Ginny Luke has always looked up to guitar prodigies and has wanted to be looked at the same way when it comes to the electric violin. The Iowa native caught the music bug early on thanks to a pianist mom and a conductor dad. She spent much of her free time taking lessons as a preschooler and practiced violin and piano up to eight hours a day. In addition, she began releasing instrumental albums as early as age 9.
That persistence led her to bigger performances and more attention. At 14 she performed as a concerto soloist and made her Carnegie Hall debut two years later. She later moved to Los Angeles with dreams of playing with an all-girl band, but it wasn’t meant to be in the competitive music scene. Still, she kept working on her craft. That dedication paid off, as she was asked to join Meat Loaf’s touring band The Neverland Express on their 2011 tour. She has since become an in-demand collaborator, with a wide-ranging list of collaborators that include Dave Matthews, AJR, Meat Loaf, Snoop Dogg, will.i.am, Nicki Minaj and Hozier.
The electric violin virtuoso has accumulated many accolades and accomplishments over her career. She’s sought to enhance whatever song she’s played on.
Watch our Water Tower Session with Ginny here as well as Alex’s review of Ginny’s album Devil at My Heels.
As fulfilling as collaboration can be, she longed to release music under her name. On November 1, she made that dream a reality with her debut solo album Devil at My Heels, which was released via KZZ Music/Blue Élan Records. You can read our review here. The album finds her putting her voice, songwriting and playing at the forefront of each of the album’s dozen tracks, with lyrics exploring personal liberation and empowerment.
“It’s badass melodic rock with scorching violin,” says Luke via the album’s press release. “And a declaration of my autonomy and the journey of understanding my human experience.”
The album was produced by Dave Darling (Def Leppard, Brian Setzer) and Zackary Darling (John 5, Eric Gales). Dorothy Martin, former Michael Jackson guitarist Orianthi (who guests on single “Devil at My Heels”), and Stevie Ray Vaughan were among her biggest influences on the album. The album also features contributions from award-winning Irish songwriter Colin Devlin of The Devlins as well as guitarist Nili Brosh on her cover of Deep Purple’s “Burn.”
Scummy Water Tower recently caught up with Luke to discuss why it was important to go solo, what makes electric violin such a powerful instrument, how collaboration emboldens her and what’s next for her.
What music have you been listening to lately?
Today I was listening to live videos of Dorothy Martin and Sophie Lloyd, Machine Gun Kelly’s guitar player, and some old [Led] Zeppelin footage. On Spotify I was listening to Victoria Monét’s new album, which is really awesome. I love Rival Sons. Then there’s a new Black Keys song “Mi Tormenta” with an artist that I worked with named DannyLux. That’s kind of a cool indie rock song. DannyLux is a Hispanic artist. I played in one of his music videos. So, different styles.
Your new album is your solo debut. What were some of your biggest goals sonically and lyrically with it?
My goals for the sound of the record, the sonic space and universe was a sound that was a really bold statement, especially as a violin player and as a woman. Heavy guitars, big bombastic drums, really clear overdriven violin and powerful vocals. I wanted rich harmony in different places, so I added some acoustic strings to the debut single “Devil at My Heels”. I added string interludes to be before and after the songs “Woman I Wanted to Be,” “Dark Angel” and “No Fire Burning.” That’s kind of like a nod to my classical and orchestral upbringing, but I really wanted the whole rock record to be in your face, fearless and empowering. That’s the feeling I want everybody to have when they hear it. And lyrically, I really just wanted it to be honest and bold and fearless, and I think that worked. I have songs [that range] from “Yeah Yeah Yeah” is a crazy party song, don’t have a care in the world kind of song to “Woman I Wanted To Be”, which starts super vulnerable with a really sad guitar tone and then to the powerful songs “Leading Lady” that’s really edgy, powerful. I own my womanhood kind of song and “Devil At My Heels”, the single, which is also very powerful.
Why did you feel that the album title was fitting for this collection?
