“Hendrix was my God; his playing style literally fascinated me,” admits René Lacko. Proof of this is that in 1996 he took part in a competition in North Carolina focused on interpreting the music of Jimi Hendrix, organized annually by the Hendrix family. He reached one of the semifinal rounds and placed 2nd as the best European participant.
Besides Hendrix, his influences include artists such as Stevie Ray Vaughan, B.B. King, Eric Clapton, and other blues and blues-rock greats. However, he did not remain in the shadow of his guitar heroes, instead forging his own musical path. He presents his art at concerts in clubs and festivals both at home and abroad, where he performs with his blues-rock band DownTown. He has released several CDs. His latest studio album, Blind Man, was released in February 2013, and in April 2015 a selection of live recordings was released to mark the 20th anniversary of the band, titled 20 Years Before.
The repertoire of René & Downtown consists of original compositions as well as blues, rock, and rock & roll cover versions of songs by legendary representatives of these genres.