Sources: Mavis Staples at Luck Reunion 2019

May 07, 2019 by Luck Reunion in Sources, Music, Events, Culture

“What comes from the heart, reaches the heart.” - Mavis Staples

With the help of our friends and longtime sponsor, Mountain Valley Spring Water, we were able to dedicate a day’s worth of music to the legendary Mavis Staples this year at Luck Reunion. Mavis headlined our Sources Stage, closing out the night after a stacked lineup of powerhouse acts. Each artist on the Sources Stage played one of Mavis’s own solo songs or a Staples Singers classic during their own set in honor of the iconic singer’s upcoming 80th birthday. Arguably the culmination of the entire day came at the end of Mavis’s set when Courtney Marie Andrews, Yola, Mountain Man, Sunny War, Angie McMahon, Nicole Atkins, Jade Jackson, Haley Heynderickx, and Brandy Zdan joined Mavis on stage to sing “The Weight”, capping off the evening with a moment of community, admiration, and unbridled joy. Join us in discovering what some of these acts had to say about Mavis’s influence in their careers and her own advice for the next generation. Watch above for more.

Barstool Stories: The Nude Party Live at Luck Mansion

November 09, 2018 by Ellee Fletcher in Barstool Stories, Music, Events

all photos by Brooke Hamilton

The Nude Party is no stranger to house shows. The gangly group has packed themselves onto the small makeshift stage at the Luck Mansion and motioned everyone closer and closer. The old window units of the historic house nestled into the Lockeland Springs neighborhood of East Nashville can’t compete with all the bodies crammed into each corner. It’s hot. Really, really hot. But somehow, the band is fed as the crowd grows larger and sweatier. They smoothly transition from one song to the next, continuously captivating and charging the audience with pure, relentless energy. No one is afraid to shout out as the intensity heightens; each song is peppered with primal whoops and smatterings of applause. If you close your eyes, it sounds like a bootleg record that you stole from your dad, the coolest one in his collection: effortless and raw.

Before the show, drummer and percussionist Connor Mikita and Austin Brose took a walk down to the corner store with us to grab a cold Lagunitas beer and discuss the inception of their first full length album and transformation from local college band to ones to watch.

“We started in basements,” Brose said as we crossed the street to the 4 Stop Market on the corner of Woodland and 14th, “primarily at house shows…that’s kind of how we cut our teeth.” The Nude Party was a favorite during their time at university in Boone, NC, becoming the soundtrack for many fellow students’ and friends’ college careers. Their self-titled debut record is “an amalgamation of all of [them] putting together the most creative things [they] possibly could for the past three or four years” according to Brose.

Once you know the Nude Party is from North Carolina, you can see the ways in which the mountain culture has crept into each of their beings; I wouldn’t be surprised if the band van was full of Nalgene water bottles with clipped on carabiners or if a few of the guys used to go exclusively barefoot. But somehow, in an area that often leans towards more folk and roots music, the Nude Party captured a modern take on the essence of 60’s underground rock. We could easily be in a basement in Liverpool surrounded by Scouse accents, but the Nude Party is all-American, smack dab in the middle of AmericanaFest.

Though both Brose and Mikita agree that Patton Magee (guitar/vocals) is usually the main lyricist of the group, their creation process as a band is described as nothing short of collaborative. This record is a direct product of their time cutting their teeth in college and now on the road and Brose agrees that “an overarching theme might just be the lifestyle of getting to do that”. Both also praise their “producer-landlord-best friend-spiritual guide-guru” Oakley Munson and engineer Matthew Cullen for their collaborative impact on the record, recorded outside of Woodstock, NY at Dreamland Studios.

There’s no doubt that the Nude Party is just getting started. Watch their full interview below and make it out to the Nude Party in person by visiting their site HERE.

Luck Reunion Presents: The Luck Social

October 12, 2018 by Ellee Fletcher in Events, Culture, Food and Drink

all photos by Brooke Hamilton

Last night in our home of Luck, TX we hosted the inaugural Luck Social, an intimate gathering celebrating food and music in the special place we get to call home. The first Social was a trial run of sorts, testing the waters so that we can build more unique opportunities to share the ranch with all of you.

As our guests arrived they were greeted with specialty drinks from our sponsors Jim Beam, Tito’s Handmade Vodka, Mountain Valley Spring Water as our chefs for the evening put the finishing touches on the dishes they created just for Luck. The scent of chef Ben Runkle’s five-hour roasted porchetta wafted through the small town as everyone took in our latest addition to the ranch grounds: a chance to leave your mark in Luck. We also partnered with our longtime sponsor Jim Beam to offer Luck visitors the chance to leave their legacy alongside the history of Luck. Luck Social guests were the first to experience the new community walk of fame, leaving their mark in freshly poured cement that will become a part of a walkway weaving through the town of Luck. The #LuckLegacies stone will be immortalized and expand with each new event as Luck visitors sign their names. Floating flowers and candles created an altar along our Jim Beam building, making a truly ceremonial setting as each of our guests signed their names in the freshly poured cement, leaving a little bit of their legacies in Luck.

