Luke Dowler dives deep with new album “Midnight Conversations”

Everyone is familiar with the kind of conversations that only happen in the middle of the night, including Kalispell singer-songwriter Luke Dowler, who tapped into those deep feelings for his most recent album “Midnight Conversations.”  

The album, released in 2024, includes 11 tracks that peer into an intimate moment between a friend, family member or lover. Dowler said it’s not quite a “party album” but rather a “listening album,” where his real-life experiences are woven into the music.  

"Some of the stories where the songs come from make them uniquely special to me,” Dowler said. 

One song he hasn’t gotten tired of playing live is “Annalise,” which he wrote about his daughter. He was on tour and about to play a basement club in Manhattan when he got the call that she was being rushed to the emergency room for surgery. Dowler was gutted, and with no quick way to get back home, he started writing his feelings down.  

“I just grabbed my guitar and started writing a song as a bit of a therapeutic and mental way to kind of get through it,” Dowler said. “And everything ended up being [OK] she's fully healthy and everything ended up working out.” 

Dowler will perform for the Daily Inter Lake’s Press Play concert series on March 7. 

Turning toward music is something Dowler has been doing nearly his entire life, he said.  He’s been playing for 20 years and has many albums under his belt, some of which, he said, are “lost to the vault, like Disney.” Others got him critical acclaim; in 2012 he was signed to EMI/Dream Records and released his album “Polarized.” Soon after in 2014, Paste magazine called Dowler “a Montana artist you need to listen to now.”  

Born in Kalispell but moving away soon after — his father’s time serving in the Marines had the family moving around a lot when Dowler was growing up. But their plan was to always return to Montana, and Dowler has called it home ever since his teen years.  

He played in various bands but eventually started a solo project when he dove into playing professionally. His sound is blend of indie, folk, Americana and Rock. 

 “It became real hard to keep a band project going ... I love the band dynamic, but it just got difficult. When you put in so much work and then folks, for justifiable viable reasons, [leave] and find yourself high and dry and have to start all over again,” Dowler said.  

He’s continued to release new music over the years and remains a familiar contributor to Montana Public Radio and Montana PBS. 

While he acknowledges that it may sound trite, “Midnight Conversations” is his favorite album so far. It’s a no skip album, and even as he breaks songs in through live performances, Dowler said he doesn’t get tired of playing them.  

“It's a fully thought-out album, and it was one of the best experiences making it too,” he said. 

“Midnight Conversations” was recorded over the course of a few days at Camp Tuffit on Lake Mary Ronan. Dowler recruited some of his favorite local musicians to put the album together, then took it to Snoring Hound Studios in Kalispell and later to Toby Scott in Whitefish for finishing touches on the production.  

It was a great experience to be fully immersed in the project for several days with his fellow musicians. 

“There’s a wide range of late-night conversations — they're life changing moments, they're heated arguments, they're philosophical ponderings and debates over a cup of coffee or at a late-night diner,” Dowler said. “They can be pivotal moments in somebody's life, where maybe something clicks, or a friend has a heart to heart, or a confession, something happens in those conversations.” 

As winter winds down and his busy season starts up, he gets ready to “play music for a lot of tourists,” and is excited to continue performing these new songs. 

“I enjoy being home and playing a lot of shows just around the valley. That's actually one thing that I will say, we're really fortunate with the opportunities musicians have here, they're pretty wide open during the summer months especially,” he said. 

Anyone interested in learning about upcoming shows can learn more at lukedowler.com or by following his Instagram @lukedowler. 

Dowler said he is coming out of hibernation a little early this year to perform in the Daily Inter Lake’s Press Play concert series on March 7. The concert begins at noon.  

Tickets are available at FlatheadTickets.com or by calling 406-758-4436. The performance will be live streamed on the Daily Inter Lake Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube pages. 

Reporter Taylor Inman can be reached at 406-758-4433 or by emailing tinman@dailyinterlake.com.