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REACTION
"This is the first album since 2017’s Walk in the Dark from Canadian singer/songwriter Rob Lutes...finds him writing insightfully and movingly about subjects ranging from the emotional challenges of domestic life to the beauty of nature. Lutes’s intimate, bluesy vocals are a treat as is the backup by his co-producer and longtime collaborator Rob MacDonald (guitars, dobro, mandolin), a bassist, a percussionist, a keyboardist, and a couple of singers."
Jeff Burger, Americana Highways
"An album of great, great quality."
Sylvain Menard, 98.5 FM
"an organic/back porch set that's just going to blow your mind. A big badass surprise to anyone that hasn't come across him yet, this is the kind of stuff that made you a music fan in the first place. On the money throughout."
Midwest Record
"Rob Lutes is a top artist. Come Around never gets boring, simply because of the beautiful songs. Class from head to toe, not only compositionally but also the performances..."
Johnny's Garden
"It's thoughtful stuff, personal but egoless, life-affirming and above all, full of satisfying songcraft."
Bob Mersereau, Canada's Top100 Blog
"Not only are the lyrics much more than a few events that have been put together, the music also demands repetition. Come Around repeatedly asks for the repeat button, on replay of songs.Rob Lutes has made an intimate record with great stories. Come Around is a release that will be close to the player for the time being, to discover new details time and time again."
Real Roots Cafe
"As always, the complicity between the acoustic guitars of Rob Lutes and the electric guitars but also the dobros and mandolins of Rob MacDonald is a pure marvel. To consume without moderation!"
Zicazic
"One of Montreal's best songwriters is at it again!"
Rick Keene Music Scene
"Canada will never cease to find the nation that gives birth to musicians who are both original and elegant in rock. A work for autumnal and unstable climates, to give meaning to life in current schizoid times, with songs that reflect by detaching themselves from the rest and elaborating on their own self."
Roots Highway
"Rob Lutes is a born storyteller... beautiful voice and very good guitar work."
Concert Monkey
EARLY MEDIA:
CBC-All in a Weekend - May 2, 2021 (radio interview)
Rob Lutes - Journey into the Unknown - Q&A with Blues.gr
Le Québec maintenant / Thérèse Parisien - 98.5 FM Montreal
CKRL Quebec - Denys Lelièvre (interview)
Atlantic Axess with Terry Parker (interview)
Rick Keene Music Scene (interview)
La vitrine à Sylvain - 98.5 FM
Bob Mersereau's Top 100 Canadian Blog (review)
Album of the Week at Blues and Roots Radio
#8 on North American Folk Chart - Week of May 2, 2021
#3 Roots Music Report Canada (chart)
Real Roots Cafe (Dutch) (review)
Music on the Couch with Vinny Marini (interview)
Rob Lutes - COME AROUND (2021)
Recorded in Fall 2020, Come Around is the follow up to Walk in the Dark (2017) for which Lutes won the Canadian Folk Music Award as Contemporary Singer of the Year. Co-produced with his longtime collaborator Rob MacDonald, Come Around features 11 original songs and a superb cover of the blues classic "In My Time of Dyin'".Featuring Lutes' unmistakable voice and unique guitar technique, Come Around offers a fresh blend of blues, Americana, folk and pop that carves a way through the current state of human dislocation with wisdom and humor.
On "Knives" he views the extremes of love and loss against the realities of domestic life; in “Lightning,” painful flashes of recognition ultimately provide a vision of hope. Magnificent and touching, "That Bird Has My Wings" was inspired by the book of the same title by Buddhist author and death-row inmate Jarvis Jay Masters. In it, hope for freedom is found in the imagination and the natural world. And on "Work of Art", the unlived life is recast as a thing of beauty. Always an excellent storyteller, Lutes also writes movingly of places in his life, evoking the joys of youth and the comfort of memory in “Shediac Bridge”, “Fisherman's Rest” and “Amsterdam”.
Mixed by renowned engineer Rob Heaney (Patrick Watson, Emilie-Claire Barlow), Come Around features some of the finest Folk/Roots musicians on the Canadian scene, including versatile guitarist Rob MacDonald, keyboardist Bob Stagg, bassist Solon McDade, drummer Mario Telaro, and gorgeous backing vocals from acclaimed singer-songwriter Annabelle Chvostek and renowned Montreal artist Kim Richardson.
Recorded at six different studios due to COVID-19 restrictions, Come Around represents Rob Lutes' vision for a sort of freedom that can come through struggles large and small. “We had to make adjustments in the way we did this album. We couldn't be together,” Lutes said. “But from across the country, we found a synergy through these songs. It is as if we are in the room."