Biography
Chris Luedecke, a Nova Scotia native, performs under the stage name Old Man Luedecke as an award-winning Canadian singer, songwriter, and banjo player. Recognized among the nation’s most distinctive and celebrated roots-music figures, he captured his initial Juno Award in 2009 when Proof of Love earned traditional folk album of the year. Subsequent releases continued the recognition: the 2010 set My Hands are on Fire and Other Love Songs and Easy Money (2019) both received honors, with the earlier title also securing a Juno.
Although born in Toronto, Luedecke cultivated his itinerant troubadour identity after settling in the Yukon, the country’s smallest and westernmost province. He first displayed his accomplished banjo technique and dry narrative style on the 2003 album Mole in the Ground, supporting the project with extensive touring throughout Canada and overseas. Following a move to the rural south shore of Nova Scotia, he signed with Black Hen Music and released his second album, Hinterland.
Departing from the austere arrangements of prior recordings, Luedecke assembled a complete band for Proof of Love in 2008; the album drew parallels to the work of John Prine and John Hartford and collected its Juno the next year. My Hands are on Fire and Other Love Songs, another Juno recipient, likewise employed a full ensemble and included a guest vocal from bluegrass great Tim O’Brien along with a tribute to Canadian folk music legend Willie P. Bennett. For his fifth studio album, Tender Is the Night, issued by True North, Luedecke traveled to Music City, where Tim O’Brien served as producer and Nashville’s premier session musicians contributed.
In 2014 he collaborated with renowned Halifax singer/songwriter Joel Plaskett on the three-song EP I Never Sang Before I Met You. The following year he issued his sixth long-player, Domestic Eccentric, tracked inside the backwoods cabin he had constructed himself, once more with O’Brien producing. Easy Money, released in 2019, was tracked in Montreal under the guidance of producer Howard Bilerman. Written and captured during a residency at the Banff Centre’s songwriter program, the album featured appearances by O’Brien, Afie Jurvanen of Bahamas, and Fats Kaplin.
Although born in Toronto, Luedecke cultivated his itinerant troubadour identity after settling in the Yukon, the country’s smallest and westernmost province. He first displayed his accomplished banjo technique and dry narrative style on the 2003 album Mole in the Ground, supporting the project with extensive touring throughout Canada and overseas. Following a move to the rural south shore of Nova Scotia, he signed with Black Hen Music and released his second album, Hinterland.
Departing from the austere arrangements of prior recordings, Luedecke assembled a complete band for Proof of Love in 2008; the album drew parallels to the work of John Prine and John Hartford and collected its Juno the next year. My Hands are on Fire and Other Love Songs, another Juno recipient, likewise employed a full ensemble and included a guest vocal from bluegrass great Tim O’Brien along with a tribute to Canadian folk music legend Willie P. Bennett. For his fifth studio album, Tender Is the Night, issued by True North, Luedecke traveled to Music City, where Tim O’Brien served as producer and Nashville’s premier session musicians contributed.
In 2014 he collaborated with renowned Halifax singer/songwriter Joel Plaskett on the three-song EP I Never Sang Before I Met You. The following year he issued his sixth long-player, Domestic Eccentric, tracked inside the backwoods cabin he had constructed himself, once more with O’Brien producing. Easy Money, released in 2019, was tracked in Montreal under the guidance of producer Howard Bilerman. Written and captured during a residency at the Banff Centre’s songwriter program, the album featured appearances by O’Brien, Afie Jurvanen of Bahamas, and Fats Kaplin.
Albums
Easy Money
2019
Dad Jokes
2019
Domestic Eccentric
2015
Tender Is The Night
2012
Sing All About It
2011
My Hands Are On Fire and other Love Songs
2010
Proof of Love
2008
Hinterland
2006
Singles
Easy Money
2019
Brightest On The Heart / Far and Wide
2014
I Never Sang Before I Met You
2014
Selections From Tender Is The Night
2012
Live
