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| Hometown | Fort Worth, TX |
| Genres | Singer/Songwriter, Pop |
| Band Members | Luke Wade; Scott Lee; David Wade; Justin Barbee; Aaron... » more |
| Achievements |
» more |
| Upcoming Shows | None |
| Contact Information: |
Manager
Ryan Duncan ryan@overtonebmp.com 817.727.1536 |
| # Years Experience Performing Live: | 2 |
| # Live Perfomances Past Six-months: | 50 |
| Market Draw: | Fort Worth: 101-150 |
| Venue History: | 8.0 - Fort Worth, TX Glass Cactus - Grapevine, TX House of Blues - Dallas, TX City Tavern - Dallas, TX Lola's Saloon - Fort Worth, TX McDavid Studio - Fort Worth, TX |
| Opener Experience: | Rick Springfield; Ian Moore; Bob Schneider |
| Similar Artists: | Ben Harper; Amos Lee; John Mayer; Ray Lamontagne |
| Performing Rights Society: | ASCAP |
| Discography: | Tomorrow's Ghosts LP—2010 |
Luke Wade is a graduate of Tarleton State University in Stephenville, TX where his first band Hurt Street would form and call home for the six years they toured the Texas college circuit. He was born and raised in nearby Dublin where he worked at the...
Luke Wade is a graduate of Tarleton State University in Stephenville, TX where his first band Hurt Street would form and call home for the six years they toured the Texas college circuit. He was born and raised in nearby Dublin where he worked at the historic Dr. Pepper plant though his college years. His Father, an Artist, and Mother, a dance instructor, both still live and work in the small town. For eleven years starting at the age of three, Luke was a student of his mother’s dance studio, and gives this experience credit for always feeling comfortable performing his music in front of crowds. He credits his fathers influence as a painter for showing him the importance of patience, honesty, and integrity in making any kind of art. In 2009 Luke Wade relocated to Fort Worth where he worked as a bartender at Scat Jazz Loung. Luke's debut album, "Tomorrow's Ghosts," was released in June of 2010 to regional praise and moderate commercial success. It wasn’t until September of 2011 that Luke began touring nationally, gaining a broader base of fans and attention of the music industry. Since then, Luke has played the Mississippi River Music Festival in St. Louis, the PGA tour championship in Kiawah Island, SC, and is to be featured on the upcoming season of “The Big Big Show” airing on network television in 2013. Luke Wade and his band No Civilians are currently recording the follow up Album plan for a spring 2013 release.
Photos
Videos
Reached 5th in Best of Pop chart in 2011. In the top 20 for 10 weeks.
Reached 34th in Best of Pop chart in 2013. In the top 100 for 20 weeks.
Top 10 in Pro Performance Video , June 2012
Reached 5th in Best of Pop chart in 2011. In the top 20 for 10 weeks.
Reached 34th in Best of Pop chart in 2013. In the top 100 for 20 weeks.
Top 10 in Pro Performance Video , June 2012
Singer-Songwriter (male) Winner, November 2011
Pro Performance Video Winner, September 2011
Singer-Songwriter (male) Winner, August 2011
Top 10 in Indie Pop, May 2011
Top 40 in Pro Performance Video , September 2012
Top 40 in Pro Performance Video , April 2012
Top 40 in Pop Videos, March 2012
Top 40 in Pro Performance Video , March 2012
Top 40 in Singer-Songwriter (male), March 2012
Top 40 in Singer-Songwriter (male), February 2012
Top 40 in Pro Performance Video , January 2012
Top 40 in Pro Performance Video , December 2011
Top 40 in Singer-Songwriter (male), July 2011
Top 40 in Indie Rock , July 2011
Top 40 in Singer-Songwriter (male), May 2011
Top 40 in Indie Rock , May 2011
Top 40 in Indie Rock , April 2011
Top 40 in Indie Pop, April 2011
Top 40 in Indie Rock , March 2011
Top 40 in Singer-Songwriter (male), March 2011
Top 40 in Singer-Songwriter (male), January 2011
Killer or Filler? by Local band's new (or newish) CDs are on the choppi
Music can be so glib these days, relegating deeply felt though not particularly adventurous music to the wastelands of Triple-A radio or wine bars. Luke Wade and No Civilians’ Tomorrow’s Ghosts is...
Music can be so glib these days, relegating deeply felt though not particularly adventurous music to the wastelands of Triple-A radio or wine bars. Luke Wade and No Civilians’ Tomorrow’s Ghosts is...
