Annual music fest spreads out to three East Village venues
Luke Fox, 31, performs at 7 p.m. Saturday at Ritual Cafe, 1301 Locust St.
Q: You’ve lived all over the place. What brought you to Des Moines, and what has kept you here?
I was born in Des Moines. What brought me here more than anything is family and friends and their support. What’s keeping me is probably the same answer. I feel like as far as what I’m trying to do as a musician that there’s a great music scene here and I’m making friends with other musicians who seem to be responding to me well. I enjoy what I’m doing, and I enjoy doing it here.
Q: What sparked your interest in folk music?
It has always been in line with my personality and who I am. I’m a pretty reserved person. For a while I was into heavier music, but listening to the simplistic sounds, the honesty and the melody of folk, it rang true to me. It stimulated my imagination and expanded my ways of thinking.
Q: In addition to guitar you use harmonica in your act. How did you pick that up?
I wanted to add to my sound. As a solo performer and a pretty young guitar player who for the most part does a lot of strumming, I felt like it would make things more interesting. You want to try to keep things interesting for the audience, otherwise things start to sound the same. I also truly love the sound. I think it has a spirit and a life of its own. It’s starting to show its face more in music, but it seems like a lot of solo performers don’t use it, or only use it for one or two songs. I like to make it a big part of what I’m doing.
