Words: Rafif Thoriq
Photo: L.A. Edwards

L.A. Edwards, the band distinguished for their laid-back Americana rock sound, has advanced from a humble family band into a critically acclaimed Americana rock talent.

Set to tour around Europe, we delve into a conversation with frontman Luke Edwards to explore the band’s evolution, his solo career, their latest album Pie Town, and the challenges and rewards of maintaining a successful music career as a band in the midst of solo artists topping the charts.

It’s intriguing that you have your family as your bandmates—despite what they say, keep things personal and professional separate. What significant impact does this arrangement have on your creative and professional abilities?

My two brothers, Jay and Jerry, play guitar. We’ve just always played music together. It’s just kind of a family affair. So, you know, I love it. It’s great to be able to play with your brothers and be on stage together and travel around. We’ve done it our whole life. I’ve grown accustomed to it.

Does that inspire you with your creative process in making music? Are they actively involved?

Yeah, but my older brother, Jay, and I always have written songs together. We wrote our first song together for our mom, so it’s wonderful to be able to play with my brothers and then also write together, especially with Jay. Yeah, it’s great. I suppose it inspires and makes writing easier because one of my brothers will have an idea for a guitar riff, lyrics, or something.

How did growing up close to church influence your sound and music?

We didn’t listen to much non-church music for the first part of our lives until we were teenagers, when we kind of discovered secular music to non-church music. This discovery had a significant impact on our lives. For a considerable period, we were primarily influenced by the hymnal church music. So it was a significant influence on our sound.

Knowing you come from Nashville, infamously known as the melting pot for many types of musicians, how does this journey affect you to becoming a musician yourself?

You know, Nashville’s okay. In my opinion, Nashville has lost its uniqueness. It’s almost as if Los Angeles has lost its uniqueness. It’s just kind of… whatever. So yeah, it’s all right.

I had to leave Nashville because it’s not really that cool anymore. So I went back to Seattle, you know, where Pearl Jam and Nirvana are from. Yeah, Nashville kind of stinks, honestly, but that’s just my opinion, man.

Would you say Nashville right now is overrated?

I would say it’s way overrated. Have you been there? It’s really not that great. I was compelled to depart from a series of bachelorette parties and songwriting that was mediocre, involving telecasters. Yeah, I had to get out of there.

Your top listeners on Spotify are majors in many foreign countries. Did you expect your music to appeal to non-Americans?

Hopefully, the music will find its way to its rightful home. Whether it’s here in Spain or wherever you are right now, we hope that the music will find its rightful home. The music we’re playing on the global stage is now basically available on the internet, and then anyone can listen to it instantly, which is amazing.

This implies that you can make new friends wherever you go, which is why we’re performing tonight in Madrid for our inaugural show. I believe it is truly remarkable that we were able to perform our inaugural show in Portugal the other night. The audience was ecstatic and familiar with all of the songs. I’m not sure why it’s related to foreign countries.

We haven’t toured in the United States for quite a while now. So it’s pretty much only been in Europe and the UK. So I don’t know if it’s by design or if it’s just we’re finding an audience abroad more, it seems.

Given that your music resembles Americana rock, I believe it stands out as a unique voice amidst the multitude of rock genres. It’s pretty rare to hear such unique voices in Asia. Could you elaborate on what makes American rock so unique?

I guess it’s just that storytelling is at the center of our sound. Our sound primarily revolves around storytelling, complemented by the brothers harmony, which serves as our secret sauce to success. It’s a combination of storytelling, big guitar, and the brothers harmony. This is our unique blend of Americana. In general, Americana is primarily about storytelling and songwriting, with the option to incorporate other elements. We’re kind of going a bit more towards 80s Heartland rock.

With our recent recordings, we sound more like Bruce Springsteen or even Billy Joel. But I guess that’s kind of what we do.

When soloists like Nashville guys with Telecasters top the charts, how do you keep up as a band?

Well, I guess we just don’t—we’re kind of our own little planet. We’re like Pluto. We no longer receive much recognition, like, you know, Pluto used to be a planet, but not anymore. We’re just kind of in the far, far reaches of outer space, and there’s some people who really love it and think that we should be a planet, but other people do not agree, okay, so I guess you know we just have to do our best at the end of the day.

We just try to do our best. We compose our song, and we then ascend to the stage and stomp our feet. And I guess that’s about it. 

Fast forward to your new album, Pie Town (2024), which is based in your hometown. What are the most memorable memories that you have from that place? 

Childhood is short. Now that I have children, I realize how short childhood is, which you don’t realize until you’re older. I suppose one of the recurring themes in the record is the fleeting nature of childhood. You are unaware of this fact when you are a child, as it appears to be an endless process. But you know, you’re 10 just like that, and now as I’m getting older, it’s like, “Whoa, there’s another year gone by,” and it just seems like time is getting shorter and shorter and it’s not.

Oh, you know what a wonderful memory is? We live approximately seven miles from our school, and one morning, my brother and I woke up early to skateboard the seven miles to school, despite the serious risk of a mountain lion’s attack. Fortunately, we survived.

Listening to Pie Town, the vibes that I get while listening through it are like driving through an empty lane on a road trip. Is this a vibe that you guys aim for when making this album?

Not really. That’s why a lot of people say it sounds like a kind of open road, road trip music. Although I appreciate the musical style of Jackson Brown or the Eagles, I believe it blends seamlessly into our sound. I wouldn’t say no, but yeah, it’s kind of a cinematic open road road trip kind of; it’s just kind of like a great American road trip.

How does it feel to have one of your songs featured on the TV show Yellowstone, and what steps are involved in that process?

The show attracts a large viewership. You know, millions of people watch the show, so they’ve heard the song, which is a big honor to be on the show. There’s a lot of excellent music on the show, and that’s how a lot of people are discovering music these days through TV shows and movies. 

Any advice for an up-and-coming young musician, especially one who pursues American rock or country genres?

Just focus on writing really powerful choruses. I think it’s best if you can write a powerful chorus, sing it semi-decently, and develop your own unique style of singing. Just focus on the chorus, man. Don’t bore us.

What are the things you wish someone told you when you first started being a musician?

The key is to truly enjoy the process. Play music for the right reasons, but most importantly, enjoy it. To begin with, you must love songwriting, singing, and both. I know it sounds cheesy, but I’ve been truly enjoying it, just like being able to play with my brothers and bandmates.

Given your existing interests, what other activities might you find enjoyable? Perhaps you are engaged in a sport such as football, surfing, or golf, and you derive pleasure from it. You understand how that feels, and you’re not striving to become a professional surfer or golfer; you simply love it. If this were the case with music, it would be similar to how many people play music and feel that it’s a timeless passion. I’m going to stop playing music. That’s crazy, right? Therefore, you should love it and enjoy it like other things.

We always rehearse prior to the tour, and it is an absolute blast to be playing with individuals of this caliber. And while we’re playing super loud, we’re playing to a couple thousand people at night. It’s an enjoyable experience, but my advice would be to simply love it and have fun. You can’t truly consider these other factors when determining why music is a career.