BY ANGELA JOSSY for WEEKLY VOLCANO 10/24/25 |
When we talk about Tacoma’s most iconic musicians throughout history, there are several names that come to mind like The Fabulous Wailers, The Sonics, Jerry Miller and so on. We can now add Steve “Loose Gravel” Luhtala to that list of Tacoma legends who are no longer with us. Whether you called him Gravel, His Royal Looseness, or King of the Tide Flats, he was known as a blue-collar type of man who worked by day as a longshoreman and by night as the frontman for Loose Gravel and the Quarry, a blues band featuring his gravelly baritone voice. His signature sound was deep, warm, resonant, and husky, which added an unforgettable feel to both his original songs and covers. It was honestly just a lovely voice to listen to.
Born and raised in Tacoma, Steve Luhtala discovered the blues when he was a teenager after picking up a John Lee Hooker album. That moment set the course for a lifelong devotion to the genre. “Ever since then I’ve been into everybody from Willie Dixon and B.B. King to Robert Johnson,” he told an interviewer back in 2008. “Now I’m mainly writing my own material, but I still carry the sound of those old boys.”
By the early 1990s, Loose Gravel and the Quarry had become fixtures of the Puget Sound blues scene. The lineup included an impressive roster of players: Johnny Burgess on keyboards, Steve Cooley on guitar, Glenn Hummell on drums and Rich Nesbitt on bass.
Their sound, lovingly called “Tacoma blues,” was big, earthy, and driven by honesty. The band played everywhere from The Spar Tavern and Cole’s to Emerald Queen Casino, Bumbershoot, Freedom Fair, Taste of Tacoma, and Sunbanks Blues Festival. For years, their Thursday-night blues jam at the Emerald Queen Casino drew hundreds of players from across the region. Songs like “Raining in Tacoma” and “Boulder in the Highway” captured the texture of the Pacific Northwest, featuring wet pavement, hard work, long nights, love stories, and redemption.
His daughter, Tehra Luhtala says his songs “Ol’ Maire,” written for his late wife Gayle Naccarato Lahtala, and “Boulder in the Highway” best represent who he was. Gayle passed away years before him, a loss that weighed heavily on both his music and his heart. “That song Ol’ Marie was about my mom,” Tehra says. “It’s how he kept her memory alive.”
Longtime bandmate Johnny Burgess points to “Spirits in the Wind” as the song that epitomized his friend. “That’s the one where you really hear Gravel’s soul,” Burgess said.
Luhtala’s work as a longshoreman on Tacoma’s tideflats inspired some of his lyrics. “I listen to people, put my own opinions into my songs, and try to feed off what they’re feeling,” he once said. That groundedness earned him his nickname, the King on the Tide Flats, a title his friends and fans still use.
“He was an amazing, hard-working provider,” his daughter Tehra recalls. “He was an honest, good man who always helped anyone who needed it. He worked hard his entire life and always provided for his family first and foremost.”
In later years, Gravel faced new challenges. After being diagnosed with throat cancer, Gravel endured radiation treatments that damaged his voice and hearing. Though he continued to sing as long as he could, it became increasingly difficult to perform. His final live show was at The Spar Tavern on May 28, 2011, in front of a packed house. He was, as Burgess put it, “hanging his hat up.”
Before his illness, Gravel spoke often about wanting to bring blues education into urban communities. “I’d like to go back into the urban areas and teach kids about their culture, how the blues has influenced all kinds of music,” he told a reporter. Although he never got the chance to formalize that project, those who knew him say he lived that mission every time he played, mentoring young musicians on stage, welcoming them to jams, and teaching through example what it means to play with heart.
When people talk about Steve “Loose Gravel” Luhtala, they don’t just talk about the music. They talk about the man, his loyalty, his humility, and his laugh that could fill a room. “Everyone who knows my dad always says what an amazing hardworking provider he was,” says Tehra. “Just an honest, good man.”
Loose Gravel and the Quarry released two full length albums, including Boulder in the Highway and Around the Sound, both filled with original blues steeped in Northwest soul. The former won regional acclaim and became a favorite among blues lovers. Today, his music can still be found on Amazon, eBay, and Spotify, though physical copies are increasingly rare. Fans searching for the real thing might also reach out to keyboardist Johnny Burgess, who still represents the band and its history. He says he might still have a few copies.
Burgess says simply, “He was the King of the Tide Flats, and he always will be.”
At the end of a 2008 video interview live from Bite of Seattle with DigitalReporter on YouTube, he said, “that’s what I want on my epitaph.”
And so it shall be, how how how how!
