Bar/None Newsletter, 31 May 2001
A Letter from Luka Bloom

Ever since I recorded LL Cool J's "I Need Love", fans have been asking for an album of covers. I had never really been drawn to the idea until last year. To mark the new millennium, I decided to go back to "song school", as it were, and study the work of artists and writers I admired. Rather than simply create a collection of my own favorite songs, I wanted to investigate worlds other than my own.

It's been quite a little adventure - trying to find great songs in different styles, trying to learn them, and trying to bring something of myself to the songs. After all, I had to end up with a Luka Bloom record. I had already been playing "Keeper of the Flame" which I knew from Nina Simone's recording and I had learned Bob Marley's "Natural Mystic". But as a performer the rest of the songs on this disc were all new to me. I was pleasantly surprised at how easily I connected with Cure songs, Radiohead songs... On the other hand, I was disappointed I couldn't seem to find a Van Morrison song that suited me.

In making this CD, I have once more found new areas to explore, and it made me realize yet again that the only barriers in music exist in our minds. I truly never imagined I would one day record an ABBA song; now I love to perform it...

Bar/None Records