“If you’re a good creature, good creatures will come.”
The collaboration that is the band LUTHI.
photo by Alex Justice
At MOXI our core value is collaboration. The power we’ve seen through community-minded creativity never ceases to inspire, and there may not be a more productive example of such then found in the band LUTHI.
Having known members of the band and their team for years - it is our distinct pleasure to highlight LUTHI’s growing success by way of their commitment to community, relationship, and longevity.
The phrase “good things take time” is collectively true for the Nashville-based band who performs as a seven-piece assemble. For the past decade, frontman Christian Luthi, bass player Taylor Ivey and keys player Luke Iverson have been making records together.
Along the way, the collective entity of LUTHI has developed with what feels like a cosmic aligning.
Christian first discovered Amber Woodhouse’s vocal power and saxophone talent at a local gig, and from there the band fell into place adding Johnny Williamson on guitar, Carl Gatti on bass, and Ivan Garcia on drums.
As LUTHI began to cultivate a vibrant community of like-minded friends and collaborators, the band’s management, Jordan Anderson and Dawson Morris, came into play in a similarly organic way.
Making a point to emphasize their view on the importance of genuine connections within the team, they spread their vision by word-of-mouth. As they prioritized meaningful relationships amongst everyone involved - photographers, designers, fans, and audience members alike, the live show became increasingly intimate while also fiercely energetic - more reminiscent of a party among friends than a concert among strangers.
“If you’re a good creature, good creatures will come,” says Christian Luthi. “It’s not just the about the music. Good people will come along for the journey with you, and then you have a chance to cultivate community together.”
As their family in Nashville continues to grow, the band has regularly toured the Southeast and recently landed coveted spots at festivals such as SXSW, Electric Forest and Hangout Fest.
LUTHI’s recorded music serves as the perfect compliment to the energy and zest that they bring to their live show. With the band having released their debut album Stranger in 2018 audiences can feel the collaborative approach from the stage seamlessly translated into these recordings.
The band most recently released a live video for “Analog” off Stranger in partnership with OurVinyl Sessions showcasing this glimmering style.
Informed by the various musical backgrounds of its members - incorporating southern rock, jam band, jazz, R&B, and performance elements from Christian’s musical theater background - everyone maintains his or her own musical perspective while bringing those elements together to create a unified sound.
“It’s been this insane mix, it’s a melting pot as cliché as that sounds,” says Christian. “Amber brings jazz and soul to the table and she is classically trained. The rhythm guys bring that 60s and 70s low-key funk and rock scene and more worldly rhythms. Carl brings his extensive knowledge of all things dance and disco. When you put that many people in the same room creating music together, it just comes to form its own body. Sometimes I sit back and just think ‘WOW.’”
LUTHI’s commitment to authenticity and human connection over years of steady cultivation has built an undeniably solid foundation for their future - one that seems increasingly rare in today’s music landscape.
Keeping a family together takes a lot of work and sacrifice, but ‘better together’ could not be more true than in the form of LUTHI. With a deeply layered support system LUTHI’s future success feels increasingly well-insured.
LUTHI takes the party to SXSW next week where they will perform a half dozen showcases at the festival. Be sure to check them out if you find yourself in Austin. Full schedule below.
Follow @luthimusic