I felt like Devil At My Heels was the best album title besides being the single. It has this rock mystery magic in the visual, and it has two meanings. The Devil at my heels of temptation and maybe a person, a guy, a love interest, and just temptations in general. It doesn’t just mean I’m giving into the temptation. It could be negative energy chasing you that you don’t give into sin. But that’s what’s so fun about it too, is that’s what makes rock and roll so great. You have the devil on your shoulder, so you’re always going to decide, am I giving into it, am I not? And I think that’s part of the history of rock and roll, and that’s why all the best guitar solos and all the best imagery is these people looking like they’re giving into something. So yeah, that’s why I thought it was a cool title.
You’re kind of turning that image of a rock guitarist on its head with how you play the violin.
Yeah. Playing like an electric guitar, but I play violin.
What do you like about being able to play it like a guitar?
I like playing the electric violin like a guitar in the tone. I use distortion. I use cool delays and reverbs. I like being able to amplify the sound, so it’s just loud and powerful when I want it to be dynamic. So still very expressive and soft when I want it to be. With an acoustic violin, you can only be so loud. I mean, you can be really powerful. I’m very loud on the acoustic violin, but it was just something fun about being able to be as loud as a lead electric guitar in a band. I could never compete with that when I was younger, and now I can because of the electric violin, and I also have the choice of so many tone colors with different pedals. So, like an electric guitar, it can sound like so many things up to a synthesizer or cover all these different parts, organ parts. It’s like so many options now with the electric violin.
It seems like the violin is making more of an impact lately with rock music, with Lindsey Sterling and other artists.
Yeah, totally. I think that’s really cool. I think it’s new. I think we’ve been ready for that. So, I’m excited to be in the space in the community of being a rock violinist and a rock female artist.
There are a few people that were big sonic influences for making this album, Dorothy Martin, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Orianthi. The latter played guitar for Michael Jackson. How have they influenced and inspired you in the direction that you took?
Ori is a singer/guitar player that had a big song on the radio a few years back. And I had always studied the way she played and the way she really defined herself as a solo artist while playing for other artists, which is what I do. I play on all these other records for big artists, Britney Spears, Foo Fighters, Hozier, Will.i.am, Black Eyed Peas, Snoop Dogg, blah, blah, blah. So, I was really fascinated in how Ori structured her career and I loved the way she plays. I love her voice. She is like a bluesy type of artist with virtuosic guitar playing, playing similar to her. Dorothy has a really cool bluesy sound. So, Dorothy was a huge inspiration in me finding the sound and finding myself through this style.
Then Stevie Ray Vaughan, of course, is the best soloist. So, the tastiest solos are Stevie Ray solos. I studied those and was able to transcribe and play them back on my electric violin, and I would use that as inspiration most days before I would go to my gig. Kayle is a cool, modern female artist. I really enjoy her music and she’s clever and sassy, edgy. I really like Bishop Briggs, Jack White, I love his songs and guitar tones. I like his attitude. So those were all influences on the sound of the record.
You got to work with a couple pretty seasoned producers. How did they help you shape the songs?
The producers Dave Darling and Zach Darling offered ways to quickly record the album and structure it song by song with a live band. We recorded at two studios, Dave’s Room in North Hollywood and Studio City Sound. And the biggest thing I got from Dave Darling were his vocal phrasing ideas. He really has an ear for hit blues, rock hooks and vocal phrasing. He is also really great at knowing what guitar tones are going to be powerful. So, we did stacks and stacks and stacks of so many guitars. He’s great at adding unique sounds, unique instruments in the production, so it catches your ear, and it makes you remember what song it is. So those were the biggest things I learned from them as producers, and I would say some of the strongest ways they helped make this album unique.
How did you get connected with them?
I got connected with Dave Darling and Zach Darling through Blue Élan Records, which is the label I’m signed to, and Kirk Pasich, the president, works frequently with Dave Darling on rock records.
That’s nice to have a connection like that. You grew up in Iowa and both of your parents are also in music. How did that environment help get you curious about music?
