Lou Black profile picture

Lou Black

Subversive pop songs...muhahaha

About Me

“Tom Waits meets Sting and has brunch with Leonard Cohen.” Lou Black’s music is for people who appreciate that great songs connect your heart and mind.

Lou Black’s background is unusual to say the least. He is a Peruvian born singer/songwriter, UK educated statistician/researcher, a published author in several fields, and former soothsayer to Fortune 500 companies. His debut album has been described by the press as “sophisticated global pop” and “one of the best in the singer songwriter genre,” but Lou Black describes his music as “subversive songs of social commentary and personal struggle.”

His recently released self-produced album, “City of No Winters,” has garnered positive praise from music critics and airplay on university & public AAA radio stations (over 100 broadcast stations and growing), along with numerous internet radio stations. His music combines Western pop music with African and South American rhythms while his lyrics communicate social & political issues, and tales of alienation, interpersonal conflict and despair. From an upbeat dance song about war torn Yugoslavia to a story of South African apartheid era poverty disguised as a love ballad to song about a man so losing his faith in god and men. "I strive to distinguish myself from mass produced commercial radio music," says Lou, "so I design my music to be subversive with memorable melodies on the surface and thoughtful messages behind the scenes." The press has referred to his album as "sophisticated global pop" and has called his work "the best in the singer/songwriter genre."

Lou Black's Hometowns: "I have lived in Lima Peru, Montreal Canada, St. Louis MO (multiple towns), Boston MA, Ann Arbor MI, London UK, NYC, New Jersey, Pittsburgh PA, Chicago IL, Dallas TX, and Arlington VA...whew. Yes, I love to travel, I now use a PO Box for all of my mail. I got a call the other day from a colleague who wanted to know if I wanted to take on a new consulting gig and live in Nigeria for 6 months....hmmm...'what, no projects in Baghdad or North Korea?"

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My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 2/18/2005
Band Website: LouBlackMusic.com
Band Members:These days Lou Black plays with his new band Ash Lovely , an indie pop songwriter alliance featuring fellow songwriters David Klinger, Vanessa Degrassi, and Kevin Bowman (all listed in my top friends)
Guest Musicians:
Keyboards:
Glenn Fink (former bandmate from The Black Finks )
Bass:
Gene Fellner (former bandmate from The Black Finks )
Drums/Percussion:
Greg Burns (former bandmate from The Black Finks )
Keyboard:
Bill Dempsey
Bass:
Jeff Johnston (former bandmate from The Black Finks , my last band )
Brian Boettger
Violin:
Chelle Fulk (DC)
Wei Wei (NYC);
Cello:
Jennifer Johnson (plus vocals)
Drums/Percussion:
Todd Parola (plus vocals)
Jeff Weber
Lead Guitar:
Craig Bradley
LIVE AT THE POTTERS HOUSE 12/14:
Lou Black (with The Black Finks) performing "What About Change" along with fellow co-writers David Klinger and Kitty "Hawk" Templeton (both doing some impromptu backing vocals).

LIVE AT THE POTTERS HOUSE 12/14:
Lou Black (with The Black Finks) performing "The Last Time" (co-written by Hannah Masters-Waage)

LIVE AT THE POTTERS HOUSE 12/14:
Lou Black (with The Black Finks) performing "Laughing in Bed" (co-written by Avelynn Mitra)

Influences: Roy Orbison, Velvet Underground, Nick Lowe, Joan Armatrading, David Bowie, Kate Bush, Edith Piaf, Marlene Dietrich, Johnny Cash, Elvis Costello, Finn Brothers, Roxy Music
Sounds Like: A friend of mine told me that it sounds like "Tom Waits meets Sting and has brunch with Leonard Cohen," but I always thought the roots were more "Roy Orbison meets the Velvet Underground. " Other people have said, Roxy Music, Bryan Ferry, Lloyd Cole. Nick Cave, Bob Dylan, David Bowie, The Go-Betweens, The The, Lou Reed, Raul Malo, Dwight Yokam, Chris Isaak, and the list goes on and on. The Pandora.com song analysis system says I'm similar to Jon Zucker, Alex Nackman, Kelley Stoltz, and the Foo Fighters in general (although lyrically I think were are different).
Record Label: Factor 21 Records
Type of Label: None

My Blog

Damn those myspace hackers

Many of my friends have had their accounts hacked so I guess it was about time that this happened to me. My password hadn't been changed since I first got my account, and I have to figure that throug...
Posted by Lou Black on Sun, 16 Sep 2007 03:19:00 PST

Benefit Concert for Immigrant Rights

Where::The Potters House1658 Columbia Rd NW Washington, DC 20009United States View Map The Black Finks (featuring Lou Black), Sounds of Hope, and Ayuda present:Benefit Concert for Immigrant RightsCom...
Posted by Lou Black on Mon, 09 Jul 2007 08:34:00 PST

Hear my music on Pandora.com (created by the Music Genome Project)

My CD, City of No Winters, has been added to Pandora .  Panora was written up in Business Week magazine a various other publications as the next thing in internet radio.  Behind the sce...
Posted by Lou Black on Tue, 03 Apr 2007 01:55:00 PST

Radio Airplay in 21 Countries

2005-2006 saw requests/airplay from 20 countries, and 2007 welcomed the inclusion of Macedonia to our wonderful list of countries.  It is so nice to see the international interest ...
Posted by Lou Black on Sat, 04 Feb 2006 09:01:00 PST

City of No Winters reviewed in Splendid Magazine.com

A new album review!Splendid Magazine  (article link)
Posted by Lou Black on Thu, 25 Aug 2005 09:44:00 PST

Our IOTA concert photos thanks to Tom Van Veen

Not only is Tom the cool guitarist and songwriter for Boxcar Collision (a band that we will play with in September), but he is an amazing professional photographer as well.  Check out these ...
Posted by Lou Black on Fri, 19 Aug 2005 04:26:00 PST

Airplay on 100+ U.S. and 20+ International Radio Stations!

The latest tally is in, the Lou Black "City of No Winters" album has gotten airplay on over 100 stations across the U.S., and now we have confirmed reports that the Dutch, Germans, British, ...
Posted by Lou Black on Mon, 01 Jan 1900 12:00:00 PST

City of No Winters reviewed in Hybrid Magazine

A new album review!These people are so nice, what a nice way to start off the weekend.Hybrid Magazine (article link)
Posted by Lou Black on Mon, 01 Jan 1900 12:00:00 PST

Internet radio "Mansion on the Hill" rocks with Number 1 song of the week

Special thanks to the listeners of Mansion on the Hill radio for voting "Oh Amor" as the number 1 song for the week. Mansion on the Hill
Posted by Lou Black on Mon, 01 Jan 1900 12:00:00 PST