In this episode of The Last 10%, host Dallas Burnett interviews Nashville-based singer-songwriter, mentor, and keynote performer Tony Lucca, whose career began on The Mickey Mouse Club alongside Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, and Christina Aguilera. Tony shares how early family support and behind-the-scenes mentorship shaped his work ethic, and recounts pivotal moments in Los Angeles that pushed him from acting into music, including writing his enduring song “It’s You” and investing his TV earnings into his first album. He details his Season 2 run on The Voice with coach Adam Levine, including lessons about staying grateful, taking calculated risks, and embracing discomfort, highlighted by performing a Britney Spears song. Tony also discusses joining Brett Young’s band for stability and work-life balance, launching his Be What You Do YouTube mentorship content tied to the Always In The Club Foundation’s youth arts mission, and the importance of community for independent artists.

Connect with Tony: www.tonylucca.com

Hey, everybody.

We're talking to Tony Lucca today.

What an amazing guy.

He's a Nashville-based singer-songwriter, mentor, and keynote performer who started

long time ago on the Mickey Mouse Club with Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears.

He's a finalist on The Voice with coach Adam Levine, has toured with Marc

Anthony, Maroon 5, Kelly Clarkson, and now he plays with Brett Young's band.

He's just had a new single featured on the season finale

of the Netflix's Ransom Canyon.

And he's got some incredible stories from spending three decades navigating

the music industry, playing the long game as an independent artist.

Plus, he is a great new friend of mine.

You don't want to miss this incredible conversation.

Welcome to The Last 10%.

Your host, Dallas Burnett, dives into incredible conversations that will inspire

you to finish well and finish strong.

Listen as guests share their journeys and valuable advice on living in the last 10%.

If you are a leader, a coach, a business owner, or someone looking to

level up, you are in the right place.

you can give 90% effort and make it a long way, but it's finding

out how to unlock the last 10% that makes all the difference in your

life, your relationships, your work.

Now, here's Dallas.

welcome, welcome.

I Dallas Burnett, sitting in my 1905 Coke Brothers barber chair in Thrive Studios.

But more importantly today, we have a great guest.

It is the great Tony Lucca, Mickey Mouse Club alum, The Voice

finalist, touring artist, super huge mentor in the music business.

He's built a sustainable career on his own terms.

He's sharing those lessons now while balancing family life in Nashville.

Welcome to the show, Tony.

Dude, thanks so much for having me.

This is great

This is awesome.

I really enjoy speaking with artists and creators, especially in the

music industry, so I… Man, I've been jazzed about this conversation.

I'm excited just to jump into it, 'cause there's so much.

We were talking before the show and it's just man, we just gotta

hit record and get on with it.

let's jump back, early days.

how did you come into the entertainment business, the music

business, and what was that?

we… obviously in the intro we talked about the Mickey

Mouse Club and hanging out with

Yeah

and Britney.

Was that something that was like, "Hey, my parents were really excited about

this," and they kinda pushed me into it?

Or is it like, "Nah, man," I was like, "I just knew I wanted to do this"?

a little bit of all of it really, but, mostly it was, The, the

folks were not stage parents, they weren't straight-up stage parents.

That said, my mom was the 10th of 12 kids, and they all sang and/or played something.

So yeah, it was kinda in the water,

Mm-hmm.

and, and it was apparent.

I've got a bunch of cousins, as you would imagine, and, various degrees

of having gotten the, the family dose,

Yeah,

music thing.

It was pretty apparent e- early on, like around 9 or 10, that me and,

another cousin of mine around the same age, we had guitars in our hands, and

we were up on stage playing Johnny B.

Goode for, parties and stuff.

And, and it was just like th- the dream was born and hatched, right in, right out

the gate, and I never really looked back.

It was kinda always "This is what's gonna happen for me" and yeah.

So-

That was just like, "I'm moving towards it 'cause this is what it's

gonna do. This is what we're gonna do."

Yeah.

and, like it put, it put things into greater relief and better

perspective o- over the years as I got older, realizing like how unique

and blessed I was to have got- gotten the assignment early on, so to speak.

at the same time though, when I do look back more honestly, it was initially just

kinda like fun and a hobby, and I didn't get that it was a career kind of thing.

I knew that I was gonna have to go to college and, g- I

really wanted to go to college.

I got pretty decent grades in high school, wanted to be an architect.

Like I want… I, it wasn't like, it wasn't like I was gonna be a rock

star other than that just being like a childhood fantasy dream thing.

Yeah

the years went on, I, it, the, the passion never went away and I

just kept, I kept at it and kept at it.

And then, yeah, fortunately, at 15 I got cast onto, The Mickey Mouse

Club where I got to like really dig into my talent and was surrounded by

literally some of the world's most talented people it was just like, oh.

I went from being a big fish in a small pond to just being, this little

minnow in the ocean and it was,

Wow

wild.

so I got every green light as Matthew McConaughey puts it.

like I

light, baby.

Yeah, green

every green light there, there was for a very long time and,

and again, so grateful for that too.

but as, as I got older and as my career grew, it, it became a- apparent to me

as well that no, this is, just because it's art and just because it's fun and

exciting and creative and passionate and all those fun things, it's still work.

it's still a job.

It's still a career.

It needs s- it needs sustenance.

It needs nurturing.

It needs clarity and organization, discipline.

it takes all that, You get to this weird point where you're like so

far into your career and there's really no plan B. You're like,

"Okay, I gotta tighten the screws."

This is not just for funsies anymore.

We're in it to win it now.

Let's go, right?

It's three now.

Come on, we got

Dang, that's amazing.

what do you think, 'cause I mean there's been so many people that propelled their

careers out of Disney in some form or fashion, whether it was Mickey Mouse Club

or some other show that Disney produced.

But, having a, been around that cast, which obviously you all have made some

amazing careers, what was it that you took away, like, when you stepped in?

I'm assuming, you're… Like you were saying at first, it's like,

"Oh my gosh, this is incredible," and you have that initial high.

But, what is it that you feel like when you left there?

'Cause you were able to do two things, I think.

Number one, assimilate, and pull in some amazing lessons that helped you move

into the next section, be those green lights for your next, the next steps.

But also there's been folks that were unable to handle that, and when they

got away from that, as they got further in their careers, they just, they

really struggled with some things.

And so you've navigated that really well.