One long communal table lined the main road to Willie’s Headquarters, full of fresh flowers, candles, and hand-dyed indigo cloth that complemented the artisan porcelain ceramic settings generously donated by Keith Kreeger. Guests refreshed their glasses at our Tito’s Handmade Vodka Saloon before sitting down for dinner. Our resident Luck culinary director, Chef Ben Runkle of Austin’s Salt & Time, hosted the evening and our guest chef, Todd Duplechan of Austin’s Lenoir for a mouth-watering four-course meal. The stars of the show were certainly Duplechan’s Stuffed Fish with Hoja Santa elevated by sheeling beans, smoked mushrooms, tomato jam, and green beans, and Runkle’s Porchetta with coal roasted butternut squash, farro salad, and wild greens. It was a true farm-to-table event as all of the night’s produce was locally sourced from Boggy Creek and Eden East Farms in Austin. Complimentary Lagunitas beer and wine from local winery Southhold Farm and Cellars were free-flowing as the dinner came to an end with a perfectly tart and sweet peach pie.

After dinner, guests followed the twinkling lights back to the chapel as the stars and a tiny sliver of the moon blanketed the evening in wonder and enchantment. Everyone piled into the pews as our special guest, artist Langhorne Slim, took the Chapel’s small stage. Flowers, candles, and disco balls made for a neon revival in the Chapel as Slim spoke to the audience spinning stories of his past, his grandparents, and lessons he has learned before each song. His powerful voice and captivating storytelling echoed through the rafters and spilled out of the open windows as the cool October breeze swept across the pews. Even after the music ended, Slim stuck around to chat, take photos, and enjoy the evening under the grand Texas sky.

We can’t wait to bring everyone back for a chance to see the ranch without all of the hustle and bustle of the Reunion for more Socials in 2019.

Sources: Echo Park Rising - LA's Neighborhood Music and Arts Festival

August 23, 2018 by Ellee Fletcher in Style, Culture, Events, Music, Sources

photos by Vivien Best

Echo Park may seem like an unlikely place for the Luck Family to land, but even cowboys and outlaws made it in and out of Hollywood eventually. The Los Angeles neighborhood of Echo Park, just south of Silver Lake, has been home to music legends like Jackson Browne, Warren Zevon, and Gram Parsons over the years. It's rumored that the "Burrito King" restaurant down the street from the park on Sunset Blvd. is the very spot that influenced the Flying Burrito Brothers' name. Zevon's song "Carmelita" (also recorded by Flaco Jimenez, Dwight Yoakam, and Linda Ronstadt) recalls his time in the neighborhood: "I hear Mariachi static on my radio/And the tubes they glow in the dark/And I'm there with her in Ensenada/And I'm here in Echo Park". In recent years, Echo Park has quickly evolved into what has been called one of the hottest areas of the city. Eight-year-old Echo Park Rising, the community’s landmark music and arts festival founded by Liz Garo (founder of the local venue, the Echo) and KamranV (Chamber of Commerce President), has become a source of inspiration and evolution within LA’s creative landscape. We attended the fest with our friends at Mountain Valley Spring Water last weekend to dig into the community and culture of Echo Park that has come to serve as a vibrant source for creativity in LA.

When asked “How do you Echo Park?”, attendees, artists, and festival founders alike focused on the tight-knit community. Founder KamranV explained, “It’s a complete neighborhood effort, and everyone’s contributing in many different ways. It is that personal care that makes it continue.” Everyone from local businesses, musicians, artists, law enforcement, members of the community, and officials pitch in and get involved to make Echo Park Rising happen. The festival is free to attend and features over 600 acts and 120 businesses from the neighborhood and surrounding communities. This year’s music roster included electronic DJs, indie rock, rap, and even country with the Grand Ole Echo showcase.

The Grand Ole Echo (GOE), self-described as LA's "country and not so country music showcase", bridges the gap from the seemingly separated Texas and Nashville music scenes to that of Los Angeles. GOE's Jocelyn Romo reminded us that country roots run deep in California: "This is is about as Western as you can get, literally. Its very easy to forget that there’s a great community for country music, for anything from like very traditional stuff to something a little bit more far out like Gram Parsons...that was all very much centered in California." GOE is just one of many widely varying showcases and events throughout the three day festival, including drawing workshops, free yoga and movement classes, wildlife walks around Echo Park Lake, and even a DJ workshop for kids.

As Echo Park and Echo Park Rising grow simultaneously, one constant remains in local venue the Echo. Liz Garo opened the venue in 2001, ten years before the launch of Echo Park Rising. Over the years the venue, alongside its festival extension, has grown into a staple for up and coming local acts and touring indie bands (including a few of our #LuckFamily members like Aaron Lee Tasjan and Cut Worms). Artist Theresa Wayman of Warpaint, popularly known as TT, has been living in Echo Park for over a decade and recalls the Echo as an establishment that marked the community long before it gained popularity: "...It didn’t seem like anything was going to be happening down there or up here. There weren’t that many great restaurants up here on Sunset, and things were just really different. But the Echo was there. The Echo was happening, Echoplex was happening...I think that’s a really big point of interest and also has been establishing the culture here for so long."

