Devil at your door

Here's my take on Gus Cannon's Poor Boy Long Ways From Home, this song marks a step change in my slide guitar playing and I'm really happy with it.  The original recording is from 1927 and is one of the very first slide bottleneck pieces recorded for Guitar, the transcription is taken from Woody Mann's Bottleneck Blues Guitar.  I hope you enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed playing it, the song is quite apt for me now as I seem to spend a lot of time away from home in various hotels! :-)

Poor Boy Long Ways From Home

Here's my take of Bombtrack by Rage Against the Machine, it's an original arrangement on the slide guitar in open D tuning. I hope you enjoy.  You can check out the video of this at the following link https://youtu.be/QQhMqSAVfbc :-)

Bombtrack

Devil At Your Door, is a track I first thought up when listening to Tom Jones and Seasick Steve playing some stripped down blues thing...I was inspired so I picked up the guitar and wrote this track. For me the song has become more poignant in recent years, especially with the continued rise of greedy and corrupt politicians like Trump and Putin...it certainly feels like we have a number of Devils knocking on our doors...batten down the hatches, we are in for a bumpy ride! #fucktrump

Devil At Your Door

My second demo, 'Whilst You're Gone' definitely has some Delta Blues influences; I wrote it about the time I had just started learning songs by Tampa Red and Gus Cannon. There's also some heavy riff based stuff going on here which I love the sound of, and gives a heavier element to the song. I hope you enjoy this track as much as I enjoy playing it. It's written in Open D tuning, and performed on my Michael Messer Lightning resonator guitar which is amplified through my Fender Hot Rod Deluxe 3 tube amp, vocals have been recorded on a Green Bullet which has been routed through a Boss Blues Driver pedal.

Whilst Your Gone

I finished writing this track in St Ives, Cornwall, one of my most favorite places in the world. It was in between surfing sessions and outside a hobbit hut we were staying at. I've taken a lot of influence from the early Delta Blues players with this song such as Tampa Red; I've tried to mimic the melody line on the resonator and kept a consistent bass line playing throughout. I'm not really sure what this song is about, love, nature and things like that I suppose. As with all the songs on this demo I've recorded it live on my Michael Messer Lightning Guitar in Open D tuning, using a stompbox for percussion and putting the vocals through a Shure Green Bullet with a bit of distortion. the guitar is amped through my Fender Hot Rod Deluxe tube amp to give it that authentic blues sound y'all. Recorded with Logic Pro 8. I hope you like :-)

Heart Of Gold

This song’s about the Beautiful British Columbia in Canada, written whilst travelling through there, with my sweetheart and wife Laura on our epic 6 month honeymoon.

It’s a mixture of styles with delta blues slide guitar, hip hop beats and First Nation world musical influences. Recorded, written and produced by yours truly with Laura Tetlow adding some lush vocals at the end. Created in GarageBand on the road between Canada and New Zealand.

The Old BC

"I'll See You At The Crossroads" is the latest track from Lawless Luke, Delta Blues Slide Guitar player and composer. I started writing this tune in Australia, somewhere between Narooma and Sydney. It was around this time that I packed in my job to pursue my music career, so the subject matter is quite apt. I think subconsciously I was coming to a crossroads in my life, and thats where the hook came from. 

At the same time I was reading a book about Robert Johnson, so the whole crossroads legend and mystique naturally bled into the lyrics. Musically I was playing a lot of Buck (Babe) Turner's songs, so again some of that influence came out in the Delta Blues Slide Guitar work. This song was written on my Black Jack Cigar Box Guitar in Open G tuning. I recorded this one in Garageband, wrote the theme tune, sang the theme tune, etc. My amazingly talented wife Laura helped me out with backing vocals. This song may just become the title to my next album...watch this space.

I'll See You At The Crossroads

I’ll See You At The Crossroads

Here's my latest Blues Slide Guitar song called "It Always Tends To End This Way".  A belter of a Blues Rock tune that I think will have you dancing around the living room in no time!  Lyrically I've kept the subject matter quite light; talking about things like substance abuse, self destructive behavior coupled with a healthy dose of narcissism...  

