Luka Blooms at Red Hot Music Club

On Thursday, February 10, yet another full house greeted the performers at this, the second show of the series in the Red Hot Music Club. The show opened this time round with a fabulous support performance by popular Kildare singer/songwriter Ciaran Wynne.

The headlining act for this show was none other than local hero Luka Bloom. This was Luka's second time to play at the Red Hot Music Club and it was another fantastic show. He was in great voice and played extremely well as he thrilled the audience with great performances of such well known songs as 'Holy Ground', 'Ciara', 'Don't be so Hard on Yourself' and 'The Shape of Love to Come', all of which are tracks from his album 'Salty Heaven', released in June '98.

He also played such songs as 'The Fertile Rock' and 'I Need Love', which come from some of his older albums. Throughout the show Luka appeared very relaxed and shared a great rapport with the audience. Between songs, he told stories from his younger days which almost everyone in the audience could relate to or, in some cases, remember.

Towards the end of his performance he did some covers from such classic performers as Van Morrison, Jim Reeves and Bob Dylan. The audience thoroughly enjoyed the show, which was another great success for the Red Hot Music Club. Luka left the stage saying "It was a great privilege to sing at the best club in the country."

...However, if you do happen to miss any of the wonderful shows at the Red Hot Music Club, you can tune in to the 'Red Hot Slot' on CKR Radio (97.6) on Sundays between 8 and 10 pm where the live performances will be broadcast.

For booking, membership or further information please contact Doreen on 087 6852972.

Luka Bloom speaks to All Ireland Music about his new album,
his music career and about being 'Christy's brother'...

When Irish singer songwriter Luka Bloom rapped to LL Cool J's 'Need Love' - all be it in a folkie style - back in 1992 he knew he'd hit on a winning formula; the cover version. Eight years on and Bloom has just released an entire album of songs by other artists. 'Keeper of the Flame' contains a diverse collection of his interpretations of songs including Bob Dylan's 'Make You Feel My Love', U2's 'Bad' and Radiohead's 'No Surprises' amongst others. All Ireland Music's Dara de Faoite talks with Luka Bloom.

Why did you decide to do a covers album?

L. Bloom: "Ever since I recorded 'I Need Love' for the 'Acoustic Motorbike' album people have said to me to do such an album. This year I woke up and started work on an album of my own songs but I had a real hunger to do something different, something that would challenge me in a completely different way. While the emotional challenge of the lyrics has already been taken care of, these songs test me in a different way. They challenge my voice and my performance."

Bloom sees 'Keeper of the Flame' as being more about transformation than simple interpretation. And no other artist can be as intricately versed in the field of reinvention and transformation as Bloom. With a musical background steeped in all things traditional Irish, no home-grown musician has done so much to distance themselves from the trappings of the Celtic folk label.

Originally Barry Moore of Newbridge, Co. Kildare, and brother to trad legend Christy Moore, Luka Bloom is an enigmatic transformation of his former self.

L. Bloom: "I always wanted my songs to be heard as just that and not as songs from an Irish folk singer. That kind of labeling can restrict your whole working life and by having this pretentious pop pseudonym I've had a world open up before me."

After a lengthy career playing with and writing for Planxty, Moving Hearts, Inchiquin and Christy throughout the 70s and 80s and recording three collectable solo albums, Bloom broke away from the shadows of his famous sibling and the trad movement.

L. Bloom: "Being Christy's brother certainly troubled me in the beginning, years ago, but that's ancient history. It's hard for me now to figure out whether the difficulty lay in being someone's brother or was it just about the way I was feeling at that time. I think it was much more the latter. I had no belief in myself, I had no confidence, I had no ambition and yet I wanted to be successful, to be blunt about it I suppose I was a bit f***ed up."

Bloom changed his name in 1987 and left for New York where he spent four years. Today 95% of Bloom's work takes place outside of Ireland. This year alone he toured the U.S., Europe and Australia.

L. Bloom: "I made a very conscious decision when I became Luka Bloom that I was going to go abroad and not find myself playing to Irish audiences. I deliberately gave myself a name that sounded like I could be a Jewish woman to meet this end. I love playing to Irish audiences but the best place to do that is at home. Although at home I still have the sense that people are coming along to check me out. It's the home turf thing. I would be much more nervous going on stage in Dublin's Olympia than I would in Melbourne's Concert Hall."

What are your favourite songs on the album?

L. Bloom: "I don't have a favourite because when you make a decision to work with songs like this it's not based on love of one particular song it's more the love of the whole project. There are songs that affect me in different ways on this album. Some on an emotional level and some because I just like the chords."

Any songs that you wanted to include which you didn't?

L. Bloom: "Yeah, a Robbie Robertson song called 'Golden Feather'."

How do you write?

L. Bloom: "I stop writing for a year at a time, I hide away, get out of Dublin. That's when I go to work. I'm very easily distracted by all sorts of technology so I really have to get away from everything to write."

Why so much work abroad?

L. Bloom: "Ireland is a beautiful country and I'm happy to live here but on the whole island there's less than five million people. I'm never going to be as big as Daniel O'Donnell or Christy at home so I need to travel. I consider myself very lucky."

But does an Irish singer/songwriter always attract an Irish audience whether it's Clonakilty or Sydney?

L. Bloom: "No, when I play in Sydney I'd say only 8% of the audience would be Irish. I love the road, this is what I do, I'm a singer. It's a bit like a boxer in the sense that a boxer has to fight, I have to play."

www.allirelandmusic.com/Trad/Interviews/November/lukabloom.htm