Luka Bloom: Prepare to Be Moved
It may seem a stretch that a mere newspaper announcement could come to be viewed as a testament to the smaller wonders of life. Perhaps I, too, would have felt that way at one point. But that was before fate caused me to cross paths once again with the stirring music and persona of Luka Bloom.
It was several years ago, and I was traveling from Washington to Sydney, Australia. As the aircraft began its approach into that beautiful harbor city, I turned a sleepy glance toward the outstretched newspaper of an adjacent passenger. And there, posted next to an ad for that week’s lineup at the famous Opera House, was a photo of Luka--an Irish solo artist whom I’d seen deliver an unforgettable performance at Washington’s original Birchmere Theater in the late 1990s. The article noted that he was to play two shows at Sydney’s noble State Theater that evening and the next. And so it was that my first order of business—scrambling for concert tickets in a foreign city I’d never visited—had been decreed by chance, even before the airliner touched the ground.
smaller venues he often plays—including, one would think, some of the more raucous pubs of his homeland.
At the end of the electrifying Sydney concert, Luka was greeted with a thunderous, emotional standing ovation. Clearly moved by the response, he lifted the long-stemmed flowers from the vase and leaped off the stage. He ambled down the center aisle, moving close to the end of the seats on the main floor. He stopped and thrust upward the first of several flowers, which landed directly in my outstretched hand. Instinctively, I handed over the memento to a gleaming couple next to me.
The experience was capped. Having witnessed countless
concerts comprising an eclectic array of musical styles before, I had never felt so connected to an artist, his songs, and a
moment in time as I did that night. Given the awestruck expressions and comments of the slowly exiting crowd, my reaction clearly represented the norm, not the exception. If there was a negative aspect to be found, it was that I knew I could never convey to another the mood and feel of that starlit Australian evening merely through words.
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Luka was born as Barry Moore in Newbridge, Ireland, in the summer of 1955. He is the brother of Irish folk legend Christy Moore, for whom he wrote some songs and occasionally
performed backing vocals while forging his own musical career in the 1970s and mid-80s. In 1987, he changed his performing name to Luka Bloom, based on the influence of Suzanne Vega’s hit song and the hero in James Joyce’s novel, Ulysses. At that time, he cut his first album, titled simply Luka Bloom, but it ran into legal difficulties and ultimately was withdrawn. In October of that year, he followed in the wake of many countrymen before him, leaving Ireland for America and a new beginning. The symbolism of that act was never lost on the artist, who
eventually returned to his geographic and spiritual homeland. Initially based here in Washington, he played regular gigs in Georgetown and at the Birchmere, as well as the Red Lion in New York. He eventually signed with Reprise Records in 1989, then cut his “second” album, Riverside, a year later. Although less polished than subsequent efforts, it produced a few
constituted Luka’s breakthrough effort. Loaded from start to finish with engaging songs that stoke the gamut of human emotions—from the vividly poetic “I Believe in You” to the passionate nuestra patria message of “This is Your Country”— the album showcased and underscored Luka’s vocal depth, lyrical wizardry, and musical precision. More impressively, it demonstrated the artist’s prowess in weaving a seamless web among all three.
Two years later, Bloom produced Turf, a CD many consider to be his strongest effort to date. Spinning tales that beckon the heart and pierce the soul, Luka conjures up abject loneliness in “Cold Comfort,” the power of song and promise of budding relationships in “To Begin To,” and the debilitating cancer of social apathy in “Background Noise.” Sadly, like much of the musician’s work, the powerful recording received little airtime on the increasingly homogenized, playlist-driven American radio dial.
Bloom provided a glimpse into the possible roots of this irony during a break in his memorable performance last May at The Iota Club in Arlington. Commenting on the long delay in the U.S. release of his latest CD, Salty Heaven, he wryly observed: “I’m not the greatest careerist in the world. I just show up and play the feckin’ songs. I know there’s a career out there
somewhere; perhaps I’ll find it someday.”
Then again, maybe things are just as he wishes them to be. After all, Luka considers himself “a performing artist who
records, not a studio artist who tours to support the record.” He recently acknowledged the “empowering” feeling “to have
learned that simplicity is the key to progress…that creativity is the only meaningful driving force in this working life.” He further noted that “the songs, the music, the records, the shows…are the meat and potatoes of my working life. And anything
associated with celebrity is a distraction.” Given the ubiquitous industry premium on commercial success, sometimes at the expense of quality and purpose, such views seem strangely out of place yet deeply refreshing.
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The most engaging track is “Holy Ground.” Delivering crisp guitar strokes and seamless, passionate vocals, the tune exudes a rhythmic gaiety that is simply irresistible: When the songs flow down like a river
And the words cut through Dreams fly around me
I’m a happy man in the world
True to form, Salty Heaven delivers on a deeper plane as well. In “Forgiveness,” Luka recounts the visceral anguish of
Ireland’s great famine and history of conflict by tapping a range of senses and emotions in the listener. Through the eyes of wounded children and emigrants who risked their lives crossing the Atlantic in pursuit of a better life, the song is punctuated initially by its pervasive, dispirited mood.
If only the artist’s mind were that simple, for what follows is a completely unexpected, uplifting transition in melody and tone. Employing suddenly vibrant guitar strokes, along with more upbeat voice inflection and tempo, the song nurtures a vivid image of a spectacular sunrise and new day dawning. Luka uses this backdrop to drive home his forward-leaning message of unselfishness and hope:
For the ancient wounds still hurting For the wrongs I’ve never known For all the children left to die Near fields where corn was grown Like the ones who braved the ocean In the fever sheds to burn
Let all the hatred leave these shores Never to return.
Forgiveness…
In “Water Ballerina,” another noteworthy track, weighty sentiments give way to a simple tale of a mystical, fleeting
encounter with a golden-haired mermaid. Luka penned the song during a stay in Ballyvaughan, which he describes as one of his favorite ports of call between the Burren and the Atlantic.
Couched in a setting of sand, shore, and sunset-draped ocean, the song will strike a chord with those fortunate enough to have experienced the unforgettable vibrancy of an inexplicable
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Luka Bloom clearly is anything but the typical artist. He writes with evocative, piercing lyrics that betray an immense gift of observation. His vocals soar with the boundless energy of youth and resonate with the calibrated passion of a mature, well-weathered tunesmith. Meanwhile, his mastery of the guitar—best described as the consummate synchronization of man and instrument—will draw you in with its vibrancy and power one moment, then ease you back into sublime tranquility the next.
In sum, you don’t just attend a Luka Bloom concert; you
experience it. And if history holds true to form, it may prove to be one of the most intimate, moving performances you’ve ever encountered. Only one word of advice: invite a special friend or two, lest you come up short in trying to describe the evening with mere words once it has passed. And while you’re at it, have them spread the news to others…the world will only be a richer place for it.
Luka Bloom will perform at The Rams Head Tavern in Annapolis, Maryland on Tuesday, March 28, and at The Barns at Wolf Trap in Vienna, Virginia on Wednesday, March 29.