New Avenue by
When Luke Wade sits down to write a song, he often starts with nothing more than a melody. A cappella, he can concentrate on a simple vision, a concise emotion. The music comes later. Through seven...
When Luke Wade sits down to write a song, he often starts with nothing more than a melody. A cappella, he can concentrate on a simple vision, a concise emotion. The music comes later. Through seven...
Killer or Filler? by Local band's new (or newish) CDs are on the choppi
Music can be so glib these days, relegating deeply felt though not particularly adventurous music to the wastelands of Triple-A radio or wine bars. Luke Wade and No Civilians’ Tomorrow’s Ghosts is indeed keenly emotional, but it’s so well orchestrated and performed that you can’t dismiss it as sentimental hogwash. Wade has a gift for penning melodies that stay in the ears long after the song is over, and giving the album a chance just might change a listener’s perspective on things. A flirtatious joker in daily life, Wade is like a shy schoolboy in his music –– in a good way. But he’s never anything less than totally in control. He perfected his singing during his years as frontman for the party-rock group Hurt Street and as an acoustic guitar-toting solo artist who would gig anywhere he got paid. On Tomorrow’s Ghosts, Wade tackles the big subjects –– love, loss, life, loneliness –– and he does so gently and empathetically. In each of the disc’s 11 songs, the sincerity in his dusty, world-weary voice is tangible. On “This Fire,” he laments, “My heart has grown hard / Like the rock that I live on / I cannot make it on my own.” He’s equally bluesy on “Strangest Angels,” singing, “People make the strangest angles when they’re all tangled up / I lied to you because I couldn’t get enough.” Wade has unapologetically ventured into blue-eyed soul territory, but as the successes of comparable artists like Ray LaMontagne and John Mayer have proven, consumers are willing to buy into emotionally wrought, some might say sentimental music. In Wade’s “Faith Pt. 1,” a raw vulnerability emerges that, on some level, surely every quasi-sentient being can relate to. The instrumentation on Tomorrow’s Ghosts is pretty sparse: just guitar, bass, drums, keys, and, for a little old-school R&B flavor, some trumpet and saxophone. Wade may have chosen instrumental simplicity to allow his intriguing lyrics to shine. However, the songs could have used a tad more motion. The drum parts, in particular, are a little too ho-hum. Wade and producer Nick Choate labored on the album for over a year, and the attention to detail shows. Heavy hitters such as bassist Scott Lee (Becky Middleton) and drummer Blaine Crews and keyboardist Justin Pate (both from The Orbans) make up No Civilians, and they execute the minimalist arrangements tactfully. Wade titled the album Tomorrow’s Ghosts in reference to the ephemeral nature of human relationships. Like people, music that is meaningful one day may be a memory the next. It is a rare album, like this one, that leaves an indelible imprint of hopeful honesty. –– C.C
Music can be so glib these days, relegating deeply felt though not particularly adventurous music to the wastelands of Triple-A radio or wine bars. Luke Wade and No Civilians’ Tomorrow’s Ghosts is indeed keenly emotional, but it’s so well orchestrated and performed that you can’t dismiss it as sentimental hogwash. Wade has a gift for penning melodies that stay in the ears long after the song is over, and giving the album a chance just might change a listener’s perspective on things. A flirtatious joker in daily life, Wade is like a shy schoolboy in his music –– in a good way. But he’s never anything less than totally in control. He perfected his singing during his years as frontman for the party-rock group Hurt Street and as an acoustic guitar-toting solo artist who would gig anywhere he got paid. On Tomorrow’s Ghosts, Wade tackles the big subjects –– love, loss, life, loneliness –– and he does so gently and empathetically. In each of the disc’s 11 songs, the sincerity in his dusty, world-weary voice is tangible. On “This Fire,” he laments, “My heart has grown hard / Like the rock that I live on / I cannot make it on my own.” He’s equally bluesy on “Strangest Angels,” singing, “People make the strangest angles when they’re all tangled up / I lied to you because I couldn’t get enough.” Wade has unapologetically ventured into blue-eyed soul territory, but as the successes of comparable artists like Ray LaMontagne and John Mayer have proven, consumers are willing to buy into emotionally wrought, some might say sentimental music. In Wade’s “Faith Pt. 1,” a raw vulnerability emerges that, on some level, surely every quasi-sentient being can relate to. The instrumentation on Tomorrow’s Ghosts is pretty sparse: just guitar, bass, drums, keys, and, for a little old-school R&B flavor, some trumpet and saxophone. Wade may have chosen instrumental simplicity to allow his intriguing lyrics to shine. However, the songs could have used a tad more motion. The drum parts, in particular, are a little too ho-hum. Wade and producer Nick Choate labored on the album for over a year, and the attention to detail shows. Heavy hitters such as bassist Scott Lee (Becky Middleton) and drummer Blaine Crews and keyboardist Justin Pate (both from The Orbans) make up No Civilians, and they execute the minimalist arrangements tactfully. Wade titled the album Tomorrow’s Ghosts in reference to the ephemeral nature of human relationships. Like people, music that is meaningful one day may be a memory the next. It is a rare album, like this one, that leaves an indelible imprint of hopeful honesty. –– C.C
New Avenue by
When Luke Wade sits down to write a song, he often starts with nothing more than a melody. A cappella, he can concentrate on a simple vision, a concise emotion. The music comes later. Through seven years of writing and gigging with his popular, former band, Hurt Street, Wade learned a lot about what he wanted from music. With his new band, No Civilians, the 26-year-old Fort Worthian has evolved into the purpose-driven songwriter he has been waiting to become. In a matter of months, he managed to assemble a super-group of players to support his mature, personable voice. With a debut solo album on the horizon, things have never been more in focus for him. As a teenager in Stephenville, Wade saw the guitar as "a tool to help me say what I had to say." While in college at nearby Tarleton State, he started Hurt Street, in which he waxed poetic about women and their tortuous ways. By 22, Wade was traveling all over Texas, playing around 90 shows a year with his band. He was young, unworried about making money, and copacetic with the enthusiastic, jam-bandish music that Hurt Street was delivering. But now that he's 26 and scraping by as a full-time musician, he has upped his standards about both life and music. The encumbrances of adult life eventually led Hurt Street to disband last October. Meanwhile Wade discovered powerful new influences in Americana singer-songwriters Ray LaMontagne, Jay Buchanan, and John Mayer - especially Mayer's album Continuum. From these writers, Wade learned several important musical tenets. "You can say whatever you want as long as you sell it right and sing it right," he said. "I also found the empty space in music to be a sexy thing." With no band and a renewed outlook about what he wanted to create, Wade began recruiting instrumentalists to add input to his tunes. He tried to make a solo record on four separate occasions, eventually scrapping each attempt because he didn't dig the overall vibes. Two months ago, he and a producer friend, guitarist Nick Choate, handpicked local players and invited them to Choate's Blue Smoke Studios on the East Side to work on the album, tentatively titled Tomorrow's Ghosts. With drummer Blaine Crews (The Campaign), keyboardist Justin Pate (The Orbans, Pablo and the Hemphill 7), bassist Scott Lee (Sam Anderson, Becky Middleton), and Choate on electric leads, Wade finally found the combination that he felt could understand the simple, tasteful way he wanted to make music. Everyone else apparently felt the chemistry too. They decided not only to help with the record but also to form No Civilians. Wade "loosely" guides what he wants the guys to play, but he also trusts their musical capabilities. So far, so good. "They did their parts better than I ever could have imagined," he said. "They are good at serving the song and what it needs ... that takes creative players." Wade bases his songs around his acoustic guitar, which almost always leads to a funk-oriented groove. Space, however, is what he craves, and No Civilians complies. Crews' drumming keeps a steady pace without any distracting fills or showboating. "The genius of Justin Pate," as Wade likes to refer to his keyboardist, uses big, swelling sounds rather than finger-piddling to bolster the music. Choate chooses tastefully sparse parts for the guitar, and, all together, the band uses its skill to gently point toward Wade's words. Although he ultimately aims to be uplifting, Wade is unafraid to touch upon the less-than-sunny side of life. If he weren't telling the whole story - heartbreak and all - he wouldn't be telling the whole truth. "When you take the honesty out of the music," he said, "it's like you are stealing from the listener." His music, he said, "isn't meant to tear you down. It should help you to really feel and deal with your emotions in a way that is comforting. I am lucky to be able to love and be a part of people's lives," Wade continued. He is indeed sharing his life and relationships through his music, and this honesty is what he wants to define him as a songwriter. "If I write a song, it can't be about an ordinary thing," he said. "I have to really feel it ... and maybe I can help you to feel your emotions in a way you couldn't all by yourself."
When Luke Wade sits down to write a song, he often starts with nothing more than a melody. A cappella, he can concentrate on a simple vision, a concise emotion. The music comes later. Through seven years of writing and gigging with his popular, former band, Hurt Street, Wade learned a lot about what he wanted from music. With his new band, No Civilians, the 26-year-old Fort Worthian has evolved into the purpose-driven songwriter he has been waiting to become. In a matter of months, he managed to assemble a super-group of players to support his mature, personable voice. With a debut solo album on the horizon, things have never been more in focus for him. As a teenager in Stephenville, Wade saw the guitar as "a tool to help me say what I had to say." While in college at nearby Tarleton State, he started Hurt Street, in which he waxed poetic about women and their tortuous ways. By 22, Wade was traveling all over Texas, playing around 90 shows a year with his band. He was young, unworried about making money, and copacetic with the enthusiastic, jam-bandish music that Hurt Street was delivering. But now that he's 26 and scraping by as a full-time musician, he has upped his standards about both life and music. The encumbrances of adult life eventually led Hurt Street to disband last October. Meanwhile Wade discovered powerful new influences in Americana singer-songwriters Ray LaMontagne, Jay Buchanan, and John Mayer - especially Mayer's album Continuum. From these writers, Wade learned several important musical tenets. "You can say whatever you want as long as you sell it right and sing it right," he said. "I also found the empty space in music to be a sexy thing." With no band and a renewed outlook about what he wanted to create, Wade began recruiting instrumentalists to add input to his tunes. He tried to make a solo record on four separate occasions, eventually scrapping each attempt because he didn't dig the overall vibes. Two months ago, he and a producer friend, guitarist Nick Choate, handpicked local players and invited them to Choate's Blue Smoke Studios on the East Side to work on the album, tentatively titled Tomorrow's Ghosts. With drummer Blaine Crews (The Campaign), keyboardist Justin Pate (The Orbans, Pablo and the Hemphill 7), bassist Scott Lee (Sam Anderson, Becky Middleton), and Choate on electric leads, Wade finally found the combination that he felt could understand the simple, tasteful way he wanted to make music. Everyone else apparently felt the chemistry too. They decided not only to help with the record but also to form No Civilians. Wade "loosely" guides what he wants the guys to play, but he also trusts their musical capabilities. So far, so good. "They did their parts better than I ever could have imagined," he said. "They are good at serving the song and what it needs ... that takes creative players." Wade bases his songs around his acoustic guitar, which almost always leads to a funk-oriented groove. Space, however, is what he craves, and No Civilians complies. Crews' drumming keeps a steady pace without any distracting fills or showboating. "The genius of Justin Pate," as Wade likes to refer to his keyboardist, uses big, swelling sounds rather than finger-piddling to bolster the music. Choate chooses tastefully sparse parts for the guitar, and, all together, the band uses its skill to gently point toward Wade's words. Although he ultimately aims to be uplifting, Wade is unafraid to touch upon the less-than-sunny side of life. If he weren't telling the whole story - heartbreak and all - he wouldn't be telling the whole truth. "When you take the honesty out of the music," he said, "it's like you are stealing from the listener." His music, he said, "isn't meant to tear you down. It should help you to really feel and deal with your emotions in a way that is comforting. I am lucky to be able to love and be a part of people's lives," Wade continued. He is indeed sharing his life and relationships through his music, and this honesty is what he wants to define him as a songwriter. "If I write a song, it can't be about an ordinary thing," he said. "I have to really feel it ... and maybe I can help you to feel your emotions in a way you couldn't all by yourself."
Luke Wade kicks off with covers, then brings on th by
Just off Seventh Street, among the trendy new shops and restaurants, sits a true institution: Fred's Texas Cafe. These days, Fred's looks like some kind of frontier outpost holding the line against the creeping yuppie assault. A painted outdoor wall promises "Coldass Beer." Inside, there's still the original stainless counter and gold bass-boat metal-flake vinyl booths (amazing considering how many times the place has caught fire). Lucky for us, Fred's is in no danger of being overrun. The landmark eatery was recently featured on the Food Network's Diners, Drive-ins and Dives; on a weekend, the wait to get a seat is viciously long -- but worth it. Many think it's the best place in town to get a burger. And then there's the music. Around the back of Fred's is a stockade of sorts, with a stage and outdoor tables. The cedar-post fence, branding iron-scarred walls and big shipping container used for storage make it look like a cross between Rawhide and Lost. On March 23, the wooden picnic tables were packed with people who came to see Luke Wade. Although Wade has a full band, No Civilians, this was truly a one-man show: Wade sang, played guitar and even ran his own sound. He opened with a couple of vaguely Beatlesque originals, then tore into an acoustic cover of Led Zeppelin's Ramble On. It may have lacked the sonic diversity of a full band, but it was enjoyable. Wade followed with a nice cover of Bob Marley's I Shot the Sheriff, but where he really shines is on his original music. Indeed, he says he uses covers to get the crowd's attention before coming at them with more challenging stuff. You have to make them listen," Wade says. "Maybe you grab them with a powerful cover, then you give them what you got. I assume they don't wanna listen -- then I give it to them anyway." Wade may be worrying for nothing: The crowd on March 23 seemed all too ready to listen to both the covers and the originals. He performed some Wood Brothers, some Ryan Adams, Amos Lee and even Walking on the Moon by the Police. Luke then made a valiant attempt at Zeppelin's Over the Hills and Far Away, but struggled with the chords and high notes before announcing "Led Zeppelin Fail" to the laughing crowd. No matter, his Ray Charles cover that followed had children coming up on stage to dance. His cover of Marvin Gaye's Let's Get It On got the grown-ups on their feet. As the evening wore on, Luke performed a song he wrote with Tyler Wood of the Campaign, called The Political Song. It's a change of pace for an artist who says he usually prefers to avoid controversy. Right now, everything is so polarized," Luke said. "Anytime I try to write about it, it divides. I feel like the best thing I could do right now is try to bring as many people together as I possibly can." That song, like most of Wade's originals, was a joy to listen to. Best news of all: You have plenty of opportunities to see him. This gifted performer plays at Fred's every other Tuesday from 7 to 10 p.m., and at the Grotto on Mondays. (He also gives out his CDs for free at the shows, so get there before he runs out.)
Just off Seventh Street, among the trendy new shops and restaurants, sits a true institution: Fred's Texas Cafe. These days, Fred's looks like some kind of frontier outpost holding the line against the creeping yuppie assault. A painted outdoor wall promises "Coldass Beer." Inside, there's still the original stainless counter and gold bass-boat metal-flake vinyl booths (amazing considering how many times the place has caught fire). Lucky for us, Fred's is in no danger of being overrun. The landmark eatery was recently featured on the Food Network's Diners, Drive-ins and Dives; on a weekend, the wait to get a seat is viciously long -- but worth it. Many think it's the best place in town to get a burger. And then there's the music. Around the back of Fred's is a stockade of sorts, with a stage and outdoor tables. The cedar-post fence, branding iron-scarred walls and big shipping container used for storage make it look like a cross between Rawhide and Lost. On March 23, the wooden picnic tables were packed with people who came to see Luke Wade. Although Wade has a full band, No Civilians, this was truly a one-man show: Wade sang, played guitar and even ran his own sound. He opened with a couple of vaguely Beatlesque originals, then tore into an acoustic cover of Led Zeppelin's Ramble On. It may have lacked the sonic diversity of a full band, but it was enjoyable. Wade followed with a nice cover of Bob Marley's I Shot the Sheriff, but where he really shines is on his original music. Indeed, he says he uses covers to get the crowd's attention before coming at them with more challenging stuff. You have to make them listen," Wade says. "Maybe you grab them with a powerful cover, then you give them what you got. I assume they don't wanna listen -- then I give it to them anyway." Wade may be worrying for nothing: The crowd on March 23 seemed all too ready to listen to both the covers and the originals. He performed some Wood Brothers, some Ryan Adams, Amos Lee and even Walking on the Moon by the Police. Luke then made a valiant attempt at Zeppelin's Over the Hills and Far Away, but struggled with the chords and high notes before announcing "Led Zeppelin Fail" to the laughing crowd. No matter, his Ray Charles cover that followed had children coming up on stage to dance. His cover of Marvin Gaye's Let's Get It On got the grown-ups on their feet. As the evening wore on, Luke performed a song he wrote with Tyler Wood of the Campaign, called The Political Song. It's a change of pace for an artist who says he usually prefers to avoid controversy. Right now, everything is so polarized," Luke said. "Anytime I try to write about it, it divides. I feel like the best thing I could do right now is try to bring as many people together as I possibly can." That song, like most of Wade's originals, was a joy to listen to. Best news of all: You have plenty of opportunities to see him. This gifted performer plays at Fred's every other Tuesday from 7 to 10 p.m., and at the Grotto on Mondays. (He also gives out his CDs for free at the shows, so get there before he runs out.)
