Staff Report
Darke County Center for the Arts (DCCA) recently brought Luke McMaster and his ‘Icons of Soul’ to Memorial Hall for a concert series performance. The group also visited each of the schools in Darke County for the ‘Arts-in-Education’ program, also sponsored by DCCA.
The Memorial Hall evening included audience participation in singing, toe-tapping, finger snapping, clapping and whistling to some of McMaster’s favorite tunes. The evening also featured video clips of McMaster’s work with outstanding songwriters Felix Cavaliere and Lamont Dozier – famous for their contributions to The Supremes, The Four Tops, Marvin Gaye and more. McMaster co-wrote two songs apiece with those composers at their respective Nashville and Las Vegas homes, capturing the occasions which were shared with the Greenville audience through short video clips.
McMaster related a story about Lamont telling him this great story about his inspiration for ‘I Can’t Help Myself,’ It turns out his grandmother owned a beauty shop and his grandfather would be hitting on all the ladies, saying things like, ‘Hello, Sugar Pie;’ ‘How you doin’, Honey Bunch?’ When Brian and Eddie Holland asked him for some ideas for the song, he remembered his grandfather’s flirting and the rest is history.
McMaster is not only a performer, but a also a songwriter – placing songs on multi-platinum and gold albums by Rihanna, Nick Lachey, Nick Carter and Kalan Porter (7 million sales and counting),
McMaster himself says he wants to continue writing new music with more icons down the road, a work that will cast an eye to yesterday while focusing on the sounds of tomorrow. ‘This is what I love to do,” notes Luke McMaster. “And since I’m a constant student, I’m applying these lessons that you can’t learn from a book towards perfecting my own skills as a writer. “This is something uniquely special that I want to take to another level for those that love R&B, soul and Motown music – and give them an experience that they will never forget.”
McMaster is a native of Canada and tours the world with the Icons of Soul, whose performances included songs made popular by other soul artists as well as McMaster’s hit, “Good Morning Beautiful”, which he recorded with pianist Jim Brickman. The group brought winning talent and wonderful sounds to Greenville. For the above and more information on Luke McMaster and the Icons of Soul, visit: https://lukemcmaster.com
During intermission, the audience was encouraged to view the artistic works of Erik Burton and Barbara Martin on display in the Anna Bier Gallery.
DCCA is a local organization promoting arts availability for the community. An annual program of concerts, coffee house and arts in education is provided along with exhibits at the Anna Bier Gallery. For more information, visit: https://www.darkecountyarts.org