New chapter: Fiddle player Luke Bulla brings solo show to Albuquerque

Luke Bulla his looking forward to his shows out West.

He recently finished a tour up the Northeast, where he performed solo.

“It’s nice to be by yourself for a moment,” he says. “I never set out to do solo shows. This tour is different. It’s fulfilling and I have more independence as I get to involve my family more. They can travel with me. When I’m off tour, I’m able to be home.”

Bulla will make a stop on his current tour in Albuquerque on Friday, May 3, at Covenant Presbyterian Church.

Bulla has been singing and playing music most of his life, touring with and singing in his family band from age four.

By seven, he took up the fiddle.

Over the course of the next few years, he won the National Fiddle Contest (in Weiser, Idaho) six times in his respective age categories.

His seventh win came in the Grand Champion division at age 16, making him the youngest to have earned the title at the time.

In the spring of 1999, he moved to Nashville, Tennessee to establish himself as a full-time musician.

He spent his early years in Tennessee playing fiddle in Ricky Skaggs’ band, Kentucky Thunder, which earned him his first Grammy Award.

He’s also performed and/or recorded with Brandi Carlile, Jim Lauderdale, Darrell Scott, Alison Krauss, Jerry Douglas, Sam Bush, Edgar Meyer, Bela Fleck, Bryan Sutton, Kevin Costner & Modern West, Russ Barenberg Trio, Shawn Colvin, Tony Rice, Chris Thile, Peter Rowan, Patty Griffin, Glen Phillips, Rodney Crowell and Earl Scruggs.

Since 2009, Bulla has been touring with Lyle Lovett.

In 2016, he released “Who Loves You Better.”

“Since the pandemic, I’ve been working on some new music developing the solo show,” he says. “It’s helped me get into telling my story and my history because I’ve been fortunate to perform with some amazing icons of our time. From Lyle to Ricky, I’m finding a way to weave those stories into the repertoire. It’s been an amazing experience so far.”

Bulla and his wife are also balancing being parents, as they have two children.

“My baby girl will be four and she’s been an inspiration,” he says. “I love being a dad. Our son also plays fiddle and sits in with me as well.”

Over the course of his career in music, Bulla has learned a few things.

When he began, he was into the new acoustic scene in music.

“When I moved to Nashville, I was so into singing and writing lyrics,” he says. “I began to put more thought and development into the lyrics of the songs. It’s such a big part of my history and musical development. When it came to making my first solo album, I ended up recording with some buddies. I’m still trying to figure out how to write straight ahead and saying what is on my mind.”