When you look back on that, what do you feel like are the things that you

gleaned, and then what do you feel like are the things that you were able to

stay away from to keep on the path,

it's, those are great questions.

and, and I don't mean to, sidestep them with a non-traditional answer, but,

specifically with regards to the Mickey Mouse Club, me and being on that show,

I think a lot of it was the importance or the significance of timing, and the

timing of each Mouseketeer, at what age did they come in, at what age did

they leave, where did they sit amongst the other teen and preteen kids?

Like, where was… W- who went through their awkward phase with

braces on national television?

Who was s- who was the high school quarterback with the cute girlfriend?

I had a unique experience amongst a cast of kids that all had unique experiences.

Wow

not to say it's a disclaimer, but it does sidestep

the question just a hair.

No, that's good

in a bigger perspective, from a f- a 30,000-foot lens, I think the, the,

specifically with regards to children's television and child stars and that kind

of thing, you c- n- you can't say enough about the importance of the parent's

parental rela- relationship there.

And fortunately on the show, it, kind, we all kinda got to experience

the it-takes-a-village vibe because all the parents, all supportive.

They… We were all like a big family.

The cast were like brothers and sisters, so you would get to know these other

parents as, extensions of the parenthood.

It was beau- it was

that's cool

beautiful.

that said, in hindsight and as people carry on into their careers,

like nine out of 10 times, man, if the parents weren't there in a firm

fashion early on and then throughout the, into the adulthood thing, y- mmm,

bad things happen.

Bad

it's, it's real precarious.

Real precarious.

And the

Yeah

ones that did s- 'cause the ones that did kinda do it and

make it, 9 times out of 10, their, the folks were right there, and in the most

supportive and encouraging fashion.

So that's just, the, the child star thing, i- in a, a snow globe, that's just the-

But, I think that's so true because it goes into the heart of a

lot of what we're, we'll be talking about today, I think, as we get into this stuff.

Because you're talking about everybody sees, and I think

that's the thing about the music business, everybody sees the stage.

They see the show, they show up on Friday night, they show up on Saturday

night, they see the production, they hear the songs, or they experience the

play or the concert, whatever it is.

but they don't see everything behind the scenes.

they just don't see it.

So they see the m- they see the show on television, the Mickey Mouse Club or

whatever it is, but then you're talking about stuff that it's actually making

more of a difference in the life of the kids, the musicians, the performers,

Mm-hmm.

about relationships.

It's all about being grounded and having a good, it's having this structure

and this, this, this com- support system, and you talked about having

this community and the raising of, it takes a village kind of approach thing.

Yeah.

ever seen on the show, None of that.

And

right, and that's, even for someone who was in the thick

of it, which was w- was me, like so much of what I've under- come to

understand about that whole experience has been in the rear view mirror.

It was, it, in hindsight, and it wasn't until I got older that

I realized, hang on a second.

'Cause I'm kinda getting into the pitfalls right off the bat, which not really what

you asked about, because there is a bigger question there a- about, let's be real.

A lot of the kids on that show w- went on to have amazing careers,

and there was a work ethic there.

there was a, a camaraderie there.

There were all these wonderful things that went into that show

and that cast, and starting with the damn casting director, man.

The guy had like his eyes are amazing.

And there were some great things, but m- but more importantly, what's become

more and more relevant to me in my work now is looking back and realizing

how many amazing people we worked with as kids, completely blip- oblivious

to, what was going on around us.

We'd show up where we were scheduled to be at the right time and do our

thing, and ham it up, and then go home and hang out in the, in the pool.

it, whereas now in hindsight I look back to think about all the career

professionals that were just breaking us off college degree caliber mentorship

without us even realizing it, man.

And like, all of the invaluable and priceless things that I

learned without realizing what I was absorbing and learning,

う

it was really something, and it's allowed me to realize, no,

man, when I get to pay that forward, when I give and it's my turn to impart

that to the next generation or work with young artists, man, I'm gonna do it.

I'm gonna do it at every turn, and, that's been like this

whole third, fourth, fifth wind

Yes,

of inspiration in my career, my line of work, man.

it's just like it's been a beautiful thing to kinda come full circle on

I think it's really cool because as you have time to reflect

and, it's not just about creating, but it's about like what you're saying.

you've time- you've had time to reflect on how much that meant to you.

And I think that people who have experienced great, a pouring into of

some- from someone else, whether they knew it at the time or not, it does tend

to come back and you're like, "Man."

And it just makes you feel good when you can do that 'cause you

know how good it made you feel and what it did to set you up.

So I totally get it.

that's really cool.

That's really good.

And I think that's, And we'll get into more how you're doing that in a minute.

But, I wanna talk a little bit about, you moving out of that

into wh- when did you say…

'Cause you said there was a kind of a transition where you're

kinda looking around and going, "Wait a minute," "This is… We're

not doing this for fun anymore.

this is legit.

This is real." When

Mm-hmm.

s- when, what was the point or was there a point

where you're like, "All right, I'ma make a run at this thing.

I'm gonna do this." And it's not, fun, it's just it's this is the deal

Yeah, that's a great question and a pretty vivid recollection,

man, because yeah, I, again, I started out with the music thing.

I was in garage bands getting snuck into d- clubs in Detroit before I was 18.

like

That's

I've been trying, man.

I was trying early on, and we were ready.

so I… Then I got on this TV show, and with that came a little more of the

triple threat thing where you had to kinda learn to act and dance and, do it all.

and I had fun learning how to do it all, but man, the music was always core.

af- after The Mickey Mouse Club was canceled, it was literally as

I was graduating high school, so I moved out to Los Angeles at 18,

and I, yeah, and I, I got after it.

I'm gonna chase this down.

I'll go to college eventually, but like right now, man, I gotta strike while

the iron's hot." That was my ment- So I went out there and, but again,

after four years on the Mouse Club where I was like, "This is fun," and,

"Oh, this is fun," and, "Oh my gosh, I really like this," and, "I'd do that.

Sure."

Yeah, right

I didn't have a clear picture of what the future looked like,

and so it was a matter of getting out there and being like, "Yeah, let's go."

And I spent a couple years doing the acting thing, and I had some success.

I had some really cool success with that early on, to where any other person who

was truly an actor at heart would feel like they were really onto something and

they weren't gonna walk away from this.

