Silvertone Guitar
Silvertone guitar amp w/reverb spring
TUSCUMBIA – When he was a kid, Howard did most of the stuff that boys up in Wisconsin do. Go to school, work at little jobs… And try to figure out the best way to meet girls. He liked music, and so he figured that he would learn to play the little guitar his uncle gave him. He had a decent Sears Silvertone amp with that cool reverb spring in the top. He picked at it for years. Got pretty decent with it too. Some time during this period of learning to play rock ‘n roll and bluesy tunes with ever-increasing quality axes, Howard heard a song on the radio by guitar virtuoso (mf), Travis Wammack. And the world changed. As a young man, Howard Luedtke promised himself that one day, come hell or high water, he was going to meet Travis. And he was going to play some music with Travis too.
That was 40 years ago.
So a few years ago, Howard decided to go for it. He wrote a letter to Donnie and Travis and sent it along with his CD recordings. He told his story, and made it clear that he really wanted to work with on an album. We’ve included the letter. Make sure to read it, you’ll be touched.
Howard Luedtke, guitar case in hand.
This week, Howard took his musical Hajj to the Mecca of Music and arrived here in Muscle Shoals. And waiting for him at the door was Travis Wammack.
Howard told the Quad-Cities Daily, “I couldn’t believe it. After all this time, I finally got down here! Travis and his band (Snake Man Band) opened up their homes to me. We went into Donnie (Gullett) and Jan’s studio and made an album. It’s a life long dream come true. And if that isn’t enough, Roger Clark is playing drums!”
Howard and Travis Wammack
Howard is featured in the Fall 2014 Issue of ‘Living and Playing” Magazine.
Luedtke is no stranger to recording studios, he has a number of CD’s to his credit already. In fact, he was recently written up in “Living and Playing”, a Wisconsin magazine. According to Travis, “Man, he’s good. He plays the same style as I like to play. He’s a bit more bluesy than me, but we really hit it off nicely in the studio.”
When the tracks finally get laid down this week, Howard will head back to Wisconsin. He and his wife are coming back in a few weeks to finish fine tuning the album.
The Quad-Cities Daily showed up at the Gullett studio and took some photos.
Photos by Steve Wiggins
Here’s the letter:
