Big Top Reviews Coming In…

Big Top: Vol. 1 & 2 is out, and folks are taking notice! Here are some excerpts from the 2 most recent reviews. Click the reviewer’s link to read more!

“…Like the ringmaster at the circus, Lutes separates the different performances on the two-disc Big Top allowing each to take a moment in the spotlight…Moving from haunting (the opener “Lucia’s Song”) to roots rock (”Love in the Hard Times”), Lutes meticulously weaves melodies together…[while] the second volume can be equated to the lion-tamer act. It’s flashy and dangerous, with room for the occasional flare of the unexpected. Diving head-first through syncopated pop (”Ginny On Fire” and “We Love Me”) before landing into the net of “Fine Line,” Lutes’ voice is continuously smooth like an amalgamation of Lindsey Buckingham and Lyle Lovett…”

- Nichole Wagner, Austin.com

“You always hear talk of how artists are a mixture of different styles, but with Lutes, that’s actually true. The first disc features the familiar twang of Texas country, but mixes in dissonant electric guitar, traditional hymn-like vocal melodies and some powerful pop hooks. These two CDs are a perfect recipe for a lazy summer day, a lazy rainy day or pretty much any time you’ve got an hour and a half to lounge around the house and listen to some great music. These gems, the music that actually makes it worth your time to listen to all these free discs, are what keeps me going. Hopefully you’ll feel the same.”

- Robert Rich, Austin Dischord

Austin Release Show at Momo’s on Saturday, March 7th!

Thanks to James, Tom, Brady, Dony, Carolyn, and David and to all of you for packing out Momo’s and making the Austin release show such a special night. Here are a few action photos from the night taken by Jon Patillo.

On the Radio in Austin, TX

Hope you got to catch us on the radio airwaves this morning in Austin, TX.

Special thanks to Bryan Beck with 107.KGSR In The Morning.

In the studio at 107.1 KGSR with Bryan Beck on the Sound of Our Town

And to Rowdy of the the Rowdy Time Radio Hour on 91.7 KOOP.

Live on the Rowdy Times Radio Hour on 91.7 KOOP

Texas Music Awards Nominations!

On February 1st, the nominees for this year’s Texas Music Awards were announced. It’s a great pleasure to let you all know that I’ve been nominated for both Male Vocalist of the Year and Song of the Year (”Found You” off of my live album, Solo Stages - available to preview and purchase thru my online store below) in this statewide process. First of all, thanks to all of you who nominated me for these awards! It wouldn’t have happened without your help. Secondly, being nominated puts me in the top-5 in both categories for 2008-09; so there’s another process underway in selecting who will be honored at the awards ceremony in April. For both categories, public voting will count for 10% of the final determination - so I could really use your help again. You can vote via the TMA press release below.

From The Texas Music Awards.org: THE TEXAS MUSIC AWARDS with a concert by your host, Michael Martin Murphey immediately following the show. VOTING BEGINS!! Click HERE to vote. VOTING ENDS AT MIDNIGHT (CST) on FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20th, 2009. Public voting begins at 12:01am (CST) on Monday, February 2, 2009 for the 7th annual Texas Music Awards to be held Sunday, April 26, 2009 at the Palestine Civic Center in Palestine, Texas.

Texas Music Awards

Happy New Year! I hope this finds you and yours doing well. We’ve got a LOT cooking for this year already, and I’ll look forward updating you on quite a bit in the coming weeks: the new album release dates, shows, tours, and much more… At the moment, the most pressing item is something that I could sure use your help on - it’s nomination time for the 2008-09 Texas Music Awards!

As many of you know, I was selected as one of the top-5 Singer-Songwriters in the state in 2007 by the venerable TMAs, as a finalist for Singer-Songwriter of the Year. With last year’s live album release, I’ve decided to throw my hat back in the ring. In just under a minute (I timed it…), you can help by nominating me in 3 categories through the following link: http://www.texasmusicawards.org/nominate/

You can use the following text: Song of the Year (Song title, Album Name, Artist): “Rise Up, Elijah”, Solo Stages, Plumtucker (David Lutes) Male Vocalist of the Year: David Lutes (Plumtucker) Singer-Songwriter of the Year: David Lutes (Plumtucker) Please submit your nomination by THIS FRIDAY, JANUARY 16th at MIDNIGHT!