Whereas I, for a few different reasons, came to a point where I was like, "Man,

my heart is just not in this acting thing.

I really want to try some, some music." but there was, then there was a couple

like specific things that, that, that rang the bell and made me real- realize "Okay,

I gotta kinda get serious about this."

One of them was, I was, I was on a TV show for a hot minute.

It was a mid-season replacement.

Only ran for half a season, and it got canceled right away, thank God.

it was, an Aaron Spelling NBC primetime show called Malibu

Shores, and I was the lead dude.

I was the lead bad boy from across the tracks kinda guy.

And, and I was playing opposite my then girlfriend in real life, Keri Russell.

It was bizarre.

We broke up while working on the show.

Wow.

it's a whole nother… it's a whole other co-

This sounds like LA.

It was LA, right?

And we were former Mouseketeers together too, so come on.

wow

ran deep.

and yeah, bizarro stuff.

But we're on the show, and the producers found out that

I could play and sing as well.

And they wrote into the script that, after getting into a fight with,

each other, we decide to, I serenade her from down below in her backyard.

And, and I was like, "Oh, nice.

Cool.

Yeah, this is my opportunity to like…" I'm like, "Maybe this'll be my breakout

music thing, and hey, this is exciting.

Oh, cool.

I'll do that," right?

And, and as I was working on it, this, the, one of the, the prop master

guys, he had worked on a, a prior, Spelling show called The Heights.

I don't know if you remember that show.

How Do You Talk to an Angel, right?

And Jamie Walters was the, the lead of that show, and he, the, for those

that don't know, The Heights was a TV show, like a fi-, Spelling TV show

that broke, the fourth wall, and they,

Yeah

were, they be, became a real band.

It was about a band called The Heights that became a real band in real life with

a song on the actual real life charts.

yeah

was like this, whoa, strange, weird success story

for a TV show about a band.

and it did really well.

The song did well.

They toured the country.

This guy, Jamie Walters, was a har- almost a household name, super

Elvis-y looking hou- heartthrob.

The show got canceled.

Not sure what happened there, but a handful of years later, he winds up

getting cast on, 90210, which was like the flagship of the Spelling, '90s show.

And he gets cast to play Donna's boyfriend, and Donna was played

by Tori Spelling's daughter.

And, on a very special episode of 90210, they basically make this guy,

an abusive boyfriend, and he like, in a scene he pushes her down the stairs or

something and has, a display of, yeah.

Ah

oh man, the dude couldn't get arrested.

he, the guy was, h- his career was, like, screwed.

His music thing, the record sales, all of it, disappeared because

someone wrote him as a bad guy, and the fandom was like, "But…"

my gosh.

I

and this guy's telling-

it, he just, he's just doing what he's told.

"We want you to do this." He's like, "Yeah, okay.

Sure." And he do- and then it just, the reaction goes completely

the fifth wall,

Oh, ugh

So I'm sitting there practicing the song I'm about to go

shoot singing this serenade from the backyard, and the prop master's telling

me this story, and I'm like, "I don't wanna do, I don't wanna do this.

Oh man, thank you for the heads-up, but geez Louise, I…" Like I

said, the, it rang the bell, man, and I was like, "Hang on a sec.

I would n- hate to jeopardize my ability to have a meaningful music career

Yeah

I'm at the mercy of some writer or producer of a TV

show that's gonna just ruin…"

less.

It could

Yeah, so that was the first time I was like, "Man, I, what am I

really, what am I doing here?" Yeah.

Pretty wild.

That's clarity.

'cause, at the end of the day, that's so true.

I've never heard that story.

I've never thought about that, that you… it's w- 'Cause you hear

about crossover artists, right?

somebody's in TV or television.

Yeah.

And then with The Heights, you got the whole thing, the whole

band, the whole thing went in more mainstream and broke out of just show

land and into the music business.

But at the end of the day, I didn't know the other side of it, where on

the flip side, the reverse can happen.

'Cause these people, the personalities on TV, it's like people can't

separate that from reality sometimes.

So

Oh,

the

right

a bad guy, then it's like, he's a bad guy.

Don't go to the grocery store on Friday night, dude, 'cause you're

gonna get jumped or something.

that's crazy.

But, it's true.

Nobody's gonna buy his music.

Nobody's… He's just done.

Ja

man, wise decision.

And, how serendipitous that you got that advice kind of at that time.

So you go and you play the guitar.

you're now a little bit petrified about the repercussions of

being any kind of bad guy.

Yeah, no.

the next bell that, that was rung, or like the, the next layer of clarity

on the whole issue was, that, that show did, like I said, got canceled,

and I got into the whole Hollywood shuffle, auditioning actor grind.

So I'm just bouncing around town going from audition to audition.

Fortunately, I had auditions.

I complain about it now, but like a lot of people back then were like, "Bro, at least

you have, at least you have auditions,

Right

and callbacks," and whatnot.

And I just take, took it all for granted.

I- it really was like, meh, But I was, like I said, I was… I had

been working for years now, and that was, that puts you in a very small

percentile of card-carrying SAG members,

yes

I, it was, I was, it was all lost on me, And I remember one

time going in for an audition for this, first of all, let me say, I,

I was terrible with the rejection.

I just, wow.

I loved acting, but I had never really had to slog it out and prove it,

I… Yeah, I, so now I'm in the phase where, it, is this what I really want?

Do I really, how bad do I want this?

And I was at an audition, and this, I'm sitting in the lobby and there's, six or

seven other Tony Lucas there, And I, I- on paper, meaning, we're all the same dude.

And I just was like, this sucks." And it was, like, the dimwitted

quarterback, the guy that, starts off with a girl who doesn't

You know, like that guy.

And I'm like, what am I gonna do differently than any of these guys here?

What are they gonna do?" "Who cares?

What does it matter?

This sucks.

I'm out." And I left.

I didn't read for the part.

I just went home and was, like, brooding.

Just coming off of a big breakup, so I was in no mood to go do this, but,

didn't have the drive or the skills to push through that stuff 'cause I

didn't, wasn't my true thing, right?

Yeah

get home, I sit on my bed, I grab my guitar, and I

wrote a song in 45 minutes, a song that I still play to this day,

Wow!

that is still one of my most requested songs of all, all 30 years.

and I wrote it in 45 minutes, and I was like

What was that?

oh, wow.

God.

hang on

bolt.

