We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Luther Allison a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Luther, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

I had the opportunity to study with incredible teachers at an early age. Brian Burton and Greg Vadnais were local drum teachers in my hometown who helped me tremendously along with my piano teacher Randy Jones. I also have always had an insatiable hunger to learn about the music. I studied drummers and pianists endlessly for as long as I can remember.

I have never been concerned with speeding up my learning process because I have always had a knack for picking things up pretty quickly and retaining the information fairly well. I do believe that a practice routine has helped with efficiency in developing concepts I work on.

There are so many essential skills… you must know how to follow the leader and understand your role in every space you are in. You must have a high level of facility, familiarity and comfortability on your instrument. You must be easy to work with, and you should also be aware of your own boundaries artistically and morally. You must have a process for preparation that is tried and true… and you must create a pattern of consistency in your preparedness for performances/teaching/etc.

My primary obstacle has been myself. Me being afraid to humiliate myself at a public jam session because I don’t feel comfortable with the amount of music I know… me being afraid or intimidated to reach out to a desired mentor for help… me not taking the time to focus on my weaknesses and staying frustrated with those areas where I am considerably behind in comparison to other aspects of my musicianship. It is a matter of getting outside of the comfort of myself paired with realizing and coming to terms with the benefits of uncomfortability.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I started playing music at a very young age and was always set on doing it for a living, so I began working professionally around my hometown at 16 years old. Most of what I do now is perform, but I also specialize in education, composition and arranging. I believe my proficiency on two different instruments sets me apart from others along with my ability to fit in many different musical settings. This may be an odd answer, but I guess I am most proud of my ability to connect with many different types of musicians on the bandstand. I just want potential clients/followers/fans to understand how much work I put into my craft and how honest my output is.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding thing of what I do is seeing how much the arts matters to all people. It is far more than a casual hobby (although that is the case for many people and there is nothing wrong with that). I have spoken with people who work in many fields who have come to see me perform and there are countless times those people have talked to me about how important the arts are to their respective field(s) of study. The arts are a necessary part of any society and must not be taken away.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

When I moved to New York City I was primarily teaching. I taught at a brilliant school in the Upper West Side of Manhattan with students who were eager to learn and so much fun to teach. During this time I was also teaching private lessons along with doing work for other educational programs around the USA, and music directing at my church in Harlem. At the top of 2023, an opportunity came up for me to begin touring with a brilliant singer who I only worked with very minimally a month or so prior, and I knew that taking this opportunity would mean I had to basically leave everything I had been doing before to fully commit to this new opportunity. I decided to do that and it was a very difficult, but rewarding decision I made. There is a lot I learned about myself the past 3 years primarily teaching/directing that has helped me so much in this new position working primarily as a touring performer.

Contact Info:

• Website: luthersallison.com
• Instagram: luthersallison
• Facebook: Luther S Allison
• Twitter: @LutherSAllison
• Youtube: Luther S. Allison

Image Credits
John Sturino, Stratøs, Rob Davidson