Thanks for taking a minute to help further my career. Your nomination, quite literally, makes it happen! I’ll be back in touch soon with all of the big news about the album release tentatively slated for early March! I couldn’t be happier about how it’s sounding and how everything is coming together, and I can’t wait to share it with you!

Will Rock for Food

My semi-annual benefit show is bigger than ever! I’ve put together an unbeatable night of music for a good cause… Some of Austin’s best artists are donating their time and talent for those in need. Make plans to come out for the whole evening, and spread the word!

AUSTIN, Texas - There’s never enough help you can provide to the Capital Area Food Bank. With that in mind, local musicians Drew Smith, Gordy Quist (of the Band of Heathens), Plumtucker (the David Lutes Project), Betty Soo, and Milkdrive (featuring members of the South Austin Jug Band) are taking to the Momo’s stage on Sunday, December 21st for the Will Rock for Food benefit, designed to help raise canned goods for the CAFB right before the holidays. The show will accept either donations of non-expired canned goods or a recommended $10 per person in cash or check as admission to the event. All proceeds will go to the Capital Area Food Bank to assist raising donations and awareness for the local non-profit.

Established in 1981, the Capital Area Food Bank donated 15 million pounds of food to local citizens in 2007. The holidays are of particular importance to the charity as it collects enough Christmas meals to feed families across the city. More than half of the year’s food donations come in during November and December, totaling over 635,000 pounds of food. Will Rock For Food begins at 6 p.m. with a performance from BettySoo, followed by Milkdrive at 7:15 p.m., Plumtucker (the David Lutes Project) at 8:30 p.m., Gordy Quist at 9:45 p.m. and Drew Smith at 11 p.m.

Central Texas Gardener - KLRU

I wanted to remind my Austin friends to tune in to KLRU’s Central Texas Gardener this coming Saturday at noon or 4pm as our local gardening experts on this long-running show visit a lush Austin garden accompanied by my solo guitar version of the classic gospel song, “Amazing Grace.” If you can’t check it out then, it will be available to view at http://www.klru.org/ctg.

Also, if you have friends around the region who may be interested, it will air all over TX and in New Mexico per the schedule below. I’m also pleased to announce that Three Piece Suit, my jazz group, is starting a semi-regular Saturday night residency from 8:30-10pm at one of Austin’s hippest neighborhood restaurants and bars, The Satellite Bistro and Bar, located on Escarpment just north of Slaughter Lane. We’ll be there this Saturday night and return on December 6th and 13th. So come out for a great dinner and drinks and stay for classic and original piano jazz. Who knows, we may even do some Plumtucker tunes…with a twist.

For more info on our trio, visit http://www.threepiecesuitjazz.com Stay tuned for upcoming December dates, including a big holiday charity show in the works!

Recap of the UK Tour

I returned just a few days ago from my fourth UK tour and what has to have been one of the finest experiences of my professional career. My 23 days in the UK were action-packed, richly varied, and successful beyond my expectations. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to my British friends and promoters for really making this all happen, and will be properly thanking them and updating my plumtucker.net and Myspace blogs this week with some photos and this-only-happens-on-tour stories (from a concert with the world’s most expensive Mini-Cooper for an audience that included, amongst others, some MG and Mini-Cooper racing legends to a ‘hell’-themed London listening room that smelled vaguely of urine - oh yeah.

UK TOUR ‘08

Solo Stages

Well, it’s been quite a few months - great shows at some of my favorite places, seeing old friends and new faces (rhyming unintentional, I swear), a Pacific Northwest tour with all of the fresh salmon I could eat, a new album getting wrapped up in the studio, and a UK tour coming my way in 2 weeks! This is fun. Stay tuned for the latest on the new album and my UK tour dates. If you know folks in the UK (or happen to be a Brit, yourself), I hope that you’ll spread the word and come join us! I’ll be seeing great friends along the way, playing all sorts of venues from halls to festivals to 20 seat ‘living’ rooms both solo and with a band, and perhaps doing some recording, too, on my friends’ (Additional Moog) next album.

The New LIVE Album, ‘Solo Stages,’ For Sale Online!