It just came to, it's like bam

Fulfillment redefined, man.

I know, I feeling.

I was like, "This is the new normal." I just raised

I want more of that, please.

Yes, I will

the- I, literally within, I think maybe hours or days at least, I was

just, so sure of it, and I was like… I told my manager, "I, I'm done. I'm done

auditioning. I'm gonna go take all my TV money and make my record." And I…

That's what I did.

I went and dropped a bunch of money on my first album, and I never looked back, man.

I

my gosh.

never looked back.

go, were you in LA?

Did you do the LA studio thing or did you, did you go back out to

Nashville or anything like that?

Where did you cut your record?

No, I started my music career in LA.

Yeah, we, I've, we, I had some money

scene.

There's a lot of, there's a lot of people out there.

There's a lot of writers in LA, you know, and plus with all the movie stuff.

So

Yeah, there, there were some old studios.

We recorded in the studio that Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young recorded in.

and, yeah, and I got to bring in… Again, like I said, I… It was almost like,

Sting when he left The Police and went and did, Dream of the Blue Turtles and made

that documentary about Bring on the Night.

and he even admits to, he even admits that, like most bands when they're

starting out, they don't have resources.

They're just, they're struggling and they're grinding their way through.

When he started his solo career, he, not only had a name recognition,

but he had a fuck ton of money

Oh

and

he did.

He totally

he could afford the top cats out there in the field, right?

So I was on a much smaller scale, but I brought, I hired some, really mean jazz

players and musess- session musicians to play on the record and, and made a

really brilliant, fun, cool, creative album for my first album, that, that I

just don't regret a, a, a single dime that was spent on it because it just, it's,

it was the launchpad I was gonna need.

It was the kind of confidence and courage that you, that only comes

from taking a huge risk like that.

And, and it's pr- just, it's continued to provide enough fuel

for me to… Now it's inertia.

Now I'm out past orbit and I'm just gone.

gone.

No turning around.

that's amazing.

So tell

Yeah

gotta know the na- what's the, do you mind telling us

the name of the song that you wrote?

is that open?

Yeah, man, it's a song called It's You.

And, and, you were talking about the keynote concert thing.

and that's one of the songs that I… it's such a pivotal story, in my

career, let alone just the inspiration behind the song, that it, you tell

that story, you play that song, and it paints a very vivid picture.

yeah.

listening, they're like, "Oh my God,"

That's so cool.

That's

Yeah

and I love the actual, like when you… It's like you

leveraged your passion in that moment.

you're like, "All right, I did this.

This feels, this is totally what I'm meant to do," and you have an

opportunity, and the opportunity's not like somebody's knocking on your door

going, "We wanna give you a record deal."

The opportunity is, "Hey, I got this money I've saved up from working and

doing, acting, so I can either just use that to go on more rehearsals and, pay

while I don't have a- another gig, or I can go and invest it in this, this,

this album," which is just fantastic.

Man, that's so cool.

I love the risk, actually, because, at the end of the day, if you're in, if

you're leading, whether you're leading yourself, you're leading a team, leading

an organization, any business owner or business leader knows it- they're

go- you're gonna have to take a risk.

But man, it feels good when you're taking a risk in something that you

have, you have some insight into, and also you know that you're in

it to win it no matter what, right?

so there's, it's kinda burn the ships territory,

Oh, yeah.

I

exactly

that's so cool.

So I'll, I… so you've had tremendous career, great albums, great music.

I'm a, I'm totally got 'em in my playlist.

we were talking before the show, just some of your songs are just fantastic.

And, but I wanna talk because you talk a lot about mentorship, and we've got a

lot of leaders that's listening to this, this show, and I think some of them are

listening, they're going, yeah, but he's an artist and he's this creative and it's

just kinda something that comes out of him," and "But what does that have to

do with me coaching and developing my m- my people or my teams or my company

or people that I work with?" But you've had so many opportunities where you've

interacted with people, and you've been mentored and mentored others.

specifically when you talk about someone on being on The Voice, what was that like?

First of all, give us a little primer of the behind-the-scenes

of The Voice because, again, we're, the audience sees the show.

What was it, is it l- is it like what on TV a- and/or is it… Give

us the primer, what you can, about The Voice and your experience.

Yeah.

the, the-- just suffice it to say that reality is a loose term in reality TV.

give you some flexibility there.

yeah, man, it, again, timing and how unique an experience can be

for one person than the next.

so I have very little, bad things to say about the experience all in all.

it was pretty kick-ass, a chance of a lifetime.

Really, like I said, I saw that it had-- there was a unique lane for

me to occupy, and I jumped in it.

that said, because I, my story was a big fish story, as they say.

the fact that I grew up working with Christina.

No producer is gonna turn-- is gonna run the risk of not

getting that story on tape.

"This I gotta see."

So that was… they played that the best way they thought they

could, and, it was bizarro.

But I think, curiosity would've killed the cat on my end 'cause

I'm like, "Man, I know if I did that show, something would…"

Yeah

would have to be forced to do it, whatever.

So I just, I didn't wanna wait till season three, four, five.

I was like, "Season two, let's go."

Let's go.

Yeah.

Yeah

huge platform.

It was cool.

It was really cool.

and I will say though that, th- what was unique about Season 2 that

was un- unlike any other season is that Season 1 was a pilot season

and no one really knew what it was.

They didn't throw a ton of money at it, but they th- they thought they

had a unique novel concept or a s- twist on the American Idol thing,

and they went with it, and it worked, and they decided to pick it up.

But when they picked it up, they gave it all the money, under the sun, and

they just, blew- exploded the budget and the production grid and everything.

It almost, doubled the size of the, the, the length of the season, the number of

contestants and, so yeah, it was a real big deal, but the one thing that was

consistent from Season 1 to 2 was they really put a lot of the, the production,

the flow of that show, they really put a lot of it in the hands of those coaches.

They,

Wow

they… And they realized right away like, "Whoa, we can't.

This is not… this is, yeah, this is not the real world, Season 1.

This is, this… We gotta, we're gonna tighten this up because they're just

gonna torpedo each other's contestants, and that's a bad look for these kids

trying to get a break, and it's not doing anyone any favors that there's

all this snarky back and forth with the coaches and their contestants getting

caught in the crossfires." if there was a bible or a book written about,

the, the annals of Voice, there would be a chapter in there called the Tony

Lucca Impact, and it would be like, literally was a case study for that show.

and I can get into it, but i- you know, it was basically like, they had a

legitimate argument to make that, what was unique about The Voice versus Idol is

that you could have had a prior career.

You could have been a prior professional in the music business, and that didn't

disqualify you, whereas it did Idol.

So that was why I did the show in the first place, oh, they don't care about

that, then this will be fun because I've got a pretty funny story Let's go.

Let's go see what happens.

And yeah, they, they were s- they were still allowing them to, say things

like, I thought you were a little flat," or, "A little pitchy," or,

"A little this, a little that," And, what would then happen is that they

would, obviously they would kinda start taking it personally, and then this

person would go this way and that way.

i- for me, again, I don't wanna, I don't wanna, I don't wanna dive too deep in

'cause it, it can be very long story very quickly, but, it was cool that I was,

grew up with Christina, and she and I, made nice after the first pilot episode.

It was great.

then they, they basically, She, k- sort of voted me through the battle rounds,

which each of the coaches weigh in on.

It's not a vote-vote, but it's like, "Hey, I, m- I gotta give

it for my boy. He did great."

yeah,

so hey, old friends, cool.

I didn't pick her.

I picked Adam.

But, that… No, no bad blood.

It was totally fine.

And then, I got to the live rounds and, and I reached out to our mutual

old friend, Justin Timberlake.

it's like,

Yeah

" Tony Lucca: Hey, man, I'm doing The Voice thing, and we're going to live

rounds, and I could use some love.

would you mind tweet- tweeting out 'Hey, support your boy, you're my

boy?'" and he's "For sure, man.

Do whatever.

Just let me know what you, what you want me to say." I'm like, "All right, cool."

yeah.

That's awesome.

that day, going into the live rounds, Justin Timberlake, who

Christina follows, tweets out to his some odd million followers, "Hey,

support my boy." And she's like, "Oh, hell no." She's like, "No."

She said, this is celebrity sway." She's like, "And I, I'm sorry, Tony,

I think you're one-dimensional."

And she like, she w- she made it personal for whatever reason, but

n- on the show?

Right on live TV after I sang.

And she made it personal unnecessarily because her point was valid.

hey, I, I just wanna make sure that this show is about who has the best voice

and not who has the most celebrity sway.

Fair point, but not at my expense, and not as a dig to Adam, who's now gonna

play chess like you read about, and he's gonna s- his whole sole mission is g-

he got, like, myopically tunnel vision, like how to beat Christina, and that

became the strategy for the whole season.

we did a Britney cover.

We did How You Like Me Now?

We did,

Oh, wow

99 Problems, and we're just laying them all at her feet,

and the producers are like, "What is happening?" And they're like,

"This is… We can't have our contestant singing 99 Problems directly to one

of our celebrity coaches." it was just like, the whole thing ran amok.

And, and so I'm not gonna get into, the conspiracy theories around who actually

won season two, 'cause I don't, it's not, I don't have sour grapes here.

but they couldn't have the winner of season two be the guy who sang 99 Problems

leveled at one of the celebrity coaches.

That's not good for anyone.

And when they made that point clear to me, and Adam, and, like Mark Burnett

was just like, "Look, no one wins if that guy wins." e- even him, he won't…

That's not how you wanna kick off your career.

That's not,

though we all got worked up and excited about the victory of

the season and winning the show, it didn't, it didn't, it didn't bode

like you thought.

Yeah.

Yeah.

yeah, it was a wild thing, and I look back like, man, I feel

like I dodged a bullet there,

Yeah.

but like I said, it was a lot of fun working on that level of

production and the band and my God.

but more specifically, the takeaway, the souvenirs that I got from Adam as my

coach, because I was a finalist, I rode it the whole way to the end of the season.

I got a lot of one-on-one time with him towards the end, and some of the advice

he gave me over the course of that season w- was-- is why he's got a red chair.

he's

why…

he's that good.

Yeah

it's not an accident.

None of those guys,

Wow.

they've made strong choices, to say the least.

and, and they've had them-- they've had most of them validated.

So it's like they, they've earned the right to, to break you off some

advice and assume the role of mentor or coach or whatever you wanna say.

and it, it was a game changer, man.

Again, I consider my career up to that point act one, and then, the--

after The Voice was kinda chapter two, where I caught like a second wind.

Most of it on the heels of a lot of what Adam shared, broke off, broke off for me,

Wow.

there

that impactful for you, like working with him was that impactful.

I think that's just encouraging to anybody listening on the last 10% that, you know,

A, part of ha- part of being a leader, because if you're leading a team, if

you're leading an organization, you own a business, you are sitting in a, your

own, I would say representative red chair.

you're leading.

And one of the things that I think is empower- it's just a very powerful is

how, is what an impact a great mentor and leader can have on someone else's career.

Like you just said, "Hey man, based on a lot of what happened and

transpired and the advice that he gave me, I look at the entire, my entire

career as a second act after that."

That is like legit.

That's amazing.

to have that someone can have that kind of, that a mentor can

have that kind of an impact.

but when you have a good mentor, when you choose a wise mentor and if

you're a good leader and a good coach, that should be a really satisfying

position to be in, to be able to give back, to be able to help somebody

else, to be able to pay it forward.

And, and I just, I think that's really important because i- it's

not, and it's even like you alluded to in the beginning, it's not

something that, that just happens.

Like it's, they're very intentional.

Like A- Adam just didn't show up and be like, "Oh, there's

a red chair sitting here.

I think I'll sit

Oh, wait, here comes Tony." it's no, I'm doing this because I want to engage and

I want to work with people and I want to work with other artists and I wanna

share some things that I've learned.

So as a leader, I think you've got to look at where you're sitting and if you have

the opportunity and the, to sit in the, imaginative red chair, what are you doing

intentionally to invest in your team?

What are you doing to intentionally invest in people?

What are you doing intentionally to, to help the next leader

to grow the next person?

And I think that's really just a really powerful story related to that.

I would love to know w- did he have a certain, it a style that he had when

he interacted with you or was there anything as it relates to his coaching,

just as his coaching of you, is there anything that just comes to mind for

you like was like, "Wow, I just knew when I would sit down with him, this is

what I was gonna get," or I don't know.

what, what comes to mind?

Yeah.

a funny story.

we were, once you get voted through, you start, going back and forth via

email or text, with your coach about what your next song is gonna be.

And so we were going back and forth about it.

but the next day, the next night I guess, or again, next day, we were scheduled

to be on, Fall- or not Fallon, Leno.

That's how long ago this was.

that's

On Leno.

and he was gonna be… Adam was gonna be the guest, but his two, his two

finalists, his final two semifinalists on his team were going to, join the

show as well, and join the house band, and sing the bumpers in and out of

the commercials of the songs that we had performed thus far on the show.

It was like, it's all in-house NBC stuff.

you got Leno, you got The Voice, you got the kids that have been on the show

singing with the house band, Ricky Martin.

it was pretty, pretty cool.

and, whoever… that had been on the books, so whoever was the finalist were

gonna, was gonna get that opportunity, and I just wound up in that spot.

So it was super cool.

but the night before we, before that went down, we were trading texts about the next

song I was gonna sing, whatever, and I said, "Ah, we'll pick back up tomorrow."

I said, I'll see you at Fallon," or, "I'll see you at Leno." and he texted me

back and he goes, "Aha," or, ha, you just said, 'I'll see you tomorrow at Leno.'"

A- and he said, "Some unsolicited advice." And I was like, "Yeah?" And

he goes, "Don't ever get used to it." Like- Tomorrow we get to go on L- Leno.

Like, how freaking cool is that?

and you just said it like it was matter-of-fact, "Don't lose sight

of the fact that we get to go do…" And I went, "Yeah, that, okay, don't

ever get, don't ever get used to it."

What a killer thing for someone like him to say.

my

I loved it.

I loved it.

It just said, it said so much in just one little thing, he

had another thing, man, where he basically… he was very no-nonsense.

a- and, and we got into talking about what song to sing for the show, And, when you

do your blind audition, or before you join the show, but s- specifically before you

do your blind audition, they g- they send you a list of, a hun- 200 songs, and they

tell you to pick 75, and then order them 1 through 75, the song you most wanna sing

to the one you least wanna sing, right?

I didn't recognize half the songs on this list.

it was all pop songs, the occasional, classic rock anthem,

Fleetwood Mac, Elton John, whatever.

But by and large it was all, Rihanna and, I, all these, Adele.

I just didn't know any of these artists at the time.

I've just been rocking out a little too long.

Yeah

but I saw Trouble by Ray LaMontagne, and I was like,

"Oh, dear God. Got it." circle it.

crack out the red-

one.

It's like, "Here's my s- list of 75." One.

Ray LaMontagne, Trouble.

Okay.

So you're gonna appreciate this story.

you get my sense of humor here 'cause I did that.

I circled it red Sharpie number one.

And then, one of the only other songs I recognized on the list was "Baby One

More Time" by Britney Spears, and I thought, "Oh, okay, this'll be funny."

I circled it and said number 75.

I didn't number any other songs.

What a dick move, but, I-- here's the picture, folks.

this is who you're dealing with.

You're dealing with, Ray LaMontagne over Britney Spears, okay?

I'm full on this guy, not at all this guy.

And, so I thought that was kinda clever.

They did give me trouble, so they got the hint, right?

but when we got into the season and they wanted, we-- again, we

were having to decide what song to sing, they looked at my, my list and

they saw that the only other song

on there was "Baby One More Time." They tell that to Adam, and they

say, the only other song on his list is 'Baby One More Time.'"

And Adam was like, "That's perfect." And that's what he's

gotta, that's what he's gotta do.

And so they come to me and they say, "Adam wants you to do the Britney song."

"You're kidding me, right?

You are absolutely kidding me." And they're like, "No." And I'm like-- And I'm

fit to be tied 'cause, they didn't get it.

he didn't get the

yeah.

chance.

was a sarcastic joke, boys.

This was a joke.

oh my gosh

But then he asked to see me, right?

And I go out to his trailer after lunch and "Hey, man," And he s- he sits me

down literally while he's getting ready to come out and shoot the scene, and

he's talking and he's like, "Listen, do you ever think that the reason

you're here is because maybe you've been playing it a little too safe?"

क्या

"Damn, bro.

Hammer fall, right?" Then he said, "I'm only saying it because it's

fresh, it's fresh in my mind.

I just took this job of being a coach on a reality TV show.

That could be career suicide.

But then I doubled down on that and put out a song that professed to the world

that I have the moves like Mick Jagger.

Who does that, Tony?" And I'm like… he goes, "Clearly, either of those

choices could have fallen completely on their face, and I would not

be here right now, nor would you.

things would be very different." I'm like, "True." He said, "You

gotta make calculated risks, man.

If it d-" He said, "If it doesn't make you feel at least somewhat uncomfortable,

it's probably not worth doing."

Yeah.

And he goes, "Anyone else could sing Britney Spears right

now in this contest, and it would have zero relevance to, to their

story." He goes, "This is your story.

Your whole career, you've grown up in the shadow of her cultural moment and

NSYNC and Christina, and you've done this independent thing, which is awesome.

But s- show them that you're every bit of capable of that caliber of stardom.

This is your moment to do that.

It won't go unnoticed." And I'm like, "Dude, you're killing me." And

he said… And then he said, "I'm not here to tell you that singing a

Britney Spears song is the right call.

I'm here to tell you it's the only call."

And I was just like, "And scene." Like it, it was a scene right

out of a biopic, honest to God.

And I would just remember feeling like, holy shit, I

could… I don't know how much, I don't know how much I would've had to pay

for that, if I were paying someone to coach me or ment- Like what would that

that's priceless.

Oh my gosh.

I

have cost me?

So

the fact that he had… Man, that, that is amazing.

he had… So you did the song,

Did the song, man, and it was, it, and it did the thing, and

it totally was, it was cuckoo crazy.

And the producers, man, as soon as I said, "Okay, I'll do it," then you

could see the producer just like, "Oh my God." And they did everything to,

surprise Christina with this, right?

they did, they really… this, 'cause this was in response to

her calling me one-dimensional.

that's why Adam wanted to do it.

He goes, "Nothing will cut to the jugular more than you singing a Britney

Spears song." And I'm like, "Man, okay.

I like your approach, man.

Let's do this," Little does he know, on a personal tip, we all

knew Christina was gonna be the biggest thing in the world, right?

She's had the voice, that voice at 12 years old, at, 95 pounds soaking wet.

