For the old-soul musicians, it鈥檚 all about the love of creating soothing sounds.
Lunch at Allen鈥檚, a collective comprised of four Canadian artists from a variety of musical backgrounds, is bringing their uplifting sounds to the Vernon and District Performing Arts Centre June 18.
鈥淲e love it,鈥 says Brooklyn-born and Toronto-raised Marc Jordan of Lunch at Allen鈥檚. 鈥淚f we didn鈥檛 love doing it, we probably wouldn鈥檛 do it.鈥
Playing alongside Jordan are fellow Canadian musicians Murray McLauchlan, Ian Thomas, and Cindy Church.
鈥淚t鈥檚 rare that you get to play with people that you鈥檝e known for so long,鈥 Jordan says, adding that he鈥檚 known McLauchlan and Thomas for about 30 years.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just a wonderful thing to get to play with your pals.鈥
As individuals, McLauchlan, Thomas, Church, and Jordan have written for or sung on more than 25,000,000 CDs, working on hits with the likes of Josh Groban, Chicago, Bonnie Raitt, America, Santana, Cher, and Rod Stewart, as well as penning their own hits such as Murray鈥檚 Farmer鈥檚 Song, 惭补谤肠鈥檚 Marina Del Ray, and Ian鈥檚 Painted Ladies, among others.
The three friends then added Church鈥檚 voice to create Lunch at Allen鈥檚.
鈥淲e loved the way our voices sounded when Cindy joined,鈥 Jordan says.
Lunch at Allen鈥檚 has been playing together for about 14 years, starting with a one-off, eight-city tour in 2004.
鈥淚t just kind of snowballed (from there.)鈥
Their live performance ebbs and flows as each singer takes a turn leading the intimate and humorous show, with the other three artists singing back-up and supporting the current frontman.
鈥淲e do it as if we鈥檙e a band, but we鈥檙e all separate songwriters. It鈥檚 a lot of fun. Depending on how much wine is consumed, the show can take a turn,鈥 he laughs.
鈥淚 still learn stuff from these guys.鈥
Jordan moved to Los Angeles in 1978 when he was signed to Warner Music in Burbank, Calif. by Gary Katz 鈥 the producer of Steely Dan.
When Jordan was living in Los Angeles, he spent most of his time recording music and writing songs with and for Diana Ross, Kansas, Manhattan Transfer, Kenny Loggins, Amanda Marshall, Amy Sky, Bette Midler, Natalie Cole, Roch Voisin, Canadian Tenors, Shawn Colvin, Olivia Newton-John, and Joe Cocker, among others, and while he certainly played a major role in the Los Angeles music scene, he spent little time playing in front of a live audience. Now back in Canada, Jordan is excited to be performing live again, this time with Lunch at Allen鈥檚.
鈥淟ots of laughs and lots of great music,鈥 Jordan says of their live performance. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not the same every night. But we talk about the songs and how they came to be. We give a little background in the process of writing songs.
鈥淢usic is a gift. It鈥檚 a gift to the people who are listening. It makes us feel good that we can play songs people have heard. They get to hear them the way they were written.鈥
Lunch at Allen鈥檚 is embarking on the tour for the launch of their newest record, If It Feels Right. It will be a long-time-coming B.C. tour for the band.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been a while since we鈥檝e been out west,鈥 Jordan says.
And he鈥檚 looking forward to reconnecting with Lunch at Allen鈥檚 B.C. fanbase.
鈥淲e love to meet the audience,鈥 Jordan says.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a labour of love.鈥
Lunch at Allen鈥檚 is on tour for the release of their new record If It Feels Right and will be playing at the Vernon and District Performing Arts Centre June 18 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available for $47.50 from the Ticket Seller, 250-549-7469, . Lunch at Allen鈥檚 will also be performing in 琉璃神社 at the Community Theatre June 19. Tickets are available from all Select Your Tickets outlets, call 250-762-5050.