Luke Faust (born 1936) is an American folk musician. In the early 1960s he played a five-string banjo and sang Appalachian ballads, at
The Gaslight Cafe
The Gaslight Cafe was a coffeehouse in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York. Also known as The Village Gaslight, it opened in 1958 and became notable as a venue for folk music and other musical acts.Al AronowitzThe Gaslight, ...
in
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...
,
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...
. For five or six years, Faust performed with Jerry Rasmussen. One of his fellow entertainers at the Gaslight was
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
, who described Faust as "Someone closer in temperament to me."
Faust moved to
Hoboken, New Jersey
Hoboken ( ; Unami: ') is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 60,417. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 58, ...
in 1963.
"The Insect Trust; Luke Faust"
, Perfect Sound Forever. Accessed February 6, 2013. "I moved to Hoboken in 1963 when I was 27. I'd been there a year working on the docks and doing all kinds of jobs, studying painting, playing music occasionally. I've never been a full-time musician." In the early 1960s, he briefly played the jug performing with the Holy Modal Rounders. He would get on stage with a full gallon of red wine and unscrew the top, take a few chugs and start playing. His tone would get deeper as the gig went on.
In the late 1960s, Faust was a founding member of the band, The Insect Trust. He was the band's banjo, fiddle and harmonica player. Later in the 1990s, he went on to form The Jug Jam, an improvisational jug band with Perry Robinson, Lou Grassi and Wayne Lopes. Faust also played with 90 proof – a band with Steve James.
Faust is currently performing with The Carolina Jug Stompers playing rags, blues and breakdowns in the old-time jug – stringband style. Faust's contributions to music has been described in Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
's book, '' Chronicles: Volume One'', and Dave Van Ronk
David Kenneth Ritz Van Ronk (June 30, 1936 – February 10, 2002) was an American folk singer. An important figure in the American folk music revival and New York City's Greenwich Village scene in the 1960s, he was nicknamed the "Mayor of Mac ...
's compilation album, '' The Mayor of MacDougal Street''.
Discography
With The Insect Trust
* 1969 ''The Insect Trust''
* 1970 ''Hoboken Saturday Night''
With Dave Van Ronk
David Kenneth Ritz Van Ronk (June 30, 1936 – February 10, 2002) was an American folk singer. An important figure in the American folk music revival and New York City's Greenwich Village scene in the 1960s, he was nicknamed the "Mayor of Mac ...
* 2000 ''Dealin' With The Devil''
With The Carolina Jug Stompers
* 2005 ''Rooster on a Limb''
#. "Money Never Runs Out"
#. "Maybelle Rag"
#. "Going to Germany"
#. "Bum Bum Blues"
#. "New Orleans Wiggle"/" Somebody Stole My Gal"
#. "Gin Done Done It"
#. "Under the Chicken Tree"
#. "Lonely One in This Town"
#. "Cotton Picker’s Rag"
#. "Central Georgia Blues"
#. "Rooster on a Limb"
#. "Please Baby"
#. "Podunk Toddle"
#. "K.C. Moan"
#. "Georgia Pines"
#. "Busted"
#. "Carolina Shout"/"House Rent Rag"
References
Bibliography
* La Gorce, Tammy.: "Throwing Rock Snobs a Bone", ''The New York Times'', December 18, 2005. Section 14NJ; Column 4; New Jersey Weekly Desk; Music; p. 14.
* "POP/JAZZ; STAMPFEL'S BOTTLE CAPS: A MERRY MIX OF MUSIC" by Robert Palmer. ''The New York Times'', May 16, 1986, Late City Final Edition.
External links
The Insect Trust
{{DEFAULTSORT:Faust, Luke
1936 births
Living people
American banjoists
Musicians from Hoboken, New Jersey
Musicians from New York City
American folk singers