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Meet Ginny Luke

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Ginny Luke.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I’m a small town Iowa girl with big town dreams who decided at age six (and announced to my family) that someday I would be a recording artist and actress in LA. That’s a pretty big announcement for a 6-year-old, especially one growing up next to a cornfield performing in community theater at the Grand Opera House and playing violin recitals in tutus.

My whole life was a quest of how to get to LA. I started classical violin, piano, and ballet when I was three in Germany; my dad was in the army – and we moved to Dubuque, Iowa when I was four. I come from a musical family – every person in my family plays an instrument plus piano, and we were required to practice every day, even Christmas and birthdays, and we couldn’t “quit” until we were 18. You might have the idea that classical music training is strict, and you’re absolutely you’re right; it’s no joke.

It’s the kind of training that can make you love or hate your instrument, sometimes both at the same time. I’ve had tears running down my cheeks onto my violin while performing, I’ve thrown up on the side of the stage, came back on and played, sang and danced, memorized scripts all night with no sleep, and have endured just about all of the challenges every musician or performer in a big city has to go through to “make” it here.

However, I love what I do now (especially since rocking out and expressing myself is part of my profession) and am thankful for the experiences that have gotten me here. I am a session and touring electric violinist and vocalist for a range of artists such as the Foo Fighters, Nicki Minaj, the Black Eyed Peas, Britney Spears, J. Cole, Snoop Dog, Shawn Mendes, Iggy Azalea, Meat Loaf, Ricky Martin, Miguel Bose, Will.I.Am, Skylar Grey, and others, as well as a songwriter and recording artist.

Growing up, I dreamed of working with artists like Britney – I studied pop singers like crazy, memorized choreography on MTV (remember Darryn’s Dance Grooves?!) and even created fan websites like “The Britney Spears Hangout” while practicing my scales and etudes and attending symphony concerts with my family every weekend.

As my parents would have it, I won concerto competitions, soloed with a few orchestras, played Carnegie Hall at 16, and was later concertmaster at the Colburn School of Music and California Institute of the Arts. I’m proud of these achievements, but I always wanted to play “big-time” arena stages. I ended up finishing junior year at Interlochen Arts Academy, in Michigan (I was a “double major” in theater and violin, with voice and dance lessons on the side) and started college at Musician’s Institute in keys and vocals at 17.

While at MI I was in a girl group called Adam 812 – we recorded two albums, and it was good preparation for when I would later get the call for Meat Loaf. I was called to record violin and vocals on his album “Hell in a Handbasket” and later join his band the Neverland Express. Finally, my arena stage dream came true – every night we were in front of thousands of people, and it was such a rush that reaffirmed my hard work and practice had really paid off because I was so happy doing what I was doing.

Even though it was radically different than my training growing up, classical music prepared me on such a broad musical level – it equipped me with the ability to memorize music quickly, interpret music direction from music director Paul Crook, formerly of Anthrax, and it prepared me to approach music very seriously, initially, so that once the work and preparation is done you can rock out on stage.

After Meat Loaf I continued studying at CalArts while getting calls for sessions and gigs with songs that would later be on the radio and shows like the American Music Awards, the Tonight Show and the Latin Grammys. I ended up leaving college and working full time on session and touring work, and I joined electric violin group SAGA Strings, which I now co-own with my business partner Rachel Grace.

During this time, I also wrote and recorded a solo EP called “Dark Charade” which I released at age 21, worked with world-renowned musicians Onree Gill and Thomas Lang on solo music, and am currently finishing a solo EP which will be released in 2019.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Although I am thankful for the amazing artistic experiences I’ve had of course they were served with a batch of challenges that big cities have a tendency to offer – being young and poor and making ends meet when you’re first getting on your feet, dishonest people in the industry, getting asked to do things I’m uncomfortable with on gigs and having to fight and say no, facing misogyny while on gigs, being talked down to because I’m a woman and I “don’t know about my own gear”, etc.

These are all frustrating and test one’s patience, but I feel empowered knowing music is my platform to help all people feel respected, heard and cared for, especially women in the music industry. The Grammy foundation’s MusicCares program provided a lot of support for me in a time of need, and I hope to give that support to others in my lifetime. I’m excited to see how much awareness and advocation there is for equality in this generation. I hope we can make more substantial progress in my lifetime so our children can live in a more humanistic, progressive world.

We’d love to hear more about what you do.
I am currently on tour with the show 4UPrince as featured vocalist and electric violinist. It is a symphonic celebration of Prince’s music curated and directed by Questlove, with additional music direction by Nisan Stewart, conducted by James Olmstead.

I am really loving the music on this tour – every night I get to play some the best songs in history with an incredible band (Marvin Marcell on keys and programming, Skeeter on drums, CJ Alexander on bass, Hayden Maringer and Noah on guitar, Titus, and Dewayne on keys) with a symphony orchestra.

We just finished the first US run on the east coast, south, and Midwest, and we hit Europe Nov. 26 – Dec. 15th.

I am also preparing to release solo music in 2019. I two music videos coming out called “Love Hypocrisy” and “Take You On a Trip”, both directed and shot by Harrison Sanborn, and original songs coming out produced by Thai Long Ly, Jon Whitley, Fabian Eggar, Amir Oosman, Aiden Hogarth – “Skitzbeatz” Lucas Sader, and Thomas Lang.

Being on this tour and engaging with great crowds every night has made me really excited to get my new solo music out. It has also made me reevaluate my strengths as an artist, that showing more complex sides of myself musically on violin, piano and voice may be more rewarding for me and for my listeners. Of course, I want to write great songs and catchy hooks, but I’m also excited to experiment a little more with my sound in the new year.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I would have trusted myself more. I would have started charging higher rates for session work at 17-18 years old.

I would have set more boundaries, and I think I would have left jobs or projects sooner that I got a bad feeling about or where people were unkind. I’ve had a tendency to stay on gigs to preserve my “reliable reputation” even if they are toxic environment and I would have left a few of those sooner because they can be grading on your soul.

I would have spent more time with my family every year. I make a big effort to see them as much as I can, multiple times per year, but the clock never goes back and time with your family is invaluable.

Contact Info:

Image Credit:
Sal Gomez, Francesco Desmaele, Ruben Domingo, Thai Long Ly, Elle Jaye

Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.

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