Born in New York City, Lou spent much of his youth absorbed in Jack London novels, wondering if (as London claimed) spit really does freeze in the air at 60-below-zero.
Lou got his first guitar when he was ten, and often spent Sunday afternoons in Washington Square Park hanging around the street jams. After a brief, obligatory sojourn in a teenage rock band, he returned to acoustic music and has stayed with it ever since.
Inspired by Jack Kerouac — but a bit late to the party, Lou dropped out of school at 16 and hitchhiked cross-country doing a number of things that he should probably have skipped. All the traveling made him realize that he was just not a city kid at heart. The next five years found him living in a series of cabins in Western Massachusetts, pretending he was really in the wilderness.
Lou finally made it to Alaska, unabashedly looking for adventure, but also determined to find out about Jack London and the spit. Since then, he has worn the respective hats of a mechanic, prospector, trapper, bush pilot, engineer, and musician. (It’s said that those people are still looking for their hats – and reportedly, are not very happy.)
For seven years, Lou lived on a small, isolated homestead, 50 miles from the nearest village. Access was by bush-plane, boat, or dog-team. Having already acquired a team of 13 dogs, it was a small step to add a couple of kids to the family. They were both born in a hospital in Fairbanks. Lou is not that crazy!)
Eventually, Lou moved into town and got a day job, but has never stopped playing and writing music.
Lou has had the honor of opening for such folks as Christine Lavin, Bill Morrissey, Bryan Bowers, Cosey Sheridan, & Suzzy Roche. His music has been heard on Doctor Dimento, River City Folk, Woody’s Children, NPR’s Weekend Edition, Talk of the Nation, and Car Talk.
With regard to the spit freezing…well you’ll have to come to Alaska and find out for yourself.