Name: Rainbow Sombrero by Luke Escombe
Duration: 4 min 47 s
Description: Special track recorded for the "Say Yes to Love" Volume 2 compilation album in support of Australian Marriage Equality. Recorded at Vienna People Studios by Michael McGlynn and featuring Ellen Kirkwood on trumpet

This is the full album before it was "mixed" for release.  It is raw. It is pure. The poetry of Chris' lyrics are more legible.  The tones are what we were listening to in the studio. The actual release mystified people. It never represented the recording.  It never represented the genius of where Chris could, and did, take the blues and rock paradigms. The album is one of rock's Greatest Misses.  

There are some alternate versions, and a different sequence.  Mostly I am posting this because of the decades of conversation with Whitley fans who don't enjoy the album.  How can you convince someone that "really, it's a milestone and a classic" when the only thing they have heard is a watered down commercial release that has little to do with the actual work that was done?  I hope this spurs conversation about this classic!

Chris Whitley-Din Of Ecstasy

Special track recorded for the "Say Yes to Love" Volume 2 compilation album in support of Australian Marriage Equality. Recorded at Vienna People Studios by Michael McGlynn and featuring Ellen Kirkwood on trumpet

Rainbow Sombrero

Soaked in the spirit of the old bluesmen but with a lyrical style born of the internet age, Luke Escombe's songs are raw, raucous, subversive and funny.

Luke was born in London into a musical household. His father Alan was a successful rock musician in the 60's before moving behind the scenes of the industry in the 70s to join rock and roll freight company: Rock-it Cargo. This enabled Luke to receive an incredible musical education, watching shows by legendary artists like Prince, Bruce Springsteen and The Stones while he was just a boy. At the same time he also fell in love with anarchic comedy shows like Blackadder and The Young Ones - providing the combination of rock and roll and sharp humour that would form the basis of his songwriting.

Luke moved to Sydney, Australia in his 20s where he released his first album as a solo artist in 2008. Entitled "Golden Ages", it was a folky, mostly acoustic collection of personal songs inspired by the music of Paul Simon, Cat Stevens and Bob Dylan. But it was his second album - "Mantown" - where he found his true voice, returning to the blues, soul and rock music he'd loved in his youth, plugging in his guitar and turning up the volume. "Mantown" spent nine straight months in the top ten of the Australian Blues and Roots charts and spawned two unforgettable music videos for singles "Drop tha Bomb" and "iMan". 

In 2011, after a long period away from music due to a chronic illness, Luke wrote and starred in a one-man musical comedy show called "Chronic" - inspired by some of his experiences as a patient in the healthcare system -  which took him to comedy and fringe festivals around Australia and to a 9-night season at the Edinburgh Fringe. Parts of the show were televised on ABC TV in Australia and this led to Luke being asked to perform at Parliament House in Canberra and at the New Zealand National Museum in Wellington, and to him becoming an ambassador for the charity Crohn's and Colitis Australia.  

In 2014, after a successful crowdfunding campaign, Luke released the live DVD "Chronic Symphonic" - an expanded version of his one man show performed with an 8-piece band and a string section - plus another live album - "Live on the Coast", showcasing his 4-piece live band "Luke Escombe and the Corporation". 

Writing about these releases in the Sydney Morning Herald reviewer John Shand wrote: “Luke Escombe is funny and brave, a showman and an artist, a brilliantly engaging lyricist, expert tunesmith, fine guitarist and exceptional singer. Seldom is such sophistication wrapped in a coating of such overt fun. Buy both. Hear him”

Luke's latest EP "Creeper Vine" was recorded at Vienna People Studios in Sydney and features his long-time collaborators Aaron Flower on guitar and Jamie Cameron on drums, as well as legendary Australian rock-soul bassist Harry Brus. The songs clearly show the influence of classic rock and roll artists like Chuck Berry and The Rolling Stones but combine them with a lyrical sharpness and urgency that speaks directly about life in the 21st century.

Luke lives on Sydney's northern beaches with his wife and son. Becoming a Dad a couple of years ago inspired him to write a brand new "roots musical" show for families called The Vegetable Plot, which won the award for Best Kid's show at the 2014 Sydney Fringe. He works as a musician, writer, MC and speaker, making full use of the distinctive smooth baritone that won him the title of "Sydney's sexiest man voice" in a radio station poll a few years ago.

Rainbow Sombrero

Luke Escombe

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