By Mario Raspanti

Singer song-writer Luka Bloom returned to Milwaukee for the first time since performing at Irish Fest 2004, for an evening concert at the Irish Cultural and Heritage Center (ICHC) on Tax Day, April 15. For those who were first introduced to him at the festival, this particular show promised a good night. Fans had a lot to look forward to, and hearing Bloom’s voice fill the Hallamor, the main concert hall at the ICHC, was at the top of the list.

Bloom was perfectly at home milling around a kitchen at the ICHC a few hours before he was scheduled to perform. Putting on a kettle of water for tea, he gladly chatted with a fellow who, like himself, was also from Co. Kildare.

"I don’t operate according to a master plan. I like being free. I like being able to go where I want to go," he said later, sitting comfortably in a small room at the ICHC.

It is this propensity for exploration that has kept him busy the past two years, during which time he has put out two albums and performed around Europe and Australia. Despite a case of nodules, an irregular growth of thyroid tissue in his throat, and tendonitis in his right hand, he has managed to remain as active and productive as ever. If anything the two ailments forced him to change and explore his music more, something that has come to characterize his playing, perhaps more than anything else.

In the past, he has called billed an Irish folk singer, although his songwriting and singing don’t belie that distinction. He embraces music of all kinds and forms. He has covered songs by Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, and LL Cool J.

"What is an Irish band or singer?" he asked. "I try and avoid the categorization thing. The music business uses categorization to put people in boxes. And I don’t like being put in boxes. I’m just interested in song writing."

For his part, Bloom feels that his music is evolving all the time, although he doesn’t attach much significance to that fact. He explained that finding a groove and staying with it would be boring. Rather, it is his job to change.

One of the two albums he put out within the last two years, a collection of lullabies entitled Before Sleep Comes, he wrote while struggling with nodules. All of the touring and traveling had worn him down. As a result, he didn’t play music for nearly six months and was limited to singing softly. Instead of performing like he normally would have, he took a "time out to observe the world," something he said everyone should do now and then.

"It was basically all I could play. It was very gentle, soft, soothing music," he recalled.

Thankfully, the past two years have been less fraught with travel. He has surely toured and performed. Fortunately, in the process, he finally realized how important rest is for the body and the voice.

"The thing I learned from that, is that if you’re wrecking your body and your voice you should take a break," he said.

The other album, Innocence, released a year ago in Ireland, Europe and Australia, was not composed when his throat bothered him. Bloom played the arrangements for a couple of record companies in the United States earlier this year; they liked it; and released it in the U.S. a couple weeks ago. With that in mind, he felt this was the CD with which to do a good, solid tour. Subsequently, his round of shows, which began April 5 in Vienna, Va., represents his first major tour in 10 years. Between April 5 and May 17 he will perform for 24 different crowds across the Lower 48, including the one in Milwaukee.

According to Bloom, "This album is different for one simple reason. A very simple thing, I built a home in the country a few years ago and I live there now. For the first time, the songs are recorded where they were written. Sometimes recording in a studio can be very sterile, but that didn’t happen this time."

Earlier in the evening, Bloom mentioned that he was enjoying this time around, since he hadn’t undertaken such a long tour in a while. He lived in the States for more than 15 years, which he described as a very challenging place to work, before moving back to Ireland in 2002.

Local Celtic musician Jeff Ward laid the opening notes for the evening with a 45-minute set of his own, songs many in the audience happily knew. However, few in the audience knew that there would be a second opening act. On this night, it was Sabrina Dinan, a young Scottish musician who had been touring with Bloom since February. In more recent years, he has made an effort to take along younger, aspiring musicians with him on the road.

While some may have been a little put off that they had to wait longer to see Bloom, Dinan quickly won over the crowd with her captivating command of the guitar. She only added to a great evening of music, leaving the stage to a rousing applause.

Bloom then happily took the spotlight to greet the eager crowd. With four amplifiers in front of him, his welcoming voice filled every corner of the ICHC, a former church. He played several tunes from Innocence, including "City of Chicago," a tune about Irish emigration. When it looked as though the evening was about to end, he obliged a wealthy smattering of applause with two encores. He sang the second minus his guitar and microphone, at the edge of the stage. Even without any amplification or microphone, he still projected his voice comfortably.

Bloom left a jubilant crowd behind at the ICHC, heading for shows on the West coast, before aiming for Arizona, Colorado, and Texas.
 

Mario Raspanti can be reached at mariojr2@uwm.edu.