Luke Bell

A little bit honky tonk and a little bit Texas, with healthy dashes of Bakersfield and vintage Nashville, singer/songwriter Luke Bell recorded in a throwback style, but wrote from his own well-traveled experiences. A native of Cody, Wyoming, the former ranch hand put in a few years of college in Laramie before the music bug caught hold and took him first to Austin, where he put together a band and landed a residency at revered local dive The Hole in the Wall. After releasing his debut in 2012, he spent some time in both Oregon and New Orleans, writing and further developing a classic style that recalls shades of classic Roger Miller and Buck Owens. Bell eventually found his way to Nashville where his self-released second LP, 2014's Don't Mind If I Do, set bigger things in motion. Nashville talent agency WME heard something they liked in Bell, and before long he was on the road opening dates for Willie Nelson, Hank Williams, Jr., and Dwight Yoakam. With the Thirty Tigers agency now also on his team, he returned to the studio to record a handful of new songs, which were then combined with material from Don't Mind If I Do to create his self-titled third release which arrived in June 2016. A tour in support of the album never took place, but a single was released in 2017, "Where Ya Been?" In 2018, Bell was named Best Male Honky Tonk Artist at the Ameripolitan Awards, launched by retro-country singer Dale Watson. Bell maintained a low profile, though he brought out a single in 2021, "Jealous Guy," and it became known he was receiving treatment for bipolar disorder. Bell, who was adjusting to new medication, went missing on August 20, 2022 in Tucson, AZ. On August 29, 2022, his body was found; he was 32 years old.
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