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PITTSBURG —
Being on a TV competition such as “The Voice” can be helpful to young singers, but only if they are driven, motivated and not just looking for a quick fix, according to Tony Lucca, a recent finalist on the NBC show.
He should know. Still a young man, he’s already had a long career in show business.
Lucca will present a free public performance from 8 to 9 p.m. Tuesday on the Pittsburg State University Oval.
“I’m really looking forward to getting to Pittsburg,” he said during a telephone interview. “I’ve got relatives in Joplin and they’re coming over for the show.”
Lucca was the Team Adam finalist on “The Voice,” and his duet of the Beatles favorite “Yesterday” with coach Adam Levine landed in the top 5 on iTunes Overall and Pop Singles sales charts. An earlier cover of Hugo’s version of Jay-Z’s “99 Problems” sold well and put Lucca in the No. 3 spot on iTunes Overall Singles sales chart and No. 1 on iTunes Rock Singles chart.
On Sept. 25 Levine signed Lucca to his own record label, 222 Records.
“Adam respected that I have been doing this for a long time and he wanted to be that lucky break for me,” he said. “Adam said he wanted to sign me, and I said, ‘Do it,’.”
But his fans will probably have to wait a while for his next release.
“This tour will take us up to Thanksgiving, and it will probably be 2013 before we have something ready,” he said.
Lucca added that touring and performing is more enjoyable for him than spending time in a recording studio.
“I like being in a new city every day and playing for a new audience every night,” he said. “But now that I’m married with kids it’s bittersweet.”
Lucca will be playing Monday in Lawrence, and after his Tuesday performance at PSU will head on to Oklahoma City, Okla., Dallas, Texas , Phoenix, Ariz.. San Diego, West Hollywood and Ventura, Calif., Portland, Ore., and Seattle, Wash., before swinging back to Denver, Nashville, Duluth, Ga., Charlotte, N.C., Vienna, Va., Boston, Philadelphia, New York and finally ending the tour in that other Pittsburg, the one with an H.
A Pontiac, Mich., native, he started out as a youngster with the “Mickey Mouse Club” for six years in the early 1990s along with Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, who remains a good friend, and Christine Aguilera, who was a judge on “The Voice” and criticized him. Lucca said that he was more confused than anything else by her apparent hostility toward him.
Being on a TV competition such as “The Voice” can be helpful to young singers, but only if they are driven, motivated and not just looking for a quick fix, according to Tony Lucca, a recent finalist on the NBC show.
He should know. Still a young man, he’s already had a long career in show business.
Lucca will present a free public performance from 8 to 9 p.m. Tuesday on the Pittsburg State University Oval.
“I’m really looking forward to getting to Pittsburg,” he said during a telephone interview. “I’ve got relatives in Joplin and they’re coming over for the show.”
Lucca was the Team Adam finalist on “The Voice,” and his duet of the Beatles favorite “Yesterday” with coach Adam Levine landed in the top 5 on iTunes Overall and Pop Singles sales charts. An earlier cover of Hugo’s version of Jay-Z’s “99 Problems” sold well and put Lucca in the No. 3 spot on iTunes Overall Singles sales chart and No. 1 on iTunes Rock Singles chart.
On Sept. 25 Levine signed Lucca to his own record label, 222 Records.
“Adam respected that I have been doing this for a long time and he wanted to be that lucky break for me,” he said. “Adam said he wanted to sign me, and I said, ‘Do it,’.”
But his fans will probably have to wait a while for his next release.
“This tour will take us up to Thanksgiving, and it will probably be 2013 before we have something ready,” he said.
Lucca added that touring and performing is more enjoyable for him than spending time in a recording studio.
“I like being in a new city every day and playing for a new audience every night,” he said. “But now that I’m married with kids it’s bittersweet.”
Lucca will be playing Monday in Lawrence, and after his Tuesday performance at PSU will head on to Oklahoma City, Okla., Dallas, Texas , Phoenix, Ariz.. San Diego, West Hollywood and Ventura, Calif., Portland, Ore., and Seattle, Wash., before swinging back to Denver, Nashville, Duluth, Ga., Charlotte, N.C., Vienna, Va., Boston, Philadelphia, New York and finally ending the tour in that other Pittsburg, the one with an H.
A Pontiac, Mich., native, he started out as a youngster with the “Mickey Mouse Club” for six years in the early 1990s along with Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, who remains a good friend, and Christine Aguilera, who was a judge on “The Voice” and criticized him. Lucca said that he was more confused than anything else by her apparent hostility toward him.
After his stint on the “Mickey Mouse Club” was over, Lucca tried acting for a time and, with then girlfriend Keri Russell, were leads in Aaron Spelling’s “Mailbu Shores,” a teen drama that lasted one season.
“Acting is like getting invited to a pretty cool party I don’t belong at,” Lucca said. “I consider myself a bona fide singer, and to be working in the acting world while more deserving actors were not working was not fair.”
He released his first CD, “So Satisfied,” in 1997, and marketed it and a self-released follow-up, “Strong Words Softly Spoken,” through his web site and at his live shows. His third full-length album and the first to be commercially distributed was “Shotgun,” released in 2004.
It was followed by a live concert album, “Live in Hollywood,” and Come Around Again,” released in 2008.
Lucca will continue pursuing his opportunities, including those that came from appearing on “The Voice.”
“I had some friends who weren’t on the show that long, but who were able to parlay it into some really good things,” he said. “Others had the same thing happen, but they felt they got the shaft. But I’m in this for the long haul.”
