Luke Sayers & The Last to Know

Every time Luke Sayers steps onto a stage to perform for an appreciative audience he is realizing the purpose for which he was put on Earth. After hearing Luke’s latest CD Radio Flower, Rich Albertoni of Madison, Wisconsin’s Isthmus echoed this sentiment when he wrote “Sayers sounds like a songwriter who's found his musical calling.“ The passion for performing and "an unmistakable heartfelt sincerity" (Illinois Entertainer) that come from heeding his calling are obvious to anyone who has been at one of Luke’s live shows. A full range of emotion is expressed during each performance with Luke’s "powerful, passionate voice” (Martin Bandyke) excitedly stirring the souls of the audience one minute, while in the next “songs such as Delaying Disaster and The Letter amble along on the singer's comforting voice and delicate strumming” (The Chicago Tribune).

Though unaware of how the songs which are bits and pieces of his soul make their way through him, Luke sees them for the gifts they truly are. An idea is triggered by a random flash of inspiration, any one of a million melodies which are constantly swirling in Luke’s mind latches onto that idea, and it’s only a matter of time until a song is born. Years of study, practice, and performance have given Luke the ability to allow the songs to travel freely from the inner space of his mind out through his guitar and voice. "Sonorous acoustic folk-rock doesn't get much better than what Luke Sayers generates” (MLive.com) by drawing on the blues & her children jazz, country, & rock-n-roll. In a recent interview with the South Bend Tribune, Luke summed up his musical journey when he said “I feel like I tried everything there was to try". “Right now, musically, I finally feel that where I am is where I’m supposed to be.”

Luke has been fortunate to have formed a musical brotherhood who have glossed themselves with the moniker of The Last to Know. The name is a loving tribute to Luke’s spontaneous nature in the midst of his live performances, and accurately describes this brave band of brothers who were often unaware of what song Luke was about to leap into next. Like his hero Willie Nelson, Luke is not bound by such conventional live performance etiquette as set lists or calling out the next song to the band. Since making Seattle his home base in 2010, Luke has performed mostly as a solo act being that the members of The Last to Know remain in the Detroit area. The boys still manage to get together from time to time when Luke tours through Michigan. At the forefront of this dynamic group is Mark Iannace. Mark’s beautiful accordion playing along with “bang-up harmonies at times recalling Barenaked Ladies" (Grand Rapids Press) have become an integral part of Luke’s group sound. The duo came together in 2001 when Luke joined the much loved 6 piece acoustic Americana band Tangerine Trousers. Fellow former Tangerine Trousers members Michael Hacala (drums) & Pat Shanley (guitars/vocals) helped to found the group performing on Luke’s last two CDs as well as providing support at several live shows throughout the country.

Concert halls, house concerts, festivals, clubs, coffeehouses, & live radio broadcasts all feel like home to this seasoned performer. Luke has toured internationally, recorded on several original CDs and has shared the stage with Martin Sexton, Ani Difranco, Old Crow Medicine Show, Kelly Joe Phelps, Garnet Rogers, Donna the Buffalo, Jackie Green, Railroad Earth, Brave Combo, The Clumsy Lovers, Ruthie Foster, Bruce Robison, Guy Forsyth, and Bluehouse. Luke has performed his original songs on the stages of The Ark, Fitzgerald's, SPACE, the Bluebird Café for the Sunday Showcase Spotlight, the Legion Arts-CSPS hall, the Ann Arbor Folk Festival, the Detroit Festival of the Arts, the Black Swamp Arts Festival, Blissfest, and the White River Folk Festival.