Both the festival and the neighborhood are becoming permanent additions in the creative tapestry of Los Angeles. Like every creative hub, Echo Park is experiencing growing pains; but with the rising popularity of the festival and the supportive community, it continues to thrive. Fest attendee Paulina Ruiz said, “Echo Park is young and its happening and it’s changing, but that doesn’t mean that the youth is not going to survive here.” Echo Park Rising founder Liz Garo agreed and commented on the uniqueness of her community: “I think like a lot of the neighborhoods in LA it has a good mix of the old and new. There’s a lot of history here. It’s pretty diverse still but at the same time there’s new businesses coming. I think it’s a good little microcosm of what LA is, or can be, just with the different mix of people and different businesses and the independent culture.” And there’s no doubt about it, Echo Park is on the rise.

“I just spread love. I try to spread as much positivity to the world as possible. I’m just trying to give back to the world just like my father gave back to me.” - Nathan Kiseve

“I think you do Echo Park with kindness. Kindness to all types of people, all shapes and sizes...that’s how you do Echo Park.” - Holland Belle

“I do Echo Park by doing what the fuck I want and staying hydrated.” - Hoddy Base

“All day every day.” - Shelli Louise

“10pm. Little Joy. Tonight.” - Andrew Martin

”It seems really cool and urban.” - Selma Jama

“I live here and I like to walk and run around the community and eat at the local restaurants. It’s why I moved here.” - Eleanore Guthrie

“How do you do Echo Park? You just cruise.”

“I usually play music in Echo Park and love on all the people.” - Gabrielle Wortman

“Having fun.” - Kayla Lotterer

“How do I Echo Park? Drinking lots of liquids.” - Christina Benson

”I Echo Park by only going to the Holloway. Echo Park is young and and its happening and it’s changing but that doesn’t mean that the youth is not going to survive here.” -Paulina Ruiz

“Trying to stay cool in this fucking heat.” - Jason Rosen from Smoke Season

“Just by having fun, having a good time.” - Melanie Robles

"Outlaws & Armadillos" at the Country Music Hall of Fame

May 28, 2018 by Ellee Fletcher in Music, News, Culture, Events

This weekend marked the opening of the Country Music Hall of Fame's latest exhibit "Outlaws and Armadillos: Country's Roaring 70's". The exhibit will celebrate country music pioneers like Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings, and explore the relationship between Nashville and Austin, two cities synonymous with the genre. "Outlaws and Armadillos" will be on an extended nearly three year run at the Nashville museum featuring interviews, workshops, and events available to the public. For the full calendar and to read more about the exhibit, visit countrymusichalloffame.org.

Exclusive: Backstage at the Ryman with Margo Price

May 24, 2018 by Ellee Fletcher in Music, Culture, Events

We first got to know Margo Price in 2015 right before she signed with Third Man Records. We knew the moment she and her band walked on stage that they would be joining us at the 2016 Luck Reunion. 2016 happened to be the year of the "big storm" in Luck. After Texas thunderstorm cells converged over the ranch for over 3 hours, we had to temporarily evacuate and take shelter. Afterwards, as the setting sun peeked through the clouds, we rallied to try and figure out how to still pull off an amazing end to the night. While we scrambled to get someone on stage as soon as possible, Margo came jumping out of the bushes behind the stage shouting, "My band and I can be on that stage and playing in under 10 minutes!" It was in that moment we knew we were witnessing a star being born.

She also joined us out at Luck for our very firstLuck Chapel Sessionsin 2016. At times just Margo, unplugged, filling that sacred room with her own hallowed hymns. Margo has since graced the main stage for our 2017 Reunion and was our special guest at this year's event, returning to the Chapel for an intimate set to a surprised and spellbound crowd.

Margo has not only become part of our Luck family, but she has become a beacon for the hard working and honest musicians that we are so proud and honored to work with. In the past two years, it seems like her feet haven't even touched the ground. This past week she returned to her now hometown of Nashville, TN to play three sold-out shows at the historic Ryman Auditorium.

The Luck Journal enlisted Chris Phelps, long-time tour photographer and friend of Price to tell the exclusive behind the scenes story:

"As I sit here the morning after the finale of Margo Price’s sold-out three night stand at the Ryman Auditorium, I’m going through photos and still cant quite come up with the right words to describe the whole experience. Running on little to no sleep throughout this entire journey, I admittedly haven’t entirely processed it yet. The closest description I can come up with is “magic.” Not magic in the illusionary card trick, pull a rabbit out of the hat sense, but a perfect storm kind of magic that develops after years of hard work, dedication, and a lot of blood, sweat, and tears. I’ve had the pleasure of joining Margo and her band on this Road to the Ryman this year and have captured a lot of special moments on various mediums. Polaroids have a unique ability to capture not only the real and raw moments and emotions of a situation, but they manage to do it in a nostalgic and tangible way. People tend to let their guard down when you hold up a polaroid camera and then patiently wait around while they watch their image appears moments later. Again, magic. Until I can fully process this experience into words, I’ll let the images speak for themselves." - Chris Phelps

All photos by Chris Phelps