Luke Tan (born 1977), alias Michael Luchtan, is a country singer and songwriter. His songs are generally on the topics of life and death, the sadness of separation, and the despair of misfits. He criticizes society for hypocrisy and materialism. One of his songs was selected by

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay ...

for a compilation of anti-war songs. In 2007 he released a serialized multi-media project over the internet in association with the street newspaper

Street Roots ''Street Roots'' is a Portland, Oregon, United States based homeless advocacy group and a weekly alternative newspaper that covers homeless issues. The newsprint is sold by and for the homeless in Portland. The paper is published every Friday and ...

called "Ghosts In The Flophouse". He is currently the director for the Asheville Tango Orchestra.

Biography

Michael Luchtan was born in 1977 in

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

and grew up in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. He studied computer science at the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

, in Athens. While there, he began playing with local and visiting artists such as Sacred Geometry. During his PhD studies, Luchtan moved to

Lexington, Georgia The city of Lexington is the county seat of Oglethorpe County, Georgia, United States. The population was 239 at the 2000 census. Lexington is home to Shaking Rock Park. History Lexington was founded in 1800. That same year, the seat of Ogleth ...

. His first performance was for the local

American Legion The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is a non-profit organization of U.S. war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militi ...

post, where he sang old country songs. He then began performing under the name Racecar at local venues. Some works have also been released under the name of My Alien Ways. In the Summer of 2004, he left his job as a Programming Specialist in

Bioinformatics Bioinformatics () is an interdisciplinary field that develops methods and software tools for understanding biological data, in particular when the data sets are large and complex. As an interdisciplinary field of science, bioinformatics combi ...

for th
Kissinger Research Group
at the University of Georgia to dedicate his life to his music and ideals. In 2006, he sold the farm in

and released a series of original content podcasts called "Stubbornly Curious" as he traveled across the United States in an RV. His song "Revolution or Suicide", was made part of

's compilation "Living With War Today", a selection of war protest song

He created a weekly podcast in conjunction with th
Portland Radio Authority
calle
Altered Sound
which takes found sounds, alters, and arranges them in an experimental manner. It ran for eight episodes. He has translated and interpreted the works of Mexican singer songwriter

José Alfredo Jiménez José Alfredo Jiménez Sandoval (; 19 January 1926 – 23 November 1973) was a Mexican singer-songwriter of rancheras, whose songs are considered the basis of modern Mexican music. Biography Jiménez was born in Dolores Hidalgo, Guanajuato, M ...

In 2010, he founded the Asheville Tango Orchestra.

Discography

* ''10 Sad Songs'', 2004 (released under the Racecar moniker) * ''Country Gold'', 2004 (released under the Racecar moniker) * ''Life is But a Wheel'', 2005 * ''The Suicide King'', 2005 * ''Untitled'', 2005 * ''Forgotten Transmissions No. 1'', 2006 Podcast release * ''Return Of The Wandering Jew'', 2006 Podcast release * ''Stubbornly Curious no. 3'', 2006 Podcast release * ''Revolution Or Suicide'', 2006 Podcast release * ''Ghosts In The Flophouse'', 2007 Podcast release * ''Here Come The Floods'', 2008 * ''Songs For A Mayday Picnic'', 2009 * ''El Musico: Songs of José Alfredo Jiménez'', 2010

References

Official Luke tan website

''Flagpole'' magazine
review

'"Bold Life" magazine
review {{DEFAULTSORT:Tan, Luke 1977 births Living people University of Georgia alumni American country singer-songwriters American male singer-songwriters 21st-century American singers Country musicians from Georgia (U.S. state) 21st-century American male singers Singer-songwriters from Georgia (U.S. state)