It was wild, weird, and oh my God.

You knew you were in the presence of someone that was

just gonna be it at some point.

And, Britney was just, the cutest thing and the best dancer amongst

all of us, and was a great performer.

But, if you, if anyone had to put their money on it on the way out the door

after Mouse Club which one was gonna hit first and be the bigger star, Christina

all day long, just because she had this voice that was un- undeniable.

But the fact that Britney beat Christina to the punch with Hit

Me Baby One More Time, that song is like kryptonite to Christina.

and that was also, it was also a part of me where I was like, "Man, okay,

that's… You're right, Adam. You're not wrong." But, a little backstory.

this is g-

not know.

This is gonna cut a, this is gonna cut a

ugh

little deeper than even you think.

Wow.

There's a little more layers to this story than what even you know.

Wow.

So

Who would have known watching The Voice, you walk out and do

Hit Me One More Time, and then, it's just so many things are going on right then.

Nobody has an idea.

nobody has any… And you're sitting there, this goes all the way back

Eh,

Like,

yes

here takes it all the way back.

It pulls, it's got Justin involved, 'cause he sent a tweet.

It's got Britney involved.

She sang the song.

Christina's sitting in front of me, just smoke coming out of her ears.

oh my God.

that's insane.

That's insane.

Yeah, man.

it was really intense.

And, like I … I- if you watch that performance, you can tell too, 'cause I'm

… it's all I can do to stay contained.

Yeah

I wanna s- I'm singing sharp, I'm nearly out of breath and the song

just started because, my adrenaline is so high pulling that, that honor.

Because they also … Yeah, like they literally … It was, I think,

the first time on the show that they introduced a song without introducing

the title of the song because they wanted the shock value for, Christina.

They said, "Here's Dylan LeBlanc with his risky comeback," whatever, And,

and so then after from that point on, Christina had to know what I was

singing before we got to the episode.

And like they had to have her talking points ready, and yada, yada.

It, again, this … It was, reality is a loose term, man.

it was a lot, and it didn't end quite well, but it was, But again, suffice

it to say that song now, like when I hear it and when I I still play b- it

'cause it's just a fun story to tell.

it's a fun song to play, in truth, And, But it's, it … I also play it

because it reminds me of that, that pep talk, That, that if it doesn't make you

feel at least somewhat uncomfortable, it's probably not worth doing.

doing

And so I just, I try to stay a little uneasy.

I've tried to stay a little uneasy, with my choices, ever since then.

or I, get a little more intense about something, and then offset that

with letting something go completely and just seeing where it leads.

just trying to maintain that balance has been a large part of the takeaway

that I got from Adam, and his mentorship

That's fascinating.

I think that's so true, and I love how you put that.

Let, just being really maybe more intense about certain things and then

just choosing to let certain things just completely go, which w- it's it's

interesting tension because a lot of times people get really hyper-focused.

They get really, and it's like, they're like that with everything,

but they lose opportunities because they just, they're bent.

everything has to be perfect, that perfectionism.

But if you can step back and say, no, there's gonna be a few things

I'm like, 'No, let it ride,'" then it just opens things up.

I love that tension, that you introduced there.

I wanna talk a little bit about that as it relates to, boundaries

in, in, in mindsets because what you're describing is a new mindset.

And you said your kinda career, you look at it as before and after

that as, as kinda the second act.

Now you're saying, we were talking before the show and you were saying

how you're, y- you've got a family and you're still working and grinding.

But, you… It seems like you have a little bit of a different perspective.

You've, you're 30-plus years in the game now.

what is it… Like, how does that look different for you now, your perception of

the business and the music and, your life?

'Cause you seem to have a really more, I don't know, just, a,

a very wise perspective on how you want to approach this.

Thanks, man.

yeah, I think it's if you're in something long enough, like if you think about

young ac- actors who have been at it a while and that, that eventually got

into producing and directing and that kind of thing, you're just in it.

You're in the experience, the work space that you just…

You've seen it from every angle.

You know what leadership, good leadership looks like.

Maybe you've tried those shoes on yourself and directed a film or, as a, as an artist

maybe, you… Someone like Brett Young, who I play for, he is a business man.

he's a business leader.

He is a small business owner, and he's the CEO of his company,

and he has to lead like one.

and I spent, a long time, eh, being my own leader, of my own small company, and being

a band leader when I've had guys that I'm able to take out on the road with me.

going into the studio as a producer and leading the way through, an album.

I've, and I've certainly had enough, a, a few records where I relinquished

those reigns, and said, "I'm just the artist, man. You produce me.

you make more of the creative calls." I did that on the front end.

I wrote great songs, you produce them.

which was a, which was another step for me, 'cause I, I used to produce a

lot of my own records, but it wasn't because I knew better than anyone else.

It was because I didn't want anyone to come in and tell me my

sh- my, my songs weren't great.

I was… It was like I was, like George McFly.

"I just don't think I can take that kind of rejection."

it was very serious, but once I became a better songwriter and I believed in

the s- and gave mys- o-offered myself up to that, that, you earn enough

modesty and humility over the years where you're able to be like, "No, I…

If it can be bested, let's best it." Open the door to that.

So yeah, I'm gonna go get a producer, and if the producer says,

"You know what we could use here is half of that bridge" Oh, okay.

It, let- Let's edit that, and that's probably a good

idea, and thank you for that.

And, yeah, like just open yourself up to the creative process,

whereas before I was bogarting it.

but, yeah, it is wild, man.

I think the, the work-life balance thing has been an important part of

all of it, and, getting into, what I feel now is kinda like act three or

chapter three really, and that is, having decided to join, Brett Young's

band and be… do the side guy thing.

Like the, the salaried, full side guy thing that so many people in town in

Nashville are gunning for, And again, this is like me and acting, I kinda just

wound up there and no one told me to come home that's kinda where I am with this.

this was never on my bingo card, let alone an aspiration, I didn't

ever imagine this happening.

and then just, strange timing a- and, just the way things kinda fell into place.

It was just like, "Okay, yeah, maybe let me give that a go." I'm a spiritual

dude and I, I don't cling to notions of astrology and all that stuff, but

I can appreciate it and I definitely like… when I hear things are going

a little, squirrely up there in the ether, I'll tune in and be like,

"Okay, what kind of impact could that have on me or is that having on me?"