Album and concert review: Tomorrow’s Ghosts by Luk by
Similar Stories Concert review: The Spazmatics at The Loft in Dallas (October 30) Photo gallery: Art in October closing celebration in Dallas' Arts District (October 31) Photo gallery: Sarah Jaffe DJ's at McKinney Avenue Contemporary (October 30) Concert review: Ra Ra Riot and Villagers at Granada Theater in Dallas (October 28) Concert review: Helmet at The Loft in Dallas (October 31) Concert review: Ghostland Observatory at Palladium Ballroom (October 30) Video: The O's say you should give to Cystic Fibrosis Video: The Killdares premiere live DVD Thursday at the Angelika Concert review: The Spazmatics at The Loft in Dallas (October 30) Photo gallery: Art in October closing celebration in Dallas' Arts District (October 31) Photo gallery: Sarah Jaffe DJ's at McKinney Avenue Contemporary (October 30) Concert review: Ra Ra Riot and Villagers at Granada Theater in Dallas (October 28) Saturday, June 12, 2010 Album and concert review: Tomorrow’s Ghosts by Luke Wade and No Civiliansby Michelle Parsons In general Tomorrow’s Ghosts is an excellent beginning for this new music project. FORT WORTH — Inside the McDavid Studio in downtown Fort Worth, the crowd was seated and calm, dressed in summer frocks, drinking white wine and waiting for Luke Wade and No Civilians to start. Their album release show was hosted in the most proper of venues, an extension of Bass Hall with a sound quality that’s as equally revered. With a suited ticket-taker and a bartender with a bowtie, it’s not every day jam bands play in digs like these, but the atmosphere worked. The lighting was subtle and candles in front of the stage were lit for a personal show and tell of sorts, of Luke Wade’s newest compilation, Tomorrow’s Ghosts. Their funk-meets-Blues Brother sound that’s so infectious masked the severe vulnerability of Wade’s lyrics, for many of his songs reveled in the love-lost-and-yearning category. And it boded well in this setting, as the audience grew silent and attentive when Wade sang his stories. The sound in the McDavid Studio was impeccable, and so was the eight-piece band of Wade and his posse pumping through the speakers. All dressed in their Sunday best – variations of pale blue button-downs and dark vests – Wade was accompanied by his primary bandmates (Justin Pate, Blaine Crews, Nick Choate, and Scott Lee), with an added bonus of a percussionist, saxophone, and trumpet player. The combination was a veritable masterpiece of funk, soul, and R&B. “Quiet As You Can” was a highlight, whispering about a late night booty call over a sensual, syrupy groove. Wade’s vocals are a clearer, less hazy version of Ray LaMontagne’s, with a soulful wail that pleads in every melody. Wade’s fellow bandmates greeted the set with a well-trained nonchalance only seasoned musicians can muster. Choate’s presence on the guitar more than a few times commanded a “we’re-not-worthy” bow or two, as did keyboardist Pate’s unassuming piano prowess that snuck seamlessly into bridges and breaks. Towards the end of the set, with only a few songs left to play, crowd members finally gave in to their bottled urges to boogie down, and jumped from their silver seats and met the band with timid hip sways and finger snaps. What Wade and No Civilians represented live is near identical to their album version of Tomorrow’s Ghosts. Overall, the album is full of meaty dance-worthy jam band dishes, with sides of creamy trumpet and sax combos, anchored by bread and butter drumming and sweet as pie jazz piano pleasantries. “Open Ocean” is an album favorite, with a jazzy, sauntering backbone with the flesh of a dirty saxophone tremble. “Save Her” is another gem, with a rootsy Southern jive and luscious lyrics about the careless girl’s cautionary tale. Wade’s slower, acoustic numbers are equally emotionally charged. “Changes” is a ballad with an R&B tempo and soul-driven vocals. Wade’s just-breathy-enough singing stair steps over notes similar to that of another darling Fort Worthian, Josh Weathers. Both have the same white-guys-can-sing-soul vocal talent, and they even carry similar playing styles and mannerisms with their acoustic guitars. Good thing both frontmen can hold their own and then some. In general Tomorrow’s Ghosts is an excellent beginning for this new music project. The songs are cohesive and light, with a nice diverse range of genres, that blend together in a mix of wailing guitar licks, swinging horns, jazz piano renderings, and a voice full of personal plight to carry them.