My parents started me in music at age three on violin and piano. They chose the instruments I was going to play, and I started singing in musicals at age four. And I think the family rule of playing an instrument plus piano until we’re 18 was probably the biggest driver of why I do music professionally. But I think I really got interested in great songwriting. I noticed how songs moved me at a very young age around seven and eight. Just like any kid, I would sit in my room and just look at CD booklets and lyrics and memorize all my favorite songs and dream about performing on a big stage someday. And then when I was 12, I started writing songs. And then when I was 14, I went to LA and I did my first single with a producer, and then at 15 I did a full album with a girl group with all original songs. So, I think it was that early influence in classical music and musical theater, but that led me to discover music the way I loved to do it.
What do you recall of the first time you played a violin and piano?
Oh wow. Well, I know my parents handed me a violin when I was two and a half. I have a memory of a piano recital when I was three. I remember being done with whatever I was playing, probably “Hot Cross Buns” and bowing and feeling really happy. So that’s my first musical memory, I guess.
What was the moment that you realized that you could do this professionally?
I knew I could do music professionally when I played my first wedding gig at age nine. I had already done violin competitions around age 7, 8, 9, and then I played with chamber orchestras 9, 10, 11, 12 here and there and with string quartets. But when I started soloing with the orchestra, that was a pretty high level already. So then when I moved out to LA at 14 and 15, I started recording for other artists also at 15, but I kind of already knew at age nine because I had to practice and then perform for these events.
You played some big gigs when you were very young. How has getting thrust into the spotlight early on beneficial to your musical growth?
I think there’s a certain level of concentration that when you’re put in the spotlight or put on a stage and you have to perform, you can do it under any circumstance. It takes a certain level of focus and commitment and trust in yourself. So, I think that’s how it most benefited me because you can apply that to so many areas of your life, but it really is a handy skill to be able to go on stage and execute. And I’m very grateful my family helped prepare me to do that.
Did you use guitar prodigies as examples of something to look up to?
I did. I think more like rock stars. I looked at a lot of violin prodigies. I think my parents were comparing me to them to try to make me like that, but I was really fascinated with guitar virtuosos. And then I also wondered how these guitar players were so different from one another. I thought that was very cool. Like Hendrix is so different than Stevie Ray Vaughn…is so different from Slash. They all have a sound, but they all have their own vibe. So that’s what has actually really inspired me since about age 20. It’s like when I joined Meatloaf’s Band, that’s when I was really introduced to different styles of guitar playing.
What was it like to play with Meatloaf?
That was such a fun time in my life. Oh my gosh. It was like a real rock royalty lifestyle. The hotels and the shows, they were huge, and the band was cool, and Meat was amazing. He was an incredible influence on me and taught me how to command a stage.
What are some of your other favorite memories of some other people that you’ve played with?
Some of my favorite memories, I have a recent memory. I just got off tour with AJR and I guess one of my favorite memories was the toaster lift, not me being on the toaster lift, although I had to do that every night. But this riser toaster lift comes up out of the stage and one of my favorite memories is watching all the crew guys have a competition to see who could rise up and jump out of the toaster lift the highest. It was just really funny to see everybody on the show competing and being silly. It could have been really dangerous, but thankfully it wasn’t. It was one of my favorites. I worked with Dave Matthews Band on a music video when I was 16, and that was one of my favorites too because he was so nice, and I got to talk to him and everybody in Dave Matthews Band and they were really kind and gave me really nice advice and it was just a good vibe and a good shoot. So that was probably one of the most meaningful young experiences I had.
I imagine Snoop Dogg was a lot of fun.
Yeah, that was cool. Yeah, there were a lot of people at that session too. It was like an orchestra string and a horn section. So really interesting to see him and all the musicians around shaping his music because that’s kind of rare for hip hop. So, it was really cool.
You almost went the full band route, but ultimately decided to go solo. Why do you think that was the best path?
I decided to go solo because I learned so much being in a band when I was 15, 16, 17, 18, and I like performing my vision of my music. I had enough years where I collaborated, and of course I’m still open to collaboration, but I think it’s harder to manage many personalities in a band, and honestly, it’s a super relief to be a solo artist. It feels much better. It feels like me. I don’t have to really change myself to fit into a musical vision. It gets to start with my musical vision and that feels really good.
You’ve said that good art makes you think, but that good songs are simple and understandable. Why do you think that and how do you hope your approach works towards that goal?
I think good art, quality art, makes you really assess your humanness, and that can be complicated or it can be really simple. I think some of the best commercial artists make it simple and approachable, but I think all types of art are great and equal. I don’t really like to think of art as highbrow and lowbrow. So, I think that great songs that are simple are just as good as very complicated compositions in their worth. I think as long as you’re making art that touches people, it’s quality and it’s meaningful.
What were some of the biggest surprises making the album?
Some of the biggest surprises making the album were the solos with the guitar player Nick Maybury. My producers were kind of like, “so go into the room and just try a bunch of pedals and try playing back and forth.” And I had never recorded solos that way before, just fast off the cuff. Of course I can play a solo quickly, but this was like I’m supposed to be responding to Nick, the guitar player, and his crazy guitar tones. So, I was trying to just understand musically what he was doing first, and that was a surprising, shocking moment for me. I thought I was going to be really deliberate about every note of every solo. And it turned out on this record, I just did a bunch of solos, and it was very fast. I didn’t even know what was going on. My heart was racing.
What was the most challenging song to write and record?
The most challenging song to write was surprisingly, this is funny, “Yeah Yeah, Yeah.” Which is like the simplest, but the verses had to be really specific. Tell the story, create the context in only three lines. So, people who write lyrics in music know you have all these parameters, you have to work within syllables, how many syllables and rhyme schemes. So that was a little hard, but it was a fun fast process. And then the hardest one to arrange was the song “Dark Angel,” because I knew it had a certain reverence and sadness I wanted, but it needed to be a very big track. It needed to grow and really dig into the band sound with strings on top with an electric violin solo. So, there were a lot of pieces we just needed to refine to make the right sound for that track, but I think we did a great job. I think it’s a very moving song.
But what led you to cover “Burn” and “No Matter What”?
I was talking to the head of Blue alone, Kirk Pasich, and he wanted me to pick some cover songs and not just any cover songs. He said, “I think you should pick a Deep Purple song. I think it’s going to be a really cool addition to the album. Which one would you like to do?” And I was deciding between “Highway Star” and “Burn” and “Burn” just was the one. It was just fast. It has a great hook. My voice sounded good on it. So that’s how I chose that.
And then “No Matter What”, that’s one of Kirk’s favorite songs, so he said, “I think you should do this song no matter what.” And I was like, “I don’t know this song. How am I going to do it?” And then he said, “take a listen to it and make it your own. Make it into something that would fit into this album.” So, we just totally got these crazy big guitars and made it psychedelic. And I had this cool, quiet, whispery, soft vocal in the midst of all these huge guitars, and then I added some strings in the chorus, and it really became its own unique sound.
You have a nice balance of harder rocking moments and softer, more scaled back moments. What do you like about having that kind of balance?
I think the contrast between a hard, big sound and the softer more vulnerable moments is not just that it gives the record dynamics, but I think it shows different sides of me from an emotional perspective. And I think that’s really needed for female artists especially. And also for violinists. I think the violin is usually put into one category of, “oh, it’s beautiful.” And I think that this record reflects that. It can be edgy, it can be sassy, it can be loud, and it can also be beautiful, and it can be sad, and it can be vulnerable. So, I really like that the violin itself is almost like its own character showing its dimensionality.
What are you most looking forward to in the months ahead? Any big plans?
I’m so looking forward to the album coming out November 1st. I’m looking forward to promoting it and performing the songs. I’ll be performing them in Las Vegas and New York. I am excited to celebrate, and I’m excited for people to hear it.
I imagine you’ll be playing more cities after that.
Yeah, we’re just talking about the tour schedule now.
You can follow Ginny on Facebook, Instagram and X / Twitter and listen to her music at her YouTube page.
Joshua is co-founder of Scummy Water Tower. He’s freelanced for a variety of newspapers, magazines, and websites, including: Rolling Stone, The Boston Globe, Chicago Sun-Times, Guitar World, MTV News, Grammy.com, Chicago Magazine, Milwaukee Magazine, MKE Lifestyle, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, A.V. Club, SPIN, Alternative Press, Under the Radar, Paste, PopMatters, American Songwriter, and Relix. You can email him at josh@scummywatertower.com.
