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ROBERT LUCAS

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Bluesman Robert Lucas has performed and produced widely for over two decades as a recognized blues phenomenon. He started playing harmonica at age thirteen and slide guitar at sixteen. In 1980, he began taking guitar lessons from Bernie Pearl, but switched to harmonica as a member of Pearl's band playing behind the likes of Big Joe Turner, Etta James, George Smith, Pee Wee Crayton, Percy Mayfield, Eddie Cleanhead Vinson, and Lowell Fulson. Having backed the best, Robert started his own band Luke & The Locomotives, winning grand prize at the 1986 Long Beach Blues Festival talent search. By 1989, Robert's songwriting, voice, harmonica and slide guitar lead to a pair of Mississippi Delta style acoustic albums, first his self produced "Across The River" and then the debut release from AudioQuest Music, "Usin' Man Blues."

Lucas soon landed a nomination and performance at the Handy Awards in Memphis and featured billing at the 1992 Belgium Rhythm & Blues Festival, one of the largest in Europe. Robert also shared the CBA's Muddy Award for Performance of the Year with Snooky Pryor. Continuing to record critically acclaimed Chicago style electric blues and combination acoustic albums with Joe Harley and AudioQuest was a dream come true for a devoted purist such as Lucas, leading to many prestigious performances such as:

Belgium Blues Festival, Big Time Blues Festival, Blues 2000 Festival Great Gorge, Djurs Bluesland, Doheny Blues Festival, Dublin Blues Fest, Dundee Jazz & Blues Fest, Eureka Blues Festival, Gaildorfer Bluesfest, Great British R & B Festival, Havelbaude Open Air Festival, Berlin, Kerrville Folk Festival, Long Beach Blues Festival, Lubeck Open Air Fest, Mississippi Crossroads, The Montreux Jazz Festival, North Dakota Rockin' The Hills Festival, Osoppe Festival, Sweden Rock Fest, Topanga Canyon Blues Fest, Waterfront Blues Festival, The WC Handy Awards, Wisconsin Apple River Blues Festival…. and many more.

Robert Lucas currently has a total of seven albums, four of them recorded at the stellar Ocean Way Studios. His all electric "Luke & The Locomotives" was so impressive both sonically and musically, JVC decided to press their own high end XRCD version. All of the AudioQuest titles were originally released worldwide on regular CD, many are still available on vinyl.

Lucas joined renowned boogie rockers Canned Heat in 1995, fronting the band on lead vocals, slide guitar and harmonica. The group toured 200 international dates per year, including headlining several huge European rock festivals. On one occasion, Robert was privileged to sit in with the original Muddy Waters band: Calvin Jones, Pinetop Perkins, Willie Smith and Hubert Sumlin.

In 1996, Robert co-produced "The Canned Heat Blues Band" album with band leader Fito de la Parra, featuring a number of Robert's songs, lead vocals, blues harp, and "fire and ice" slide guitar. During his five years with Canned Heat, Robert continued to play on his own including five nights solo at Hong Kong's famed Jazz Club And Bar during the handover to China in 1997.

Lucas' contribution to the Canned Heat legacy continues with the release of "Boogie 2000" which recently charted in the U.K., and led to a remake of the 70's hit "Let's Work Together" for a Target commercial, with Robert's baritone heard widely on national TV. Five years with Canned Heat proved a great experience for Luke. He then returned to the band after a stint on his own with Luke and the Locomotives (Barry Levenson, Jerry Luithle, Steve Kida) but he is now back to recording and touring with Canned Heat as well.