Just Us Folk

As it is with so many musicians, Montreal-based singer-songwriter Rob Lutes is a very busy fellow with many irons in the fire. As a solo performer, he’s released seven albums since 2000. As part of a duo with Rob MacDonald, there’s a live album, and in the band Sussex, fronted by Rob and Michael Emenau, there’s the newly-released Shine, their third album. Rob’s touring schedule each year is a mix of solo, duo and band appearances. In addition, he hosts a curated workshop on the history of popular music he calls “The Stories Behind the Songs”.

At the 2023 Folk Harbour Festival in Lunenburg NS, where Rob and Michael were performing, Rob talked about the album Shine, which at that point was still a work in progress.

“We changed the line-up for this record,” Rob said. “We have a pedal steel player, Joe Grass, who’s a great player from Montreal, and a phenomenal upright bass player named Morgan Moore.”

With Rob on acoustic guitar and vocals and Michael on vibraphone and piano, the new album harkens back to a time when vibes and pedal steel co-existed on records.

“We’ve gigged a bunch with this lineup, and it’s been really fun,” Rob said.

Shine features Rob and Michael originals with three cover songs, including ‘Bye Bye Blues’, which has an interesting story Rob has used for his “Stories Behind the Songs” presentations.

“Bert Lown, Fred Hamm, Dave Bennett and Chauncey Gray wrote this one song, and that was it,” he said.

“In 1925, the blues were becoming a national craze. It’s amazing how many times I find songs like that, that are one-offs. They wrote other songs but never another hit.”

The “Stories Behind the Songs” shows started during the pandemic lockdown when a friend of Rob’s asked him to develop a program for seniors.

“I had always done ‘History of Blues’ and ‘History of Music’ workshops, so I started a ‘History of Popular Music in America’ show for this group my friend had,” he said.

Rob set about learning over 300 songs dating from the 1750s to the age of rock and roll. Stops along the way included Tin Pan Alley, minstrel songs, blues and spirituals. The popularity of these workshops has taken Rob across Canada and the U.S.

“I was able to take the time to incubate this whole other thing I hadn’t planned to be a big deal, but which turned out that way,” he said.

As a self-described nerd for music history Rob relishes the chance to learn a new song because it comes with a whole new story.

“Actually,” he said, “I have to be careful not to bring too many of them into my solo set. Sometimes I have to tell myself to stop.”

With the release of Shine, the plan for Sussex is to have selective tour dates, given the busy schedules Rob and Michael have.

“We’re not going to hustle it and tour a hundred dates,” Rob said. “But this act is so different and unique that there’s always work. It seems to have something people want to check out.”

This year has seen Rob working on his next solo album along with playing many dates with fellow guitarist Rob MacDonald.

“We’ve been playing together since 1996 but it’s gotten to another level now where the two of us together is something special,” Rob said. “So the plan is to record another album.”

Looking at everything he’s involved in, Rob realizes he’s at a very unique position in life.

“I’m working in music, and I’m really grateful for that,” he said.

“I have to check myself if I start to complain. I’m really lucky to get to do this and as long as it lasts, I’ll keep going.”

For more on Rob Lutes, Sussex and Shine, go to https://roblutes.com.