Paying it forward: Grammy winner starts local programs for aspiring artists

“Accomplishing the impossible.”

Those were the words that first went through Luke Crowder’s mind as he stood in a Homewood gas station on Feb. 4, the night of the 66th Annual Grammy Awards. He had just learned that he won in the category of Best Rap Album, for production performed on rapper Killer Mike’s album “Michael.”

However, Crowder remains humble, remembering a “lot of years of trying to figure it all out.”

He grew up in a musical family, with his mother singing at Winewood Baptist Christian Fellowship in Birmingham and both parents always playing music at home. At age 10, he was taking piano lessons under Tony Andrews, as well as becoming a “master in process” at percussion.

“The church was very inviting,” Crowder said. “Even if you’re not one of the best, it gives everybody a chance to learn and grow.”

His mother had a Korg keyboard, which he used to create music with its built-in recorder. His defining moment, when he knew he wanted to make music his career, happened right before high school, with his brother, Ken, and his friend and fellow music producer Jacquez Williams.

“Jacquez had a program called Fruity Loops, where I was able to make an instrumentation of my own creation,” Crowder said. “I had never seen a studio, and I thought you had to have millions of dollars to use one, so I made music from home at first.”

Then he connected with Audiostate 55, owned by Grammy- and Emmy-winning composer Henry Panion III, and Crowder ended up producing for local radio stations like 95.7 JAMZ. He also worked with James Bevelle, a recording engineer who has worked with artists including Stevie Wonder and Ruben Studdard.

“It was my first time working in a professional studio, and I learned a lot of tips about making it in music production,” Crowder said.

He recently opened a creative compound called RJV Studios on Goodwin Crest Drive in Homewood, along with partners Chris Anderson and Jacob Guyton.

“It’s a one-stop shop for anything in the arts, and it’s open to the public,” Crowder said.

RJV has partnered with The Flourish Alabama, a nonprofit for young artists, to start the Full Bloom Initiative, where kids can learn how to get involved in the music industry.

“We hope to target every Birmingham city school with this program,” Crowder said. “We started with Wenonah, and my alma mater, Ramsay High, will be next.”

The program is a way for him to pay forward what he has learned.

“Real relationships build real results,” Crowder said. “It’s easy to let things go to your head when you become successful, but I learn from people every day, and I want to help them learn.”

Crowder has also helped start the Five Tribe, a free monthly event at the Greenhouse in Ensley.

“Producers and musicians get together and play, and we have live art, jewelry, a food truck and interpretive dance,” Crowder said.

In the future, Crowder sees himself being a pioneer for making Birmingham a forerunner in the music scene.

“I want to be a teacher, a mentor and shine a light on Birmingham.” Crowder said.

In addition to the influences of his brother and mother, Crowder also remembers his father, Ken Sr., who was killed in a car accident on Thanksgiving weekend in 2018. Crowder looked up to him for advice about how to keep moving up the ladder in his music career, even when he felt stuck. 

“I wish I could go back and ask him some more questions,” Crowder said. “That’s why it’s so important to cherish each moment. I feel like he continues to pull strings for me.”

Crowder said that, through it all, he had to just “jump out” on faith.

“It’s not me, it’s God,” he said. “It’s been a lot of prayers and people helping me along the way.”