The morning sunrise really hit home for Tony Lucca while on vacation with his family earlier this year in Sorrento, Italy.
He was there to celebrate his parents’ 50th anniversary, and the view over the Bay of Naples evoked memories of “Morning Sunrise,” a song his father, Anthony Lucca, wrote for Sally Lucca, Tony’s mom, after they met on spring break in Daytona Beach in 1973.
It was one of the first songs Tony learned to sing and play on guitar and it’s the closing track on Still, his recently released EP.
“I recorded it for them … and decided it should get its due day in the sun,” he says. “The whole EP speaks to the kind of love that endures a lifetime. This song made every one of my songs possible.”
Still is the twentieth release for the acclaimed Bellevue-based singer-songwriter who has been performing since appearing on Mickey Mouse Club alongside notable artists like Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears and Ryan Gosling. Along the way he earned the LA Music Award for “Best Male Singer/Songwriter” and in 2012 he finished third on The Voice.
But “Morning Sunrise” also serves as a metaphor for the current phase of Lucca’s career. After a bout with COVID left him deaf in his right ear, he has recovered to the point that his hearing is as finely tuned as ever. Though still not 100 percent, for the first time in his career, he’s able to engineer and produce his own music. Still is the manifestation of that journey.
“I was listening so intently for any semblance of my hearing to come back that it turned into sort of supersonic hearing,” he says. “I was able to hear things in ways that I hadn’t been able to before. I think I trained myself so that, for the first time, I could hear the difference in compression levels and EQ levels. Things that previously I had just left for the professionals.”
A native of Pontiac, Michigan, Lucca is a third-generation Italian American whose family hails from a town of the same name in the Tuscany region of Northern Italy. “I’ve been there a few times and, I might be biased, but it’s a pretty cool town,” he says. “And everyone there looks strangely familiar!”
Lucca moved from Los Angeles to Nashville in 2013 at about the same time as many of his colleagues and collaborators from the L.A. scene. One of those musicians, Brett Young, eventually signed with Big Machine Label Group where he continues to reign as a leading country-pop artist.
About two years ago, Young invited Lucca to join his touring band as a guitarist. It was a big opportunity but an equally big departure from what Lucca was accustomed to. “Brett and I go back to the days when we were indie artists, pounding the pavement in L.A., sharing the stage and comparing notes,” Lucca says. “So, it was kind of a unique invitation; I was never in the market for a side-guy gig.
“But when I got the call, I was like, ‘You know what? I’ve got November available. Let’s go see how this feels!’ And I fell in love with the team and Brett’s just a great dude to work with and it’s fun to support his music every night.”
The tour recently included a European run (which conveniently dovetailed with his family vacation) where Lucca served as the opening act in Oslo, Manchester, Leeds and Belfast. The tour continues stateside throughout the summer and fall.
In addition to touring, Lucca continues to pursue two of his favorite endeavors: custom songs and house gigs. Over the years he has written thousands of custom songs for personal and corporate clients. House gigs are just that: he plays a solo show in a client’s private residence. “The private shows have been really awesome,” he says. “For live music, you realize that not everyone wants to go out to bars or music venues. They’d rather just keep it in-house, and I love that. I love getting to know people over drinks in their own kitchens. Usually there’s the potluck kind of vibe and Super Bowl foods. There’s a little more freedom and relaxation.”
Upon his arrival in Middle Tennessee, Lucca sought accommodations in East Nashville “because that’s where all the cool kids lived,” he says. But when it came time to get serious about a place to live, Bellevue kept emerging as the place to be for his wife, Rachel, and their two children, Liam and Sparrow.
“At first I was hesitant to live 20 minutes outside of town; now I laugh because, what’s 20 minutes in Nashville traffic?” he says. “We found a house that was perfect with a huge backyard and a finished basement for my studio and a 2-car garage.
“We love One Bellevue Place and the restaurants and guess what? Now the cool kids are moving out here! Hey, affordability is cool in my book.”
You get the sense that Tony Lucca hopes to enjoy morning sunrises in Bellevue for many years to come.