The Barns of Wolf Trap will resound with the latest endeavors of The Luke Brindley Band and Ari Hest, among them Brindley’s “Five Songs” and Hest’s “52.” This marks their first joint concert in several years.
Brindley moved to Washington when he and his brother purchased Jammin’ Java, the Vienna music venue recently named one of the Top 100 Clubs in the World. About the same time, he was making waves nationally with the debut of his self-titled solo recording.
His intentional bows to a variety of styles elude classification, all the more reason for his appeal to fans of many ages. Whether leaning toward country, Motown or roots rock, he carefully crafts each song for greatest impact.
“When I sit down to write, I let the song go where it wants to go in theme, lyrics and mood,” he says. “That goes back to my education and experiences performing in New York and New Jersey. During my travel overseas, I came to appreciate the improvisation found in Indian and Eastern music. The Western mentality is a horizontal song in an expected form of bumps, rises and falls.
“In Eastern music, you enter a wall of music, more like a vertical place, and you’re there for the duration. It inspires me to capture a mood and not always be concerned about twists and turns. This is apparent in ‘Five Songs.’ Since our last recording came out in 2007, I’d been working on a group of songs and wanted to keep putting out new music, so I pulled out the ones I thought were the strongest and they ended up on the EP.”
Brindley grew up in Montclair and Millburn, N.J., in a family of amateur musicians who encouraged him to take private lessons on piano and guitar. At Rutgers University, he studied with Ken Wessel and absorbed classical techniques that opened his ears to multiple possibilities.
Upon his collaboration with brother Daniel on keyboards and producer/brother-in-law Jared Bartlett on guitar, the Luke Brindley Band took off. Several tracks have been picked up for commercial use and his song “Loving Arms” is on the soundtrack of “10 Yards,” a new documentary. Brindley’s appearance at the 2008 Falcon Ridge Emerging Artist Showcase will be followed next season by the 2009 Cayamo Cruise with Patty Griffin, Lyle Lovett and John Hiatt.
“It’s an honor to be playing again at The Barns, one of the best rooms in the country,” he says. “I want the audience to enjoy the songs, take them home and make them a part of their lives.”
If you go
Ari Hest and the Luke Brindley Band
Where: The Barns at Wolf Trap
When: 8 p.m. Thursday
Info: $16; 877-965-3872; www.wolftrap.org