Similar Stories Concert review: The Spazmatics at The Loft in Dallas (October 30) Photo gallery: Art in October closing celebration in Dallas' Arts District (October 31) Photo gallery: Sarah Jaffe DJ's at McKinney Avenue Contemporary (October 30) Concert review: Ra Ra Riot and Villagers at Granada Theater in Dallas (October 28) Concert review: Helmet at The Loft in Dallas (October 31) Concert review: Ghostland Observatory at Palladium Ballroom (October 30) Video: The O's say you should give to Cystic Fibrosis Video: The Killdares premiere live DVD Thursday at the Angelika Concert review: The Spazmatics at The Loft in Dallas (October 30) Photo gallery: Art in October closing celebration in Dallas' Arts District (October 31) Photo gallery: Sarah Jaffe DJ's at McKinney Avenue Contemporary (October 30) Concert review: Ra Ra Riot and Villagers at Granada Theater in Dallas (October 28) Saturday, June 12, 2010 Album and concert review: Tomorrow’s Ghosts by Luke Wade and No Civiliansby Michelle Parsons In general Tomorrow’s Ghosts is an excellent beginning for this new music project. FORT WORTH — Inside the McDavid Studio in downtown Fort Worth, the crowd was seated and calm, dressed in summer frocks, drinking white wine and waiting for Luke Wade and No Civilians to start. Their album release show was hosted in the most proper of venues, an extension of Bass Hall with a sound quality that’s as equally revered. With a suited ticket-taker and a bartender with a bowtie, it’s not every day jam bands play in digs like these, but the atmosphere worked. The lighting was subtle and candles in front of the stage were lit for a personal show and tell of sorts, of Luke Wade’s newest compilation, Tomorrow’s Ghosts. Their funk-meets-Blues Brother sound that’s so infectious masked the severe vulnerability of Wade’s lyrics, for many of his songs reveled in the love-lost-and-yearning category. And it boded well in this setting, as the audience grew silent and attentive when Wade sang his stories. The sound in the McDavid Studio was impeccable, and so was the eight-piece band of Wade and his posse pumping through the speakers. All dressed in their Sunday best – variations of pale blue button-downs and dark vests – Wade was accompanied by his primary bandmates (Justin Pate, Blaine Crews, Nick Choate, and Scott Lee), with an added bonus of a percussionist, saxophone, and trumpet player. The combination was a veritable masterpiece of funk, soul, and R&B. “Quiet As You Can” was a highlight, whispering about a late night booty call over a sensual, syrupy groove. Wade’s vocals are a clearer, less hazy version of Ray LaMontagne’s, with a soulful wail that pleads in every melody. Wade’s fellow bandmates greeted the set with a well-trained nonchalance only seasoned musicians can muster. Choate’s presence on the guitar more than a few times commanded a “we’re-not-worthy” bow or two, as did keyboardist Pate’s unassuming piano prowess that snuck seamlessly into bridges and breaks. Towards the end of the set, with only a few songs left to play, crowd members finally gave in to their bottled urges to boogie down, and jumped from their silver seats and met the band with timid hip sways and finger snaps. What Wade and No Civilians represented live is near identical to their album version of Tomorrow’s Ghosts. Overall, the album is full of meaty dance-worthy jam band dishes, with sides of creamy trumpet and sax combos, anchored by bread and butter drumming and sweet as pie jazz piano pleasantries. “Open Ocean” is an album favorite, with a jazzy, sauntering backbone with the flesh of a dirty saxophone tremble. “Save Her” is another gem, with a rootsy Southern jive and luscious lyrics about the careless girl’s cautionary tale. Wade’s slower, acoustic numbers are equally emotionally charged. “Changes” is a ballad with an R&B tempo and soul-driven vocals. Wade’s just-breathy-enough singing stair steps over notes similar to that of another darling Fort Worthian, Josh Weathers. Both have the same white-guys-can-sing-soul vocal talent, and they even carry similar playing styles and mannerisms with their acoustic guitars. Good thing both frontmen can hold their own and then some. In general Tomorrow’s Ghosts is an excellent beginning for this new music project. The songs are cohesive and light, with a nice diverse range of genres, that blend together in a mix of wailing guitar licks, swinging horns, jazz piano renderings, and a voice full of personal plight to carry them.
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