[rating=4]
Luke Roberts sophomore album The Iron Gates at Throop and Newport offers a departure from the sparse sound found on his debut Big Bells and Dime Songs. He continues to portray the fragility of human nature but things have changed in Luke’s life since his last release and those changes have naturally influenced his music. He now lives in Nashville, TN where he was raised
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.
Despite the exposure to bluegrass at a young age it was southern folk, Delta and Appalachian Blues that predominantly influenced his debut album.
The arrangements on The Iron Gates at Troop and Newport get a fuller treatment and are expanded upon with the addition of more musicians covering drums to harmonica, and ‘notably the fiddle and mandolin of country player Billy Contraraz, and the backing vocals of Emily Sunblad’. Despite this they still maintain a simplicity that contrasts well to Luke’s vocals. The choruses on His Song and electric solo are as far out as you get whilst ‘Cartier Timepiece‘ maintains simple acoustic accompaniment.
The first record I made has a very homeless or wild-west feel to it and this new one is filled with addresses and luxuries. It’s a rags to riches story about family and love and faith, where the first one was about not having that stuff. This album is about how hard that stuff is.
Luke Roberts has a masterful and natural ability at capturing emotion in his lyrics that talk directly to an audience. The new expanded arrangements on ‘The Iron Gates at Throop and Newport’ simply allow them to shine all the more brighter. These songs will stay with you long after you’ve finished listening to them.
Sample Tracks
Video
Luke Roberts – Second Place Blues
The Iron Gates at Throop and Newport is released on Thrill Jockey (19 Mar 2012)
Tour Dates
Fri Apr 6 Nashville, TN – The End – w/ Pontiak
Sun Apr 15 Antwerp, Belgium – Trix w/ Arbouretum
Mon Apr 16 Hamburg, Germany – Hafenklang w/ Arbouretum
Tue Apr 17 Copenhagen, Denmark – Loppen w/ Arbouretum
Wed Apr 18 Gothenburg, Sweden – Hensriksberg w/ Arbouretum
Thu Apr 19 Aarhus, Denmark – Atlas w/ Arbouretum
Fri Apr 20 Duisburg, Germany – Steinbruch w/ Arbouretum
Sat Apr 21 Freiburg, Germany – Swamp w/ Arbouretum
Sun Apr 22 Schorndorf, Germany – Club Manufaktur w/ Arbouretum
Tue Apr 24 Zurich, Switzerland – Rote Fabrik w/ Arbouretum
Wed Apr 25 Forli, Italy – Sidro Club w/ Arbouretum
Thu Apr 26 Rome, Italy – Circolo Degli Artisti w/ Arbouretum
Fri Apr 27 Venice, Italy – Studio 2 w/ Arbouretum
Mon Apr 30 Lille, France – La Peniche w/ Arbouretum
Wed May 2 London, UK – Cargo w/ Arbouretum, Hush Arbors
Fri May 4 Brooklyn, NY – Zebulon
Mon May 7 Philadelphia, PA – Kung Fu Necktie w/ Country Mice
Tue May 8 Louisville, KY – Zanzabar w/ PG Six