Recorded Live at De Roma, Antwerp November 16th 2019

Sometimes life in the land of song is a never-ending struggle.
searching for the chord, the word, the trigger.
Then the studio, the voice, the music, the timing, the pulse.
Then the tour. The when and the where and the who with…….

And sometimes the universe lands a gift in your lap, and it feels dreamlike.
So it was on the morning of November 17, 2019.
The night before, I had had a very magical songfest in De Roma, Antwerp.
De Roma was opened in 1928 as a cinema with 2,000 seats, the largest in Antwerp.
It closed for a while at the end of the century, but for over 10 years it has been holding lots of concerts and cultural events, thanks to a small army of devoted volunteers.
I have played there many times, and absolutely love it.

So, on November 16th 2019, I ended my troubadour year with a concert in De Roma.
My friends and colleagues Bert, Johan and Hanne never told me that they decided to record the concert.
And that evening, Lieve Boussauw brought her cameras to the concert, and took 100 photos.
She is the best.
So I woke on the morning of the 17th November, and realised that a live concert had landed on my lap.
A complete surprise.
The only effort involved was the joy of the concert itself; the sharing of songs with this amazing gathering of Belgian friends in this wonderful theatre of dreams.
Thank you Bert Van Roy who engineered the concert and mixed it.
Thank you Johan Van Leys and Hanne T. Fisker who toured with me in The Lowlands.
Thank you Greenhouse Talent for inviting me to sing in the Lowlands.
Thank you Brian Masterson for mastering the record.
Thank you Myriam Riand for designing this lovely cover.
Thank you all the volunteers of De Roma for keeping this love alive.
And thank you to the people of Antwerp and all over Belgium for allowing me to do this thing I do for 30 years in your country.
For me this record is about the room, and the people who keep it open for the songs.

I will launch this record in Kenny’s Lahinch, County Clare on March 19th.
A week later on March 27, I will launch it in London at Nell’s Jazz and Blues in Hammersmith.
Then all through April to May 4th, we will sing the songs around Holland and Belgium.

– Luka