Luka Bloom, singer / songwriter

The singer/songwriter Luka Bloom recently celebrated his 70th birthday, and on the same day he released his 24th (that’s right, 24!) album, titled Second Wind.

He almost didn’t live to reach these milestones—last fall, Bloom underwent surgery to avoid complete heart failure. The ensuing complications laid him up for months and required an aortic intervention involving a pig’s heart valve. (Bloom has been described in the past by music critics as a “heart singer,” so the change in his aortic makeup perhaps takes on added significance.)

Luka Bloom, photographed at Hanne’s Cottage by Hanne T. Fisker

He performed for the first time post-surgery in late May, a few days after the record release—and I was fortunate enough to be there at the show, at Kenny’s Bar in the Burren beach town of Lahinch, along with my wife Laura. I’d interviewed Bloom beforehand, on Zoom, and he told me he was going to start small and slow, in terms of his return to the stage.

Over his 50-year career, Bloom has played thousands of shows, in almost every part of the world, during a career that began when he was a teenage folk singer named Barry Moore, working in the shadow of his famous older brother, the Irish balladeer Christy Moore. By his early 30s, the younger Moore had produced three albums that went nowhere, and his career seemed headed for the same destination. But then he reinvented himself: He gave himself a new name (choosing a first name inspired by the Suzanne Vega song, and borrowing the last name from James Joyce’s protagonist in Ulysses). And he headed for New York, Dylan-style—where he played clubs in Greenwich Village, developed a following, and landed a Warner record deal.

He's had a rich and interesting journey since, playing gigs in bustling cities around the world. But he eventually decided to make his home in the mostly-quiet Burren area. It seems to have paid off: Bloom has been very productive amid the stillness, including a surprising surge of creativity during the Covid crisis (he released three records in a one-year span). And then, last year, came the aforementioned “change of heart”—which put his music on pause for half a year. When I spoke to him just before his return to the stage, he seemed excited about it—and also a tad anxious.

Luka Bloom performing at Kenny’s Bar

At Kenny’s Bar, he blew the crowd away. Mind you, there was a stumble or two over new song lyrics (effects of the layoff). But as Bloom persevered—with gentle humor first and then with fierce gusto—the crowd rallied to him (and he to them) in a way that was moving and exhilarating.

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You can learn more about Luka Bloom and his music here.