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"Fits perfectly within the sort of urban, pop-grass vibe."
~Bluegrass Today
Erinn Peet Lukes has an angelic voice that soars over a blanket of acoustic sound. Thunder and Rain's music lives somewhere in between folk, country, bluegrass, and pop, made cohesive by Peet-Lukes' "nimble, yet devastating" vocals, heartfelt lyricism and a high level of musicianship from mandolinist Dylan McCarthy, bassist Ian Haegele and Allen Cooke on Dobro.
Peet Lukes didn't know anything about bluegrass or country when she wrote her first song at thirteen in her hometown of Redondo Beach, California. She pursued her love of performing original songs through major music hubs like Seattle and New York City, until she landed in Golden, CO in 2013. She began to explore bluegrass jams in the Denver area, where she would eventually meet bass player Ian Haegele and her co writer and then band member, RP Oates. Thunder and Rain recorded their first record, Holler Out, in 2014.
"Having created a wonderfully warm, almost trade marked sound, blending compelling lyrics, delightful vocals and harmonies with lush instrumental arrangements and infectious choruses....Thunder and Rain come of age."
~Folk Radio UK
Since their first effort, the band has toured across the US, Canada, Ireland and the UK. They were finalists in the Rockygrass Band Competition in 2014 and named #1 Bluegrass band by the Denver Westword in 2016. In 2018, Peet Lukes became a New Folk Finalist at the Kerrville Folk Festival.
Fans love Peet Lukes strong, yet vulnerable way of conveying her songs. She's been compared to Natalie Maines, Linda Ronstadt, and Alison Krauss. Haegele graduated with a masters in Bass Performance from UNC Greeley, and McCarthy and Cooke have risen to the top of their fields on their respective instruments. Cooke won the Rockygrass Dobro Championship in 2014 and McCarthy won the Rockygrass Mandolin Championship in 2019.
"I
am continually fascinated how some bands hew to the same
sound in their music for decades, and yet it somehow still
sounds fresh. Other bands wander the musical landscape and
manage to make many genres their own. Such is the case
with the latest from Colorado’s Thunder and Rain, entitled Passing
in the Night."
~Twangville
Thunder and Rain will release their third album, Passing in the Night, January 2020. The album was written after Peet-Lukes went through a break up within the band. If the band's third album was a movie, it would be a series of vignettes, detailing the different ways two people can meet, connect, and then disappear from each others lives. This music is inspired by a whole host of genres, from classic country to old time, bluegrass, pop, and folk. The strings add dynamic shifts for the confessional songwriting that comes directly from her life.
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