This is an Australian track.
This is a local artist.
http://www.lukeescombe.com/home.cfm
Meet Luke Escombe - musician, comedian, MC, pimp, chronic illness ambassador and "Sydney's sexiest man voice". He spent years trying to be a polite, family-friendly acoustic artiste. The charade nearly killed him. Literally. Now he is fighting back armed only with a guitar, a loop pedal, some cheap electro gadgets, a recording studio, a few film-makers, a bunch of award-winning jazz musicians and a string section
Luke introduced himself as a distinctive voice on the Australian music scene with his 2008 debut "Golden Ages", a warm, folk-tinged album recorded in the hills of Byron Bay. One of its songs, The Blame Game, was used as part of Worldvision’s Stir the World campaign, while another two were featured on the Homegrown Roots compilation series alongside new songs from the likes of John Butler and Paul Kelly.
After playing the main stage of the Peats Ridge Festival and a succession of Sydney residencies and East Coast tours, Luke spent most of 2009 at home on the couch recovering from serious illness. He returned to the scene with a fresh attitude and 2 innovative live EPs in 2010 – “Chronic Illness” and “Live in the Studio”, showcasing a new style of music that mixed funky, literate pop and flippant hip-hop into something called “Flip flop”
In April 2011, he unveiled his “flip flop” musical comedy show “Chronic” at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, drawing comparisons to Nick Cave, Tim Minchin and Flight of the Conchords. The Melbourne Herald Sun described him as “a stick insect dressed like a pimp”, praised his “stellar musicianship” and declared him “on the fast track to musical comedy’s big leagues” Following its success, he was awarded a grant from Arts NSW to take “Chronic” to the Edinburgh Fringe, where it packed out its room and bagged a 4-star review.
Earlier in the year, on a rain-soaked rock and roll tour of QLD Luke went into the studio with his 4-piece backing band "The Corporation" to record “Drop tha Bomb”, a hard-rocking comedy song about airport security procedures. The single was released in July and became an instant hit on community radio stations across the country, spending 5 weeks in the top ten of the AIRIT charts. The outrageous music video, in which Luke played three different characters, including a deviant airport security guard named “Mario”, continues to rack up hits on youtube.
Luke returned from Edinburgh to perform sold out shows in Melbourne and Sydney, where his comedy began to attract attention for its candid discussion of a chronic health condition called Crohn's disease. One of his performances at the Sydney Fringe was filmed by the ABC’s “Tonic” program, and a few weeks later he was flown down to Canberra to deliver a moving speech about the experiences that inspired “Chronic” to a room full of politicians. He ended the year with standing ovations at the Peats Ridge Festival and the title of “Sydney’s sexiest man voice”, as voted for by the listeners of Sydney’s Mix 106.5FM. “Chronic” was nominated for a Green Room Award in 2012
July 6th 2012 saw the release of "Mantown" - Luke's second album, released through his own “Dri-Clean Only” label. Featuring singles "Drop tha Bomb" and "iMan", two songs from the "Chronic" repertoire, the record also paid tribute to Luke's blues and roots influences, from Hendrix and The Stones to John Lee Hooker and Reverend Gary Davis. The launch of "Mantown" was accompanied by an 11-date national tour by Luke Escombe and the Corporation and a spectacular music video for "iMan", starring Luke as a homicidal iphone obsessed with his sexy owner (played by Aussie model Annette Melton), which racked up over 20 000 views in its first week on Youtube. Two months after release, "Mantown" was sitting at number 2 on the Australian Blues and Roots charts and has already been earmarked as one of the best releases by a local artist of 2012, with John Shand of the Sydney Morning Herald comparing Luke's "commanding voice" to the likes of Dr John, Bruce Springsteen, Nick Cave and Jim Morrison. The album is now receiving airplay in the US and UK.
Following the ABC’S broadcast of the segment on “Chronic” in early 2012, Luke was made an official ambassador for Crohn's and Colitis Australia. He has performed at a number of high profile health industry events this year, including the National medicines Symposium and a recent awareness-raising evening at Parliament House, where he dropped his animated music video "Master Key" - a gangsta rap tune about public toilet access - to some of the nation's top politicians. For this year's Sydney Fringe he joined forces with award-winning guitarist (and bandmate) Aaron Flower to present an expanded version of the show, featuring an 8-piece band with a string section, entitled "Chronic Symphonic". The ambitious show was an unbridled success, packing out its venue and receiving a 4 and a half star review in the Sydney Morning Herald. A DVD is scheduled for release early next year.
Colours of Byron with Des Bellamy
