Luke Thomas: Press

"Bladdy L! You are a total groove-o-saur, dude! ME LIKE!!!!!"

"LUKE! Nice tone, nice tunes!"

luke thomas can fold a fitted sheet. amazing guitar - beautiful human being.

Arriving just in time to catch the last part of the sound check, I scoped out a prime spot while Oakland's Phoenix and Afterbuffalo jammed out a rendition of Dave Matthews Band's #41. The band's vibe was embracing, the vocals were soaring and the meticulous drumming was doing Carter Beauford justice; I was stoked. I had never seen PAB before and if first impressions are worth anything, I was feelin' like I had definitely picked the right place to spend my Saturday night. From the instant the first guitar chord was struck to the moment of the last triumphant crescendo, PAB's performance had me thinking that this was probably the best band that I had never heard of. Numerous influences such as Ben Harper, Dave Matthews and big Head Todd were woven tightly with pure, passionate expression. I was very impressed with the band's balance between unified focus and individual talent. Lead vocalist/guitarist Phoenix continuously belted out kick-ass melodies in a tone similar to that of Barenaked Ladies' Steven Page. Blyss, the bassist, was so smooth on his five-string that sometimes he didn't even look like he was hardly workin'. And then there was lead guitarist/vocalist Luke Thomas, who just about stole the show with a bottleneck slide solo that he did using his pint of beer.(kids dont try this at home)After we nearly wet ourselves with that one, Phoenix then told the crowd that this was the first time that their drummer had ever performed with the band. the man that shall be know simply as Juan the kisk-ass drummer gave the impression that he had been playing with them for years. Fucking phoenomenal! But on a personal tip, my favorite moment of their set was a brillant rendition of Bob Marley's signiture classic "Redemption Song" Bob marley & the Wailers are my all-time favorite band, and I have heard everyone from Stevie Wonder to no use for a name absolutely butcher this beloved song. PAS's musical and vocal interpretations were amazing; I had never heard such an original yet legitimate version before. Mad Props!

Dear Reader,

I am writing this letter to elucidate all the qualifications of Luke Thomas as an accomplished guitar teacher. Prior to taking lessons with Luke, I had taken lessons from another teacher for a few years. Though this teacher was extremely skillful himself, I was never able to connect to him musically, and thus came out of the experience with much less knowledge than I should have. Luke took a very different approach to teaching me than my previous teacher, which made the learning experience much more amicable and successful. Being a strictly rock/metal guitarist at the time, Luke began teaching me theory and technique through a rockers perspective and not strictly jazz, allowing me to apply the theory learned to music that I was already playing at the time. Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, Stevie Ray Vaughn…Luke quickly understood my style and restructured the teaching agenda to fit it. With every musician we looked at, Luke made sure that I understood the history and influences of the musician as well, connecting Robert Johnson to B.B. King to Jimi Hendrix to Van Halen to Yngwie Malmsteen. Establishing these connections was an intelligent way to expand my musical horizons to country, blues, classical, funk, klezmer and even jazz. In order to learn this large variety of styles, I was forced to work on, and work on to this day, an abundance of guitar techniques from vibrato bends to sweep picking, palm muting to finger tapping.
Over the three years that I took lessons from Luke, I matured as a musician and became more open minded to melodic inspection. My friends and family both would say to me how much better I was getting as the months went on and this made me more confident and ambitious to pursue music. The greatest thing that Luke taught me is the importance of hard work and steady practice habits. A good teacher doesn’t just teach the student how to play, he teaches the student how to teach him/herself how to play. Now I am a 17-year-old senior at Berkeley High School, filling out applications to colleges around the country. Amongst my choices is Berkeley School of Music and the New School where hopefully I can further my musical career and maybe one day be able to compare myself to my personal musical icons. So yes, Luke Thomas is qualified to teach people how to be better musicians, and yes, I would recommend him, and have to anyone in search of learning how to be more musically conscious.


Will Novey

Luke Thomas is an enigma.
And when I say enigma, I mean, it’s compelling how very good he is at what he does (wailing, shredding, mutilating on the guitar…yet in a very musically wonderful way). Now, just as impressive is how succinctly he can communicate exactly what he is doing in a way that an eager child or a mastermind musician can understand.

I have struggled to learn music my whole life. The desire was there, but I had barriers and basic misunderstandings from early music education. Not only did he resolve this but he inspired and challenged me to arrive at places technically, artistically, philosophically, that I never anticipated.

In the first lesson, over the phone, he opened the world of music to me and delivered the art form as a concept. An idea. A language. A communication.
And as a teacher, myself, in the arts, that was something I already knew, but forgot to remember. And in a lesson, he changed the way I teach my art form and the way I will move forward to embrace his.

I love music. It sets my soul on fire. And anyone that can hold the door open to that world and help you across the threshold at the same time gets enigma classification.

Enigma: A mystery or puzzle.

I don’t know how he does it. But I’m glad that he does it.

Luke helped me to discover I can be, musically, anything that I want to be and he has
an innate ability to share his incredibly vast knowledge of music theory, history, composition and application as well as an ability to connect to each individual artists’ needs. Because we are individuals. And unique. And so is Luke Thomas.

-JM

Earlier this year I decided to get back into guitar after putting it aside for about 25 years. I took some lessons back in my college days for a couple of years focusing on rock, blues, and some reggae but never really learned music theory or proper technique until my lessons with Luke Thomas this year.

I took weekly lessons with Luke for about seven months this year, and very quickly came to appreciate his passion for teaching music and guitar. Luke struck a great balance between being a very patient teacher while at the same time knowing how to motivate and push me to new levels.

I started these lessons early in the year with the idea of improving fundamentals, technique, personal enjoyment, and my ability to play socially with friends. The lessons addressed these expectations and exceeded in areas I would not have imagined.

Luke really helped me to better understand music theory - chord construction, scales - and not just the mechanics but the underlying principles to enhance my understanding and playing ability. I have a tendency to approach things analytically and at times somewhat mechanically, and Luke very quickly helped me balance these tendencies with a more creative approach, pushing me to feel rather than think. This was a big discovery and had a very positive impact on my overall confidence.

I still have a long way to go on this learning journey, but I now feel after seven months with Luke, I have improved my technical ability, theoretical knowledge, confidence, and appreciation for more forms of music thanks to Luke. Luke has helped me immensely and I’m looking forward to many more lessons when I can get to L.A. or when Luke is in the bay area.

Luke is very genuine person with a love for teaching and helping others. I highly recommend Luke to anyone seeking music / guitar lessons.

Thanks so much Luke and I’m looking forward to our next lesson when I’m in L.A.

Sincerely,
John Kresich

"Luke has an amazing talent to blend jazz, rock, reggae, and everything in between to weave a sound that is incomparable. The depth of his solo and sound reflects the obvious depth of his thought process, yet at the same time is fun to listen to for both the novice and experience listener. His compositions resound his unique personality and outlook on the world. To listen to Luke is to look into an awesome corner of the universe."