Today we’d like to introduce you to Luke Woltanski.
Hi Luke, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I grew up in Michigan: I spent my school years in Plainwell and I spent my summers around Traverse City. When I was a toddler my mother couldn’t get me to sleep unless it was while listening to Bruce Springsteen, Bruce Hornsby or Bob Seger (it’s funny that they were all ‘B’ names). From the days of my first steps and words I was obsessed with musicians and great performers and I wanted to be like them. My parents put me into classical vocal training in elementary school and I spent a lot of time in choirs and ensembles.
When I was around the age of 10 I had decided that I wanted to be a doctor, but that I also wanted to be a rock star. My parents were really supportive of this and got me an acoustic Yamaha F325. It took some time, but eventually I figured out how to teach myself to play the guitar. I also had many musical mentors throughout my schooling that really pushed me to learn the music of artists like Gordon Lightfoot, Don McLean, and Carol King. I always remember Jane Pearson, Keith Cahoon and Fred Sang especially.
While I was learning the guitar, I kept feeling rather naked. I had watched many artists playing the guitar while singing or playing the harmonica, and I felt like I needed to be like them. During this time, a fortuitous estate sale in Glen Arbor brought me to buy a chromatic harmonica, and after a quick guitar center purchase of a harmonica brace I started to teach myself to play the harmonica alongside my continuing studies of the guitar. During this time I got a lot of influence from artists like Gordon Lightfoot, Bob Dillon, and Bruce Springsteen.
Right around my time in Middle-School and my freshman year of High School I started writing my first songs. The one I still play is a tune called “Summertime Minstrel” but there were several other tunes at this time that came about like “Ireland” and ” New Horizon” that were not good at all, haha! But, they were my first steps into songwriting, and I felt an urge to find new ways to express the songs that I wanted to write. I took up the mountain dulcimer, and Native American Flute, and started to get piano lessons from a teacher in town. Mrs. Huggenheid was so patient with me, but after about 6 months we decided it would be best for me to learn piano on my own. Mrs. H was an avid classical pianist, but it was clear that my brain was built more for a jazz and folk style of piano, and after giving me some resources to learn on my own she cut me loose.
Throughout Highschool and College I studied molecular biology, but on weekends and with any free time I had I would write songs, learn songs from whatever artist I was listening to at the time and I would play out in local bars and art galleries. I went to college at Hillsdale College and graduated in 202o with my degree in Molecular Biology, but my free time was always spent with the jazz faculty at the College and out and about in Ann Arbor, Detroit and Traverse City playing music whenever I could. When the time came to graduate in 2020, I decided to turn down several research jobs in order to pursue my music full time.
For 2 years between 2020 and 2022 I lived part time between Traverse City, MI and Atlanta, GA. I played around 100 shows a year during that time, cutting my teeth in the winery scenes of Northern Michigan, and in the folk and jazz lounges of central and northern Georgia. Eventually I decided to move permanently to Traverse City, and from here I have been living ever since.
Since 2022 I have been playing at least 250 shows a year across the state of Michigan, and during the fall and winter across the United States. I have been lucky enough to expand my shows from a solo show to a full assortment of solo, duo, trio and full band shows with many of the people I have met while living this musician life. With every show and on the travels of every tour I get to hear stories of people who grew up in Michigan and I get to make stories of my own on the road and write songs about them. It’s the best life I could possibly ask for:)
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I feel like as long as we’re pursuing something we love, the obstacles along the way are never too burdensome.
That being said, it’s never easy deciding to live a life as an artist! From a young age I dealt with the questions of whether I was ever good enough to be a musical artist as a life. My parents were always supportive, but always followed their support with “you’d better make sure to have a real job.” Those words and my own personal pressure on me to be “successful” have always and will always be a personal hurdle to manage.
When I was in my junior year of Highschool I developed a condition called Essential Tremor. It means that in my left hand especially, but slightly in my right hand as well, I shake uncontrollably at most positions. For a musician this can make things rather complicated when playing in front of an audience, or indeed playing in general! For the most part music is a great healer of the mind with things like this, but is has made playing to a set tempo and playing consistently rather difficult. I’ve had to develop ways of breathing and moving my hands that mitigate this tremor over the years (if you watch me play the piano, or even do something like tie my shoe you can note how weird the movements I make with my hands are).
I have had a lifelong battle with depression. I’m lucky to have a wonderful support group of friends that I have built over the years to help with this fight, but for years I thought I was simply too tired all the time to really work. In some ways though, I feel like this obstacle has been more of a help to me than a hinderance (knock on wood). I have over-compensated for my general state of malaise to constantly push myself to always work harder than I think I can – to strive for something more than I think I’m capable of. It’s been a cross to bear, and I’ve had exceptionally dark times because of it, but it’s also taught me to push me beyond what I always think I’m capable of.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a full-time singer/musician and songwriter. I’m especially known for what I’ve called my “Northern Michigana” style of music. I write and play songs reminiscent of the musicality of artists like Gordon Lightfoot and Steely Dan, with lyrics all about growing up and living in Northern Michigan and on the road.
The work I’m most proud of is being able to know each of the people I get to play to at my shows. I make an effort to meet everyone who comes to hear me play live and to hear about their lives and triumphs and struggles. In a way, my audience is my adopted family and I’m so endlessly proud of all that they do and I love them!
There are un-countable folk and jazzy-rock musicians and artists out there, but I think the one thing that sets me apart from all of the rest is just that I am Luke. I have a memory of all of the different chord types that bands like Steely Dan and The Doobie Brothers use in popular rock fusion, but I’ll also gladly give my my recipe for pickled beets and show you the pictures from when my band mates and I went on a Michigan mushroom foraging expedition last week. With my show you hear folk, americana, rock, jazz and I’ll be extra excited about your recent vacation and it all makes sense together! I don’t know how it does, but there’s something about this connected form of artistry that makes it all work.
What matters most to you? Why?
For me, first and foremost is my relationship with God. I get to see God in my audience, in every person I get to meet and in the music of every song I get to play. I can’t go anywhere without seeing Him, and because of that I’m always looking to see where I can find Him next.
The next most important for me is the family that I get to build in my artistry. I can make some wonderful songs and play some great music, but without people to share it with it means nothing. The other artists I get to work with to write and play the music I make, and the people I get to play it for are the reason I get up every morning.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.lukewoltanski.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lukewoltanskimusic
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lukewoltanskimusic
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@LukeWoltanskiMusic
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/lukewoltanskimusic
