Cleo and beyond

My name is Holger Luth. I was about 15 years old, when I got my first guitar. Actually it belonged to an older friend, but the never played it, so he let me borrow it.

I had been taking piano lessons earlier, but I hated it. The most fun I had with the piano, was to create my own little tunes. i was no good at repetitive rehearsing.

It has been the same with my guitar playing. Many of my guitar playing friends, spent hours rehearsing technical stuff. I never had the patience for that, I just did what I thought sounded right. My mind was more directed towards songwriting, than towards being the guitar hero, though I did like to play neverending live solos, long enough to make the bass player make puking sounds and the drummer start throwing sticks at me...

I played in both small and larger bands with up to 8-9 people, with violins, flutes and lots of other instruments, but I think my best time in a band, was playing in a three piece. It was in the aftermath of Police, British New Wave, the Danish Punk scene, Danish songwriters like C.V. Jorgensen and many more. You had to invent a lot of new "big" chords, in order to create a bigger sound, being the only guitarist ( and lead singer).

Later I started listening a lot to bands like U2, The Cure, Pink Floyd, Kraftwerk and most of all Peter Gabriel. Peter is like my guiding star. I have had the luck of seeing him in concert a couple of times in the recent years and even if he has gained a few pounds and is called "Papa Bear" by his bass player, he can still sing better than anyone I know. His voice is directly wired to his heart, it's like every word has its' own set of wings and flies out of his mouth, carrying an important message. Wish I could get anywhere near that!

My musical taste has developed over the years and I try out a lot of different genres, out of curiosity and because I get inspired by other musicians, here on SC and by other friends in music.

I have 3 sons, that are all engaged in music somehow and they have also inspired me a lot. They have a totally different take on the term "Musician", than I have and I find it inspiring and I am amazed at the multifaceted way they can tackle the tasks of a songwriter, producer and musician.

I must admit, that my music sounds a little old fashioned compared to music of today, but what the heck.. I am from 1957, I grew up with Beatles, Stones, Kinks, The Who, Deep Purple, Uriah Heep, Jefferson Airplane, The Band, Bob Dylan.. need I say more?