Lucas Choi Zimbel

Lucas Choi Zimbel can croon on for hours with a smile on his face and a skip in his step about how we are all going to hell in a handbasket. You’ll be smiling and dancing too, until you realize that you are celebrating death and taxes. You may then need to procure yourself another stiff drink and hey, why not one for the fellah on stage? He’ll take a double. In a career that hasn’t stopped its upward trajectory since 2010, Zimbel has done it all: international tours, festivals, bars, concert halls, composing, arranging, producing, film scoring and a Tupperware party. His blend of virtuosic fingerpicking and flatpicking has enchanted people the world over and made him a mainstay of Montreal’s vibrant folk music scene. In 2019 he released his first full length solo recording, ‘Tempered Tantrum’, to critical acclaim, including the observation from Fred Kraus at Minor7th that “Zimbel shows himself to be a shrewd observer of life […] his Shakespearean ear for couplets is as wise as the mountains, and you can feel his ache of the ages”. “Lucas Choi Zimbel’s new album, Tempered Tantrum, is a warm return to folk music’s legendary, civilly disobedient roots. The music feels wildly and cathartically familiar. The complex finger patterns, tempo changes, melodic structures, and relatable & unassuming lyrics are all impressive enough parts—which somehow pale in comparison to the substantive whole—that of Lucas’ ability to create simple, grounded, lived-in music—the kind of vibrations that make a listener feel safe inside. Safe enough to think for oneself and rise up.” -thearkofmusic.com