As Luke Dowler heads out the "Won't Burn Out Quiet Tour" we caught up with him and asked a few questions about him, his ministry and his music:

Can you tell us who a few of your heroes are?

I have always identified with the underdogs, the guys that everyone writes off.  So my heroes have always been the guys that speak up for the marginalized. Guys that use their voice for something bigger than themselves. At first it was Spiderman and DIY punk rock bands. Until I met Jesus.  Jesus has been my hero for 13 years. I want to live a life like He did. Keith Green and Rich Mullins rock my world as Christian artists.

When Johnny Cash plays for the prisoners, or Bono lobbies for the widow and orphan, I am inspired to make my faith real.  I also really look up to songwriters who are able to draw emotions out of me that I didn't even know were there like King David,  Asaph, Ryan Adams, Jon Foreman, Sting, Eddie Vedder, Springsteen, and Van Morrison.

 I'm also inspired by authors like Ravi Zacharias, Shane Claiborne, Jeremiah, Apostle Paul, Donald Miller,  John Eldridge, George MacDonald, and  C.S. Lewis.   They have made me want to find my voice and use it for the people that don't have one. 

With the album being compared by critics to artists as diverse as Switchfoot, Jimmy Eat World, Bob Marley, Third Day and Bruce Springsteen; how would you describe your sound?

My influences draw from the melody of pop music, the sincerity of a singer songwriter and the power of an arena rock and roll band. On Polarized, I wanted to capture a snapshot of something raw and real; something imperfect. I had the opportunity to produce this record myself and I wasn't interested in making it 'perfect'. So much music these days feels soulless and candy coated. I wanted to shake things up and avoid the Stepford Syndrome, perfecting everything to the point that it's not even real anymore. 

"Polarized" covers a wife range of content from church and politics to your relationship with your wife.  But the whole record seems to have a very personal "feel" to it, can you describe any themes that came out in the writing?

I can only write what I know so I think my records will always be personal.  My last record, "Compared To You" was a collection of corporate minded worship songs. I wanted to write directly about who God is for people who know who he is. With "Polarized", I wanted to describe the world around me and explore how to live in it as a Christian.    

There were all of these characters roaming the songwriting hallways when I sat down to write these songs.  There were the Jonah's and the Job's.  There were the self deprecating and suicidal. There were the people exploring why God doesn't show up or stop evil.   When divorce is ending half of my friends marriages, it impacts my songwriting. I want to reaffirm my love for my wife.  I want to identify with my friends pain.  When the promises of God don't match up with the circumstances of life, I have to write about it.  But this record doesn't spoon-feed answers as much as it asks allegorically, "can we do better?". Polarized doesn't resolve the question with an answer.  Probably because I believe some answers are made to be found by yourself.

The corporate worship songs that I have written are kind of like the last chapter of a book. They sum up the story and try to tie together all of the questions. But the ending doesn't make sense when you don't know the plot twists and the character developments. Polarized was written with the in-between and not there yet in mind.

Tour

Luke Dowler is now headlining the Won't Burn Out Quiet Tour, hitting cites all across the continent including Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles, Denver, Nashville, Jackson Ville, Vancouver and more. Be sure to check out all the dates here: http://www.lukedowler.com/Main/shows/  For more information about Luke head on over to www.DreamRecords.org

Pick up your copy of Luke Dowler's new album, Polarized, today!

iTUNES -http://bit.ly/OBqHsg

AMAZON - http://amzn.to/ODdyzl