've never heard of him….I listened to it, and it was so good. I listened to it, and I thought, I've got to listen to this again. Maybe I'm just in a really good mood. And nope, it holds up. Even on my worst days, this is a fantastic record." - NPR
Check out this unbelievable poloroid-riffic video for singer-songwriter Walker Lukens’ newest song “Dear Someone”
It just shows you the power of photography (and the amount of patience that some people have)! - Filter Magazine
Check out this unbelievable poloroid-riffic video for singer-songwriter Walker Lukens’ newest song “Dear Someone”
It just shows you the power of photography (and the amount of patience that some people have)! - Filter Magazine
It has been a while since our last blog post, but I stumbled upon a great local Austin musician, unfortunately it was after SXSW. Walker Lukens strips down the most rudimentary foundations of rock n’ roll, blues, and soul to create a very powerful, yet somehow lo-fi blend of sound. It inspires me in the same way the early TV on the Radio demos did. - billboard.fm
At one moment heartbreakingly soulful, the next barn burningly raucous, newcomer Walker Lukens’ set had listeners in the palm of his hand. Smart, moving lyrics, infectious hooks, and a commanding stage presence are the foundation of Lukens’ mix of indie-pop sensibilities and lo-fi garage rock. Think Righteous Brothers, produced by Jack White. Keep a close watch on this act. - Austin Fusion Magazine
Walker Lukens comes to life in his new music video, "Dear Someone," as a man trapped in a photo. The catch? The picture can move, and it leaves home to wander New York City. The video weaves a stop-motion tale using hundreds of Polaroid pictures, whose once-blank canvases were provided by ex-Polaroid employees now leading The Impossible Project."Dear Someone" is from Lukens's forthcoming album, Devoted. It comes out April 2. - mashable.com
Walker Lukens comes to life in his new music video, "Dear Someone," as a man trapped in a photo. The catch? The picture can move, and it leaves home to wander New York City. The video weaves a stop-motion tale using hundreds of Polaroid pictures, whose once-blank canvases were provided by ex-Polaroid employees now leading The Impossible Project."Dear Someone" is from Lukens's forthcoming album, Devoted. It comes out April 2. - mashable.com
Walker and bassist Kyle Hermes talk about song-writing, videos and their creative process. - Austinist.com
Walker and bassist Kyle Hermes talk about song-writing, videos and their creative process. - Austinist.com
"Kindle to Your Fire" roots in something less specifically glittering, more organic, maybe richer even, as Lukens wails the title lyric into a World Music-indebted arrangement. The loop is a vocal, Lukens singing a modulated series of tenor, "oh's" from the outset through the conclusion. It swells, you knew it would from the very adding of the initial layers, before eventually retreating into the first vocal loop which bore its existence, a story of creative destruction, high tides and the recidivism that always follows. - 32ft/second
"Kindle to Your Fire" roots in something less specifically glittering, more organic, maybe richer even, as Lukens wails the title lyric into a World Music-indebted arrangement. The loop is a vocal, Lukens singing a modulated series of tenor, "oh's" from the outset through the conclusion. It swells, you knew it would from the very adding of the initial layers, before eventually retreating into the first vocal loop which bore its existence, a story of creative destruction, high tides and the recidivism that always follows. - 32ft/second
His music is as restless as he is. Upcoming album "Devoted," due in April, opens in soulful singer-songwriter-piano man mode but blossoms into a masterful and expansive collection of progressive contemporary indie pop. He's bright with a lyric, easy with hooks and also shows some experimental urges, especially with songs such as "Kindle to Your Fire" and "Lover," which are built on clever overlapping vocal loops and a shower of percussion. It bounces between assertive and ethereal. - Houston Chronicle
