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Al Lukas http://www.lukasproductions.com

“As an artist I’ve seen and heard my music change over the years, in order to make a living in the arts. Playing in Ontario based bluegrass, rock, pop, swing, blues, and soul bands has allowed me to cultivate a unique songwriting style by incorporating all of these genres to suit the lyrics and the mood that a song, or setting, calls for. While my earliest point of reference is Northern Ontario, my second homes across the province have also shown me the importance in remaining true to my down to earth roots, while keeping an honest vision as an artist. My travels across Canada have allowed me to broaden my horizons lyrically and musically as my experiences continue to grow with the encounters I’m met with onstage while on the road. I pursue my art because it never felt as if I had a choice. My previous occupations were but vessels for new songs and fuel for the fire I’ve kept lit since my first introduction to the stage in my early teenage years.”
-          Al Lukas
Al Lukas was born in Kapuskasing, Ontario, Canada.  He started playing the guitar at the age of fourteen, after his father showed him his first chords on the family guitar. He then started taking guitar lessons from his uncles and grandmother who raised a musical family that formed Kapuskasing’s only bluegrass band, Nothing in the Crib.  Al soon took his father’s place in the band as the acoustic flat-top guitarist and as a back-up vocalist.
Al actually had to be coerced into becoming a singer, as his skills on acoustic guitar kept growing with the bluegrass band while touring Northern Ontario in his mid teens.  His uncle and music mentor, the late Maurice Desilets, encouraged Al to sing lead in order to give the singer in the band a break during sets. “As I started to sing and project more I noticed I had this rather gruff voice” Al remembers.
Lukas quickly noticed its impact. “It’s interesting to see how people react when I sing that first note onstage. I do see heads turn,” he says. That’s a natural response to a voice that is more a force of nature than an instrument. It has been compared to the likes of Van Morrison, Howlin’ Wolf, and Richie Havens.
If forced at gunpoint, Al would describe his style as “just something Al Lukas would sing.” His rich and resonant voice seizes your attention from first listen and never relinquishes its hold, giving his music a coherent focus.  Lukas has distilled his diverse influences into a sound that is all his own, and his songwriting style is now equally original.
Honesty is the crucial and consistent ingredient of an Al Lukas song. These songs are all personal interpretations of situations that have happened to him.  His latest album, In My Soul, released in July 2011, confirms the songwriting strides Lukas has made since his two previous albums, 2007’s self-titled debut and 2009’s Fall & Flight.
Fuelling many of the tunes on In My Soul was the remarkable experience of his Good Faith Tour. Beginning in the fall of 2009 and lasting seven months, this was far from your average cross-country musical tour. You see, Al didn’t book any dates in advance, but instead relied on the barter system. “I’d heard a few things on CBC about people exchanging one service for another, like dry-walling a cottage in exchange for a weekend getaway with their family,” Al explains. “I then wondered what I could do with a tour. I didn’t want to book one, but rather make it like a pilgrimage. I built a bed for my van and got some arctic sleeping gear because I was going out in winter. I stopped in as many communities as I could and on the go I’d book my dates. I’d walk around town, go to the bars that had music and see what I could do. I had my rules. I couldn’t rent a hotel room, it had to be bartered. If I was playing music, I couldn’t ask for a price. All I could say was what I could offer, and by saying that it was then ‘give me what you think it’s worth.’ That could mean meals, or a place to stay, but most gave me money. The generosity was quite striking.”
The novel idea caught the imagination of fellow musicians and the media, and Al was able to tour from Windsor to Victoria and back, including a stop in Vancouver during the Olympics. A camera crew met him at different locations, and film footage of his extraordinary experiences is now being edited. This tour was a great leap of faith, but the gamble paid off handsomely, turning Al into a real troubadour and providing fertile material for new songs.
A new album is currently underway with an expected release date set in January 2014!
His new album will encompass some of the most honed and vulnerable songwriting Al has penned since he started writing over a decade ago. After the release of In My Soul, which showcased the people and experiences he gathered on his musician/survivalist Good Faith Tour, Al’s fans have expressed the want for something more personal, written from the comforts and discomforts of home. “I think this album will let people in, after having taken them out on the road with me last time.  These are songs about letting go. They’re about owning up to my choices and mistakes in my attempts to find something real in an ever growing synthetic society.” Al also notes: “Dave Angell and the team at Dining Room Studios in Thunder Bay, Ontario have come on board to take on the project with me this fall, and I couldn’t be more excited to be working with these guys again after the success we had with In My Soul.”
His success is attributable to his strength as a performer. He’s just 27, but over a decade of live performance has honed those chops to a sharp edge. Whether it’s opening for Blue Rodeo, joining Jack De Keyzer onstage, playing blues and roots festivals, or participating in a jam session with some of Detroit’s top blues and jazz players (including trumpeter Marcus Belgrave of the original Ray Charles Band),  Al has never failed to impress.
During his spare time, Al Lukas collaborates with other artists as a guitarist, producer, and songwriter. He also rides his bicycle across Ontario to promote health and wellness and to help raise money and awareness for local charities.