Old Man Luedecke

An award-winning Canadian singer/songwriter and banjo player, Old Man Luedecke is the nom de plume of Nova Scotia native Chris Luedecke. One of Canada's most acclaimed and unique roots music personalities, Luedecke won his first Juno in 2009 for the album Proof of Love, which took home the prize for traditional folk album of the year. He continued to earn accolades on subsequent outings like 2010's My Hands are on Fire and Other Love Songs and Easy Money (2019), the former of which also earned a Juno. A native of Toronto, Luedecke developed his troubadour persona after relocating to Canada's Yukon, the country's smallest and westernmost province. He debuted his virtuosic banjo skills and wry storytelling in 2003 on the album Mole in the Ground, which he promoted via a heavy bout of touring both at home and abroad. After moving to the rural south shore of Nova Scotia he inked a deal with Black Hen Music and issued his sophomore effort, Hinterland. Abandoning the stark simplicity of his earlier works, Luedecke enlisted a full band for 2008's Proof of Love, which drew comparisons to John Prine and John Hartford, and received a Juno Award the following year. 2010's Juno Award-winning My Hands are on Fire and Other Love Songs also featured a full band, and boasted a guest appearance by bluegrass great Tim O'Brien, and a tribute to Canadian folk music legend Willie P. Bennett. Luedecke headed south to Music City for his fifth studio long-player, the True North-issued Tender Is the Night, which saw Tim O'Brien in the producer chair and a crew of Nashville's finest session players coming along for the ride. In 2014 he teamed up with renowned Halifax singer/songwriter Joel Plaskett for a three-song EP, I Never Sang Before I Met You, and in 2015 he put out his sixth full-length effort, Domestic Eccentric, which was recorded in his self-built backwoods cabin with O'Brien once again producing. For 2019's Easy Money, Luedecke decamped to Montreal with producer Howard Bilerman. Composed and recorded at the Banff Centre's songwriter-in-residence program, the album featured guest spots from O'Brien, Afie Jurvanen of Bahamas, and Fats Kaplin. ~ James Christopher Monger, Rovi