At the time of writing this track I was listening to a lot of Delta Blues and Texas Blues, in particular Robert Johnson and Buck Babe Turner.  Which naturally bled through into the slide guitar style of playing. I was also listening to a lot of Queens of The Stone Age's new album Villains, which is just fantastic. I have recently started experimenting with Hammond Organ and Synth sounds on my tracks, this has opened up a whole new world of possibilities for me sonically, which is really exciting.

You will also notice that the wonderful Laura Janes has helped me on backing vocals, it's always handy having a professional singer in the household.

Lyrics are as follows:

Verse 1
God will never let you know,
Just hold back and let it go,
Pinned my shit against the wall, 
Grab a beer and watch it all fall.

Chorus
This is my complacency dependancy,
And it always tends to end this way.

Verse 2
I’ve been here many times before
Wash it back and beg for more,
Right or wrong time will tell,
My perfectly constructed hell.

Chorus
This is my complacency dependancy,
And it always tends to end this,
This is my complacency dependancy,
And it always tends to end this,
This is my complacency dependancy,
And it always tends to end this,
This is my complacency dependancy,
And it always tends to end this way.

 Bridge
Just sit back and watch it fall,
It will take no time at all,
You can never take it back,
Just like a suicide attack.

Chorus
This is my complacency dependancy,
And it always tends to end this,
This is my complacency dependancy,
And it always tends to end this,
This is my complacency dependancy,
And it always tends to end this,
This is my complacency dependancy,
And it always tends to end this way.

To keep track of any new releases and for more information about my music, visit and subscribe to my blog at: https://lawlessluke.com/blog/

It Always Tends To End This Way - New Blues Slide Guitar Song from Lawless Luke

This was the first track written for the Lawless Luke project.  Lyrically this blues slide guitar song is definitely one of my darker and more menacing numbers. The lyrics explore the concept of something wicked and all together evil trying to invade your world. I can’t say I had a particular character in mind when writing this track, although a few political figures of late spring to mind! The song feels even more poignant today as we increasingly live in a world of disinformation, corporate greed and intolerance. I also use religious references in the song, this type of language is typical with a lot of early blues music.

This track originally started life on the acoustic guitar in standard tuning, before moving over to my resonator guitar in open D tuning.  I originally recorded this one as a demo track, before finally making a studio version of it.  The studio version allowed me to experiment with electronic synthesizers to really bring some of my textural ideas to life.  

I hope you enjoy it.

Lawless Luke

Lyrics:

When I die,
I pray my soul to rest,
In this city,
they'll cut you down like a newborn lamb,
won't you hold me close tonight
the winter's cold, the wind it bites,
look to the sky, she bleeds,
Just like a pagan sacrifice.

When I cut you... down,
these thorns become your crown,
He will knock three times,
There's a devil here tonight...

You can whisper he might not hear...
ain't no doubt he'll smell your fear,
He's been here before,
Hear him knocking on your door!

He will break it...down,
Destroy your bleeding crown,
He will cut you while you sleep,
Your soul is his to keep...

Listen out,  he's near,
He was drawn out by your fear,
There's no escape nowhere to hide,
The sound of blood, it never lies!

When he cuts you... down,
You will wear his crown,
He will knock three times,
There's a devil here tonight,
There's a devil here tonight,
There's a devil here tonight,
There's a devil here tonight,
There's a devil here tonight.

What an honour it was to be asked to learn and perform this special song for a recent acoustic Wedding Ceremony. It was chosen by the beautiful Bride for her Bridal Entrance! This version is performed at home in our studio without bells and whistles, just heart and a whole lotta' soul. x

At Last (Cover) Original by Etta James

“You are broken bruised and blue, that’s why I love you”
Lawless Luke – Caught Out By The Sun

Stripped down, earthy and raw – Lawless Luke is a solo acoustic performer who blends blues and alternative rock to produce something unique and deliciously dark.  Drawing from a diverse range of influences from blues artists such as Blind Willie Johnson and Robert Johnson to modern alternative bands such as Placebo and Nine Inch Nails; Lawless produces something which is earthy yet angst filled.  From stripped down foot stomping blues to complex loop driven soundscapes, Lawless blends guitar, vocals and percussion into original compositions offering the perfect blend of light and shade to leave his audiences captivated.

Lawless will be hitting the road in early 2015, bringing his own unique blend of dark foot stompin’ blues to a live music venue near you, subscribe to his Facebook and twitter feeds for more info…

Bombtrack

Lawlessluke

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