Session musician Luke Higgins takes centre stage with his version of the classic ‘I Wish You Love’, as heard earlier this year as the soundtrack to the VAX TV commercial.
After serving a lengthy apprenticeship, guitarist, songwriter and singer Luke Higgins is now stepping out of the shadows with his beautiful version of ‘I Wish You Love’, a song that was originally released by Charles Trénet in 1942 as ‘Que reste-t-il do nos amours’ and in 1957 as the translated ‘I Wish You Love’.
A classic that has been recorded by legends such as Frank Sinatra, Etta James & Rod Stewart, Luke recorded his version at the famous Rak studios with the revered producers Bacon & Quarmby. “Recording the song was an amazing experience, it is so beautiful and I hope I have done it justice!” When Luke came to the attention of Vax they were drawn to him as an artist and, on hearing his recording of ‘I Wish You Love’, knew that they had found both the soundtrack to the new Vax advert (which will air from April 2013) and an artist they wanted to work with in the future.
But Luke’s will be no overnight success story. Obsessed with the guitar since the age of 13 Luke was captivated by artists such as Led Zeppelin, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix (who also started his career as a session musician). Studying music technology at university in Leicester, Luke played everywhere he could to earn money, performing cover songs to entertain the audience and throwing in the odd original song “to test it out”. Moving to ACM in Guilford Luke started doing studio and live session work as well as any odd jobs he could, and soon found himself working with a Universal Records signed artist and on tour with Amy Winehouse. “That was a crazy time. I remember playing to a stadium full of people one night and the next morning I was working at a farm cleaning out the cattle.”
Luke went on to tour with various artists including Adele, The Script, Hurts, Clare Maguire and Juan Zelada (with whom he recorded the hit single ‘Breakfast In Spitalfields’) an experience that has equipped him well. “Working as a session musician has allowed me to observe other artists write, record and play live. Having learnt so much I’m now at the point, musically and in my self-belief, when I feel the time is right for me to step to the front of the stage.”
Throughout 2013 Luke has been working on songs for his debut album, scheduled for release next year, and, when his session work permits, performing throughout London and the South East including a residency in Google’s central London offices.