His music is as restless as he is. Upcoming album "Devoted," due in April, opens in soulful singer-songwriter-piano man mode but blossoms into a masterful and expansive collection of progressive contemporary indie pop. He's bright with a lyric, easy with hooks and also shows some experimental urges, especially with songs such as "Kindle to Your Fire" and "Lover," which are built on clever overlapping vocal loops and a shower of percussion. It bounces between assertive and ethereal. - Houston Chronicle
Walker Lukens is a singer/songwriter crafting experimental pop thriving from simple melodies. “Kindle to Your Fire” is a stripped down jammer, delivering layered vocals that remind me of one of IGIF’s fav doo-wop/lo-fi pop crooner Idiot Glee. Lukens adds a little pep to his step though, utilizing driving percussion and handclaps to give it a vibe akin to a folk-fueled Vampire Weekend - I Guess I'm Floating
Walker Lukens is a singer/songwriter crafting experimental pop thriving from simple melodies. “Kindle to Your Fire” is a stripped down jammer, delivering layered vocals that remind me of one of IGIF’s fav doo-wop/lo-fi pop crooner Idiot Glee. Lukens adds a little pep to his step though, utilizing driving percussion and handclaps to give it a vibe akin to a folk-fueled Vampire Weekend - I Guess I'm Floating
Lukens’ earlier work definitely falls in the folk camp, but he took a more R&B-centric for his 2012 Year of the Dog EP. The latter record found Lukens using guitar and vocal loops to craft tunes that are as stripped-down as they are sonically adventurous. He strikes a middle path on “Dear Someone.” The gently strummed acoustic lends pastoral flavor to a song that’s more dreamy, Pacific-hugging surf ballad than down-home folk tune or lo-fi R&B composition. There’s plenty of breathing room on “Dear Someone,” something everybody needs on those days when you’re ready to get away from it all. - kut.org
Lukens’ earlier work definitely falls in the folk camp, but he took a more R&B-centric for his 2012 Year of the Dog EP. The latter record found Lukens using guitar and vocal loops to craft tunes that are as stripped-down as they are sonically adventurous. He strikes a middle path on “Dear Someone.” The gently strummed acoustic lends pastoral flavor to a song that’s more dreamy, Pacific-hugging surf ballad than down-home folk tune or lo-fi R&B composition. There’s plenty of breathing room on “Dear Someone,” something everybody needs on those days when you’re ready to get away from it all. - kut.org
Discography
Duty [2010, full-length album] (under the moniker, The Brood) - http://walkerlukens.bandcamp.com/album/duty
Hannah, Get Yr Gun [2011, single] -http://walkerlukens.bandcamp.com/album/hannah-get-yr-gun-single
Are We Gonna Folk or Duet? [2011, split EP with Grand Child] - http://walkerlukens.bandcamp.com/album/are-we-gonna-folk-or-duet
Year of the Dog (2012, EP) - http://soundcloud.com/walker-lukens/sets/year-of-the-dog-ep-1/
Devoted (April 2, 2013, album)
https://soundcloud.com/walker-lukens/dear-someone?in=walker-lukens/sets/devoted
Photos
Bio
In the past two and half years, Walker Lukens has released two EPs, an album, a 7 inch and played some 130 shows in four countries and 25 states. You probably didn’t know that because Walker was not always good at using the Internet. You might know that his most recent album, Devoted, was released in April of 2013. Praised by NPR’s All Songs Considered, American Songwriter, Billboard, MTV Hive, and Houston Chronicle and locally by Austin American Statesman, Austin Chronicle, and KUT‘s Texas Music Matters, Devoted is “…a masterful and expansive collection of progressive contemporary indie pop,” according to the Houston Chronicle.
More recently, Lukens has put together a 5-piece backing band called The Side Arms. Having already shared stages with such national acts as Band Horses, Heartless Bastards, The Walkmen, & MS MR, Walker Lukens & The Side Arms are making a name for themselves. “At one moment heartbreakingly soulful, the next barn burningly raucous, newcomer Walker Lukens’ set had listeners in the palm of his hand,” writes Austin Fusion Magazine.
Band Members
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