Tony Lucca – Canyon Songs

By: Jamie Steinberg

Q) What are the recent projects you have been working on?

A) We’re getting ready to put out the second of I believe three EPs for this year. I did a series of three song EPs called Sessions Vol. 1, Sessions Vol.2 and Sessions Vol. 3. We put out Sessions Vol. 1: Sun Studios earlier this year which included three songs from a live performance I did at Sun Studios in Memphis. Then, the next one Sessions Vol. 2: Muscle Shoals that are three songs from a recording sessions I did in Muscle Shoals ten years ago. We’ve been going through the archives and found some unreleased songs that we thought might make for a cool Sessions. We’ll be doing a video to accompany that. This has been the ten year anniversary for my album Canyon Songs and we’ve been setting up a vinyl edition of that album. That is due out this November. We did a live recording of a show where we played the album top to bottom in its entirety, as close to the real deal as we could, in Nashville. The show came off really nice. The performance was really great. The folks at Sun Studios have signed on to mix it. So, that’s super cool that we’re going to get some vintage gear love on those tracks and make them a little beefy and nice.

Q) What can fans expect from a live Tony Lucca show?

A) That is the other part of it. That’s kind of the part that is kind of a given, but as the touring has whittled down to going out for a month or two in the Spring and then again in the Fall. I’ll be touring this fall with Alex Dezen from The Damnwells and Tyrone Wells who is an old friend from California. The fans will get to hear pretty much everything because the shows are just going to be me, solo. I’ll be opening for Tyrone, but Alex and I are going to be doing kind of a co-bill where we will both take the stage together and take turns playing the songs, which is cool. I’m looking forward to doing that because he is kind of a master craftsman on the song front. I think that should be cool for listeners. Fans of his and fans of mine will get quite a show. As far as what I’ll be playing, the sky is kind of the limit. I’ll probably be pulling from all parts of my catalogue. I’ll probably be focusing on The Canyon Songs because I will have the vinyl with me this Fall. So, I’m excited to have those around.

Q) How did you and Alex Dezen come to tour together?

A) It’s pretty interesting. Alex and I have been circling each other for years since like 2004 or 2005 when I was living in Brooklyn and he was in New York as well. We were both working in the same studio, but never crossed paths. Years later, like 2012, we met up on The Rock Boat where we were chosen as part of this songwriting group called Six Band Session. We did some songwriting together and realized we had a lot in common and some similarities. We sort of bounced around and kept in touch. I was out in LA working on a record and he was good friends with the producer that I was working on. We wound up writing some songs for that album and had him sing on the songs on the record. We just kept connecting. Then, fast forward a few more years and we wound up on the same label with the same management. It didn’t take too long before people said, “You guys should consider touring together.” We got some dates together and decided to go out on tour together. He had been doing some stuff with The Damnwells, but not nearly as much touring as he wanted to be doing. So, the idea for us to go out do a co-bill solo acoustic thing made a lot of sense.

Q) What made you want to tour in honor of Canyon Songs? Was it just the nostalgia for the album?

A) I had made a few records before Canyon Songs, but I was kind of searching for a sound and direction. I was kind of learning how to write songs, to be honest. I felt like with Canyon Songs, I kind of caught my stride and it seemed like I may know what I was doing here. It was ironically when a lot of people came to know my music. A lot of people got hip to my music through that album and the album has quite a few fans, which I learned through playing it live in Nashville. It was great to see so many come out and express online what that album means to them. It is mighty encouraging given it has been ten years.

Q) What are your favorite songs to perform off Canyon Songs?

A) “Death of Me” has always been a fun one either solo or with a band. It was the first song on the album and usually those are the most fun to play. You put them first for a reason, I guess. It was kind of cool doing songs this last show off the record that I had never really played live before, for whatever reason. Either that I had only played them live a couple times. I realized that there are some songs that I quite enjoy and might be cool to play. For whatever reason I had dismissed them or didn’t want to revisit them over the years. Having played them for the live record, I kind of got reacquainted with them and that the songs kind of have a new meaning to me now and I thought maybe I’ll take a stab at it. There was a song called “Feels Like Love” that did really well in the live shows. It’s got a message that resonates at any stage of life. So, I may be playing that one a little bit more live as well.

Q) What do you think it is about this album that fans are really connecting to?

A) I think what has been really interesting about this record is that it has probably been the most eclectic of my records. There is stuff on it that is kind of soulful and stuff on it that was kind of country. I think that’s why I called it Canyon Songs because it was inspired by a lot of the music that came out of the canyon sound of the 60’s and 70’s. If you go back to a lot of those records like Crosby, Stills & Nash, Joni Mitchell, Jackson Brown or even The Eagles there was a lot of diversity going on with music and eclectic songs going on. We celebrated that time properly with that album. So, I think people enjoyed making mixed tapes and enjoy playlists now. They like to shuffle. I think there is something about Canyon Songs that I think is a bit of that. It takes you on a nice, eclectic ride.

Q) What do you hope listeners of Canyon Songs take away from it?

A) Maybe that there were a few songs live and they realized how much they enjoyed that record and how special it was to them and might want to buy the vinyl. If they are new to it, maybe they will get it and go back and listen to anything I’ve done since then. For ten years, I’ve been producing a good number of records. I’ve had a lot to say over the years, thankfully, and hopefully they will tune in to all of that as well.

Q) You are a part of social media. Why is that such an important way to interact with fans?

A) I don’t think there is a way to do business these days without it. If you are on a major label and have major label funds that social media teams will do all of that for you. But the independent artists, you are lost without it. You have to stay connected and stay at the front of where everyone is. Social media is like a roving rave where you want to make sure you are putting yourself out there where everyone is partying. If everyone is partying at Myspace, you have to make sure you have a strong presence there. If everybody jumps ship to Facebook then you have to figure out how to play ball over there. If the algorithms get sticky there then you have to figure out how to advertise and market on Instagram and Snapchat. I’ve kind of drawn the line at Snapchat. I’m not really going there. Maybe it will prove foolish, but I figure by the time I figure it out then everyone will have moved to the next party. There are some new formulas and formats out there now that I am trying to experiment with and I’m working with a company now called arcivr that is trying to do a single format to exclusive stream artists for their fans. That way, artists aren’t constantly screaming into megaphones stuffed with cotton balls. It’s very important and I think if you believe you can parade around without then you are kind of kidding yourself.

Q) Is there anything else about Canyon Songs or your tour that you want to be sure that fans know?

A) It’s one thing to support an artist and show people that you are willing to drive a long way to support an artist or like, retweet and share them on social media. The best way to support live music and an artist is to really campaign on their behalf and reach out on their behalf to your friends and family and other people who are fellow music lovers. Join together and getting out, going to shows and sharing new music so it can appeal to them and those artists can make new fans. That’s how wildfires get started and the life blood of the independent artists’ career is when people come out and bring new people. Others come out and bring new people and they’ll bring new people. That’s kind of how it grows. I am hoping that is how it happens with this tour that people that may know Alex and don’t know me that will take a chance, come out and get exposed to some new stuff.

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and your music?

A) Thank you! I express my deep gratitude for giving me a lifelong career of doing what I love and allowing me to remain inspired and motivated to keep playing music, keep touring and making music for people and making me an important part of their lives. I think it is a great honor.