For the old-soul musicians, it’s all about the love of creating soothing sounds.
Lunch at Allen’s, a collective comprised of four Canadian artists from a variety of musical backgrounds, is bringing their uplifting sounds to the Vernon and District Performing Arts Centre June 18.
“We love it,” says Brooklyn-born and Toronto-raised Marc Jordan of Lunch at Allen’s. “If we didn’t love doing it, we probably wouldn’t do it.”
Playing alongside Jordan are fellow Canadian musicians Murray McLauchlan, Ian Thomas, and Cindy Church.
“It’s rare that you get to play with people that you’ve known for so long,” Jordan says, adding that he’s known McLauchlan and Thomas for about 30 years.
“It’s just a wonderful thing to get to play with your pals.”
As individuals, McLauchlan, Thomas, Church, and Jordan have written for or sung on more than 25,000,000 CDs, working on hits with the likes of Josh Groban, Chicago, Bonnie Raitt, America, Santana, Cher, and Rod Stewart, as well as penning their own hits such as Murray’s Farmer’s Song, Marc’s Marina Del Ray, and Ian’s Painted Ladies, among others.
The three friends then added Church’s voice to create Lunch at Allen’s.
“We loved the way our voices sounded when Cindy joined,” Jordan says.
Lunch at Allen’s has been playing together for about 14 years, starting with a one-off, eight-city tour in 2004.
“It just kind of snowballed (from there.)”
Their live performance ebbs and flows as each singer takes a turn leading the intimate and humorous show, with the other three artists singing back-up and supporting the current frontman.
“We do it as if we’re a band, but we’re all separate songwriters. It’s a lot of fun. Depending on how much wine is consumed, the show can take a turn,” he laughs.
“I still learn stuff from these guys.”
Jordan moved to Los Angeles in 1978 when he was signed to Warner Music in Burbank, Calif. by Gary Katz — the producer of Steely Dan.
When Jordan was living in Los Angeles, he spent most of his time recording music and writing songs with and for Diana Ross, Kansas, Manhattan Transfer, Kenny Loggins, Amanda Marshall, Amy Sky, Bette Midler, Natalie Cole, Roch Voisin, Canadian Tenors, Shawn Colvin, Olivia Newton-John, and Joe Cocker, among others, and while he certainly played a major role in the Los Angeles music scene, he spent little time playing in front of a live audience. Now back in Canada, Jordan is excited to be performing live again, this time with Lunch at Allen’s.
“Lots of laughs and lots of great music,” Jordan says of their live performance. “It’s not the same every night. But we talk about the songs and how they came to be. We give a little background in the process of writing songs.
“Music is a gift. It’s a gift to the people who are listening. It makes us feel good that we can play songs people have heard. They get to hear them the way they were written.”
Lunch at Allen’s is embarking on the tour for the launch of their newest record, If It Feels Right. It will be a long-time-coming B.C. tour for the band.
“It’s been a while since we’ve been out west,” Jordan says.
And he’s looking forward to reconnecting with Lunch at Allen’s B.C. fanbase.
“We love to meet the audience,” Jordan says.
“It’s a labour of love.”
Lunch at Allen’s is on tour for the release of their new record If It Feels Right and will be playing at the Vernon and District Performing Arts Centre June 18 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available for $47.50 from the Ticket Seller, 250-549-7469, www.ticketseller.ca. Lunch at Allen’s will also be performing in Kelowna at the Community Theatre June 19. Tickets are available from all Select Your Tickets outlets, call 250-762-5050.