Rob Lutes w/ Jo Serrapere and John Devine

Rob Lutes is a soulful singer-songwriter from Montreal with an ever-growing collection of literate, moving meditations on life and love.

His ability to encapsulate universal ideas and questions, even the subtle ones, coupled with his gritty, heartfelt delivery and world-class performance chops, have invited comparisons with several legends in the roots genre from John Hiatt to Fred Eaglesmith.

“He will soon be counted amongst the ranks of the best in the industry, a rare talent that keeps getting better with each project released” says Hello Darlin’ Productions promoter Matt Large.

Greg Quill of the Toronto Star deemed Lutes' third CD, the 2007 studio effort Ride the Shadows “a brilliantly understated gem distinguished by a warm and raspy voice, honest and eloquent lyrics, and evocative acoustic guitar work…among the best of the year's roots/blues crop.” The Ottawa Citizen named the CD “one of the Top Ten in Canada for 2007”.

Following on the success of that work, which garnered a licensing deal from Rounder Europe and a saw him tour internationally, the former Kerrville New Folk songwriting winner went into the studio in September 2008 to record his much-awaited fourth CD with noted Boston-area producer David Goodrich (Chris Smither, Peter Mulvey, Jeffrey Foucault). The result, the just-released CD Truth & Fiction, is his most confident work to date.

Widely known for his inspiring and impassioned live performances. Rob Lutes's live shows always feature extraordinary playing, some improvisational magic and Lutes's intense, soulful vocals.

Jo Serrapere, a songwriter from the Detroit area, started playing guitar at 23 when seeking out lessons from Delta Blues guitarist, Shari Kane. Shortly thereafter, Jo began writing her own songs while completing her college studies in clinical psychology. She is currently on tour, performing at music venues throughout the United States.
Whether recreating old songs from the Mississippi Delta or performing songs in her own confessional style, Jo's music stands original while always reflecting her love of American roots music. Her eclectic writing and performance fuses elements of various modern and traditional folk music, old-time and electric blues styles, roots rock, garage surf, swing, hot jazz and alt-country. Jo's band, the Willie Dunns (John Devine, Jef Reynolds and Stuart Tucker) brings added depth and musical styling to Jo's original songs as well as classics from such artists as Mississippi John Hurt, Bessie Smith and Tom Waits.

Last fall she released a brand new CD called "Love Going South," which is getting airplay from roots DJ's across the United States.