BIG LUX & THE HYPE
Wednesday, NOVEMBER 27
Music: 8p | Doors: 7p
Tickets: $15a/$20d ($3 Service Charge Included With Online Tickets. All sales are final, no ticket refunds or exchanges.)
Hailing from a family of talented musicians, Big Lux discovered the violin and saxophone at a young age. Trained classically in the Suzuki method, he spent school days with brass in his hands and evenings with strings beneath his fingers. He learned other instruments, but it was the violin that called him loudest. Answering that call was the first step in a journey that put him on musical stages around the world, found him leading social justice events, and earned him an appearance at TEDx Providence.
The next step brought him to West Point Military Academy, where he began a military career that spanned five continents and multiple war zones, his violin always near to hand. He won talent shows in Afghanistan, played for troops in Iraq, and fused Hip Hop and Soul music in Seoul. In Chasing Bombs, a song he wrote and performed for his original EP Major, he describes his first tour in Iraq. It’s an honest, unapologetic account of his deployment that doesn’t spare listeners from the emotional authenticity of a combat veteran.
Lux used his military experience to grow as both an artist and as a person. Four years in Korea introduced him to an entirely new culture, one where he refined his style and his grasp on the Chinese language, a subject he studied at West Point. He embraced the local Performing Arts culture, playing gigs when he wasn’t training soldiers to chase bombs of their own. His time in Korea important in his evolution as a performer, and it marked the beginning of the phenomenon we now know as Big Lux. He founded Bold Coast, the winner of the Seoul Expat’s 2015 Battle of the Bands and headliner for the city’s St. Patrick’s Day Festival. As a solo artist he made the Korea Times and was featured on the internationally-broadcast Armed Forces Network, both on television and radio.
The next stop was Miami, Florida, where he obtained his MBA from the University of Miami. Much like Korea and D.C., Miami left an imprint on him as a performer, but this time in a Latin flavor. His music became more energetic, brimming with electricity and excitement like the South Beach nightclubs in which he played. His cover of Despacito resonated with crowds, not only on dance floors but also online, and highlighted his ability to lend the violin to new genres and cultures. It was electric, and he played it among the crowd, standing atop stools and dancing along bar tops. He wasn’t just a musician; he’d evolved into a charged performer the likes of which Miami hadn’t seen with strings and a bow before. He had become Big Lux.
Fast forward two years. He has a Master’s Degree in Business, a great job with a Commercial Real Estate Developer and a Miami apartment with a water view. The next step in his journey was obvious.
While it may seem crazy to some, the plan is perfectly in keeping in Big Lux’s go-big-or-go-home philosophy. The same ambition and confidence that inspired him to hit the reset button on his “adult” life drives every show he plays, every song he writes and every stroke of horsehair across the strings. It’s a part of his story, and a big part of being Big Lux.
Today Big Lux lives in Rhode Island, though he frequently travels the east coast playing shows from Miami to New Hampshire. He continues to tour Korea annually, staying in touch with the culture of street performers that first helped him define himself as a musician. While he continues to play professionally at nightclubs, weddings and corporate events, he also dedicates a significant amount of time to activism and fundraising. He’s spoken at local colleges, interviewed on radio stations, marched in peaceful BLM protests and even led Vigils to honor victims of police brutality and increase awareness.
In 2020, he produced a Music Video from his original song Red March (A Protest Video). The video drew local press attention and is now being produced as an orchestral performance by multiple universities. At a Protest Vigil in Providence, Rhode Island, string musicians came from neighboring states and played the score in unity to peacefully protest police brutality and bring awareness to the 2019 killing of Elijah McClain, an unarmed black man and fellow violinist.
Big Lux continues his activism through music, lectures, and events designed to increase awareness and foster meaningful dialog. He is always looking for the next opportunity to make a difference, and always willing to embrace the challenges necessary for change.