Jeff Louie Biography
Jeff was born in Toronto and grew up in Newton, MA. He devoted most of his youth to playing the violin and the piano. The only rock albums Jeff’s parents owned were the Beatles Red and Blue Albums, (and possibly the Best of Helen Reddy, which is not relevant to this particular discussion), and he clandestinely spent much of his piano-practicing time figuring out how to execute all the songs on those albums.By the age of 13, Jeff had already won several competitions and soloed with local orchestras on both piano and violin. That year he wrote a string quartet for which he was awarded the BMI Student Composers Award. With the prize money he bought himself an Ovation Classic acoustic-electric 6-string. From then on, he clandestinely spent much of his violin-practicing time teaching himself guitar. A few years and a couple of high school funk bands later (in which he generally played bass), he stopped taking violin lessons.
Jeff went to college hoping to find a niche in the academic music community. Jeff left college with a useless degree, a few more awards, a few more guitars, and a small collection of useful pop songs, none of which he ever got graded on.
His first CD of
original songs, the Lactose-Intolerant
EP, was recorded by Eric Hennen at MUTT Productions in Jamaica Plain,
with Dave Jamrog
on drums, and
Jeff on everything else (guitars, basses, keyboards, strings, and
vocals). The track “Lactose-Intolerant
Girl” became
an instant cult favorite upon the CD’s release in 2001.
His first
full-length CD, After, was released in 2004.
It
was also recorded by Eric Hennen at MUTT, with Dave
Jamrog on drums
and a handful of classically-trained guests.
Jeff has appeared as a
singer/songwriter in local venues such as Club
Passim, The Burren, and solo shows at the All Asia Bar and the erstwhile Kendall
Cafe. In
addition to his rock performances, Jeff
continues to perform as a classical pianist, and he serves as assistant
principal second violin in the Boston
Philharmonic Orchestra. He is also a
member of the Anima Chamber
Players.
Photo by Susan Wilson www.susanwilsonphoto.com