With songwriters like John Mayer and Jack Johnson breaking big, the sky's the limit for this 28 year-old songwriter. His guitar-driven, groove-infused tunes take this fresh rock and roll sub-genre to new levels of musicianship, and pop appeal.
"Girlfriends came and went, so did Transformers, G.I. Joe, sports, …but never the guitar. The guitar was always there. It has always been my favorite toy and oldest friend," says Lucas of his life-long love affair with the instrument. He received his first acoustic guitar at age six, and soon after discovered the music of legends Robert Johnson and Jimi Hendrix. It was the guitar work of these virtuosi that inspired him to make the instrument his own.
Cas Lucas left his home in Orlando, Florida in 1996 and went north to study composition, performance, production, and blues history at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts. At Hampshire he had the good fortune to study with legendary multi-instrumentalist Yusef Lateef, who's influence added an entirely new element to Lucas' playing. "Just playing in his performance seminars showed me how broad the tonal spectrum could be within a piece of music, " says Lucas. "It made me want to go beyond the standard progressions of blues and rock. Yusef's compositions, concepts, and playing showed me that there really are no wrong notes."
Now living in San Francisco, Lucas is teaching his craft to his ever-growing roster of guitar students, and grabbing the attention of the local press and public. He has performed in all corners of the Bay Area and regularly tours the West Coast, gaining legions of fans everywhere he goes. His style is akin to that of no other. His knack for creating infectious hooks, and the ubiquitously appealing pop sensibilities evoked in his guitar playing, have led him to frequent comparison with the likes of Paul Simon, Sting, Jack Johnson and James Taylor. But Lucas' style is much more than that - beyond his pop hooks and the witty intelligence of his lyrics, his musicianship spans the ages, calling to mind both the passionate intensity of Robert Johnson's raw blues, and the intricate, tonal playfulness of Michael Hedges's instrumental virtuosity. His honest, humble approach to songwriting is free of ego, and that makes each of his songs applicable to the full spectrum of human emotions. From empathy to anger, from heartache to joy, Cas Lucas is a musician who has been truthful to himself in his interpretation of society around him. His style is completely his own, and has a universally appealing flair - not too poppy, not to bluesy, not too folky…just right.
Having released five CD's already, including the 2004 underground, acoustic hit, "Giving it Back," (47 Records) Lucas has gained a reputation as a uniquely gifted guitarist, a prolific songwriter, and a force to be reckoned with on the West Coast music scene. Cas's most ambitious recording yet is expected in 2006. The yet untitled disc will be his first full-band recording since his late teens. Working with amazing local producers like Steffen Franz (Who has worked with the Beastie Boys, Lee Scratch Perry, Mix Master Mike, and Rocker T, to name a few), Adam Rossi (Producer/Keyboardist from Bay Area break-out band, Luce), and Richard Linley (Of the Palm Wine Boys), it promises to be the CD that turns a lot of heads Cas's way in the industry and exposes him to a much larger national audience. |
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