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His solo acoustic album Evangeline has been hailed as one of the best albums of 1997 by Rolling Stone. A song he co-wrote with multi-platinum singer Joan Osborne, " Spider Web " was nominated for a Grammy Award. His third solo album, Bad Boys of the Arctic, which featured many formidable guest musicians and vocalists (including GARY), received critical raves here and abroad (including " Sound: A, Performance: A" in Audio magazine), and charted on over 220 radio stations in the U.S. alone. His second solo album Gods and Monsters garnered a 4-star Rolling Stone review and was cited as one of the best albums of the year by The Wall Street Journal. His first solo guitar album Skeleton at the Feast received a 4-star review in Q magazine, as well as raves from around the world. A workaholic, GARY LUCAS is constantly writing, performing, and recording. He has been touring extensively over the last 10 years, playing theaters, concert halls and clubs in Holland, Germany, Hungary, Spain, France, England, Scotland, Canada, Japan, Austria, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, Slovenia, Luxembourg, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Corsica, Sicily, Israel and the Czech Republic (where he performed before millions on Czech television). In April 1999, Gary made his performing debut in Tel Aviv, Israel at the Next Festival with his live original score accompanying the silent film classic The Golem. In Amsterdam, he recently conducted a Guitar Masterclass at the famed Paradiso venue, played to packed houses and received a rave in the national Dutch paper, NRC-Handelsblad ("the things he manages to conjure up are astonishing"). The Holland tour coincided with the premiere of Guitar Unbound, a 1-hour documentary on his life and music on the Dutch Arts Channel, which was shown six times in one day. See the Video Clips for a peek at the documentary. GARY LUCAS recently played a month long club residency in Tokyo, Japan which earned a rave review in The Japan Times ("His playing lends new meaning to the term tour de force"). In 1998 he opened the 7th New York Jewish Film Festival in Lincoln Center with a sold-out performance of his original live score for the silent German expressionist film classic The Golem, accompanying a screening of the film, and then he repeated his triumph 2 days later with a sold-out performance in Ljubljana. Gary also recently performed The Golem in Washington D.C. in front of a sold-out crowd of 500 people, as well as at the Toronto Jewish Film Festival and in San Francisco, Palermo, Chicago, Prague, Miami, Tucson, Berlin and elsewhere – in 14 countries around the world, most recently in London at the Royal Festival Hall for the Meltdown Festival. He contributed songs and guitar for the critically acclaimed Columbia/Sony debut album Grace from Jeff Buckley (" Mojo Pin " and the title track " Grace "). He composed, arranged and played on the multi-platinum Grammy-nominated Mercury/Blue Gorilla debut album Relish by Joan Osborne (" Spider Web " and " Help Me "). He is also regularly composing music for ABC News " Turning Point " and " Prime Time Live " documentary programs. He recently has been in the studio working on projects for Future Sound of London, Scandinavian superstar Sissel, and French avant-rockers Tanger. GARY LUCAS' work as a live performer and recording artist has consistently drawn great critical and audience response, going back to his earliest days as a featured soloist with the legendary Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band, with whom he recorded two albums. Over the course of his career he has performed with Leonard Bernstein, Lou Reed, Nick Cave, Iggy Pop, Patti Smith, John Zorn, Future Sound of London, Matthew Sweet, Sophie B. Hawkins, Graham Parker, Dr. John, Adrian Sherwood, Mary Margaret O'Hara, The Woodentops, The Mekons, Peter Stampfel, Richard Barone, Jeff Buckley, Joan Osborne, Bryan Ferry, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, Geoff Muldaur, Eric Mingus, Jim Carroll, Bob Neuwirth, Kevin Coyne, Allen Ginsberg, Bob Weir, Rob Wasserman, The Plastic People of the Universe, Damo Suzuki & Michael Karoli of Can, David Johansen, DJ Spooky, and Van Dyke Parks. A graduate of Yale University, GARY LUCAS studied English literature when he wasn't busy playing the guitar and sneaking off to see rock visionary Captain Beefheart. A lifelong fascination with the macabre in music began in his hometown of Syracuse, New York where he taught himself the theme to The Twilight Zone on guitar. Gary's first professional musical experience -- after playing frat mixers with a garage band -- was performing electric guitar in the 1973 European premiere of Leonard Bernstein's Mass. He also composed music for the soundtrack of the 1971 documentary Aquatic Ecology, narrated by childhood hero Rod Serling. This was followed by 5 years with his other childhood hero Captain Beefheart (Don Van Vliet), the training that laid the groundwork for establishing his career. When Van Vliet retired from music in 1984 to pursue a painting career, GARY LUCAS, having fulfilled his ambition of playing with the world's foremost avant-garde rock band, branched out into other areas of music. He produced acclaimed albums for saxophonist/composers Tim Berne and Peter Gordon respectively, before getting the playing bug again. In 1988 he mounted his first solo guitar performance at New York's Knitting Factory and was an instant hit. Subsequent trips to Europe, beginning with an acclaimed debut at the 1988 Berlin Jazz Festival ("It is Lucas!", Berlin Morgenpost), firmly established him as a musical force to reckon with. His intense solo guitar performances, ranging widely over the corpus of rock, blues, jazz, folk and classical styles, received the kind of reviews performers dream about. Armed with a battered Stratocaster, a Gibson acoustic from the '40's and an ancient National steel guitar plus a battery of effects, Lucas reinvented the solo guitar as a virtuosic one-man band, producing what The New York Times described as a "full-bodied, well-controlled layer of sound...one of rock's most original guitarists." The ensuing years saw the establishment of Gods and Monsters, a free-floating collective based around LUCAS' guitar and songwriting, whose members have included Jeff Buckley, Matthew Sweet, Mary Margaret O'Hara, Richard Barone, Jon Langford (The Mekons), and Rolo McGinty (The Woodentops). Gods and Monsters recently reformed for Gary's triumphant 10th anniversary show held in the Knitting Factory last December. The group is now a power trio featuring Ernie Brooks (Modern Lovers) on bass and longtime Lucas stalwart Jonathan Kane (Swans) on drums, and recently returned from a triumphant tour of France and Corsica. Future plans for GARY LUCAS include the release of his full solo guitar soundtrack for The Golem on DVD; new songwriting collaborations; more film and television soundtrack work; and new recording projects. Mr. LUCAS makes his home in New York City. |
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Skin the Rabbit Dream of Russian Princess Let's go Swimming |