Country singer-songwriter Luke Bell, whose throwback style blended Texas, Nashville and Bakersfield roots, has died, according to his friend and collaborator Matt Kinman. He was 32.
Bell, who struggled with severe bipolar disorder, had traveled to Arizona with Kinman for work but disappeared Saturday, Aug. 20, in Tucson. He was found dead about a week later, according to SavingCountryMusic.com, “not far from where he disappeared and in a way we all feared he would be when we first heard the news.” His cause of death is still pending an autopsy.
Kinman, who had played with Bell for the past six years, told the magazine, “We came down here to Arizona to work down here, play some music, and he just took off. He was in the back of the truck. I went in to get something to eat. I came out and he had gotten out of the truck and was leaving.”
After he disappeared, Kinman speculated, “He could be in Tucson. But it’s possible he jumped a freight train,” which wasn’t unusual for Bell. “Semi-homeless and generally adrift,” according to SaveCountryMusic, Bell hitchhiked and couch surfed while honing his chops during his formative musical years.
In 2015, Rolling Stone described its sound as “classic honky-tonk with a wink and a yodel.” The unique blend earned him opening slots with Willie Nelson, Hank Williams, Jr. and Dwight Yoakam.
Bell released three albums: a self-released debut in 2012, Don’t mind if I do in 2014 and an eponymous disc in 2016.