Yeah

like basically, my… one of my closest homies of the last, 20

years i- is Brett's lead guitar player, and he's been on the gig for the last

eight or so years, eight or nine years.

And,

Ah

yeah, and he had been telling me for a long time like,

"Man, man, I wanna get you on this gig. I-" Not happening, man.

No way.

and I, it was just crazy that he took this gig because he, my buddy Keaton, he

played for Chris Cornell before he passed.

He played for, Gnarls Barkley back in the day and just some

really great acts, Snoop Dogg.

He… But he wound up in this country band, and he just loves the gig.

He just, whatever.

the guy that I replaced was leaving the band.

The other rhythm guitar player was like, I'm done with the road.

I wanna go home, just get married and have a family," and all that stuff.

And so he asked Keaton, "Who should I call?"

And he said, call Luca.

Call Tony." and so they called me, and, he said, "Hey, man, curious if this is

something at all you're interested in.

When might this be something, do you… Is that… Would you be into it?"

And I said, when are you thinking?" He said, "How's November?" I said,

"Okay." I look in my calendar, and I'm booked every weekend up until November,

and then it's, and then it's empty.

And this was, like, in Aug- you know, August of '22.

And I look in my calendar.

I'm like, apparently I was waiting for you to call." and so I, And he said, how about

three weeks in Europe?" I'm like, "Okay.

I get to go to Europe for three weeks to kick the tires on

this gig and see if I want it?"

tough sell.

That's the hard sell.

I was like, "Sure, let's go." And then I go, and I couldn't

believe how much I enjoyed it.

I was, I was really, shocked at how much I enjoyed it.

And I realized, man, there was a documentary a while ago that I still

haven't seen, but I've been meaning to go back to it since I took this job.

It's called 20 Steps From Stardom or,

Oh, I don't know.

I have to check that out.

I hadn't seen it.

Yeah

that.

A documentary about, famous background singers, people that were, background

singers for the major act, that stood

20 steps from

20

Yeah, yeah.

Okay.

steps from… And, and I… But that hit home, man.

And I'm like, "Wow, okay." So growing up, I dreamt about getting up on stage,

playing guitar in front of, singing in front of thousands of people a night,

touring the world on a tour bus, and, like, all this stuff, being a rock star.

that was my dream since the time I was a kid, here I am

living out about 99% of that.

The only difference is I'm not in the spotlight.

It's not my name on the marquee, but you know what?

I kinda dig it over here right now a little more than

I think I might over there.

And so it's great to feel like I was at an a- it was at a point in my life where

I'm at an age where I feel like I've, my, my body of work speaks for itself.

I don't have anything left to prove creatively.

I, know that it's not a fluke, that if I need and wanna go back to, full-time

making records and touring, I got it.

I can do that.

and, but right now, it's like I get to do this and get a little clearer about

what, just lose the hustle and grind thing that I had been doing for a long time.

And the longer I was on the gig, the more I realized, "Whoof.

Wow, man, you've been busting ass for a while

Yeah

Now I get to bust ass, but it's it's more organized, and my bandwidth

is more constructively allocated.

And I, again, I'm not spinning my wheels.

I'm, there's so much less frustration having a consistent thing, within

which I can manage to do other things on my days when I'm not on the road.

So it's been a really healthy period for me.

and it, but it, like I said, it feels like, it feels like a timing thing.

It feels like, okay, this is good for right now.

This feels right right now, and I'm making, the absolute most of it.

I think that's really good.

I think that it's interesting, you talk about timing, but

it's also, the transition.

Because when you talk about it early on, you're booking the gigs,

you're going and, doing the shows.

You're having to find… If you're taking guys with you in a

band, you're trying to do that.

You're having to sell… you're like the bootstrap entrepreneur that's,

grinding it out, going, and just you're everything to everybody, right?

And so it's like I could totally see how you would feel like when you get into

this machine, that's running, and you get to do what you're, passionate about

and great at, play guitar, and do…

just add to that, concert.

That's, your focus.

So now you kinda drop all this other stuff, and it's oh, now that I'm not

having to be everything to everybody, I can just do what I love, and then

I can focus on what I really enjoy.

So it just totally, it totally makes sense.

You get more focus.

You get more f- time to do what you want.

And, and man, that, that's awesome.

Good for you on that.

That's a great transition.

I wanna talk about some things that you're doing with your time because

you've just released a, kind of redone and revamped your entire YouTube channel.

Tell us about, what's, what are you doing here on this, this new channel?

Kinda what your, what's your goals with this new venture, new project?

Yeah, man.

it's kinda like a, a catchall of my r- remaining creative, i- ideas and schemes.

But no, basically I'm a, I sit on the board of a, a foundation called the

Always In The Club Foundation, which is, a handful of former Mosqueaters.

We've just really, embraced a bit of the philanthropic reputation that

we had as kids a- and the idea that there's a lot more to be done here than

what we're trying to do as artists.

And, so we have been, in fits and starts over the last 10 years or so

trying to figure out where the lane is for us and how we can be of service

and, other charities we can partner with to help benefit and things.

Through COVID, we made an album and put it out.

It charted on Billboard and, we still have the capacity to work together

and do things on a professional level.

we kinda zeroed in on what this looks like and what, what our best foot

forward is, and that's, youth arts and education, through mentoring, mentorship.

And so we are putting together grants and things for us to be able to, share our

knowledge of things and our experience in this industry with young emerging artists

and students that are underprivileged or, underserved communities that

could've, could use this kinda thing.

and so in, in step with that, okay, I, you wanna… Not that I have a, a, a

program or a curriculum or anything like that, but, nice to start to organize

30 years of experience and insight into, little more, more so bite-sized

lessons or, just anecdotal insight.

And so I've started doing that.

I started, put- posting videos each week, on the B- Be What You Do.

It's called Be What You Do,

Be

which,

I

you know-

that.

Yeah

because any, any artist is an entrepreneur at heart, and

eventually, it becomes a Venn diagram that overlaps, Where you… And it's

not being defined by your job title.

that's… I'm a Buddhist at heart, so that's not what I'm saying either.

But it is showing up completely to what you're doing and allowing

the work to be fully inhabited by who you are and what you do.

so that's kinda the ethos of it.

and I'm doing kinda more or less what we're doing here, Like I, I'll pick a

story or an anecdote and I'll, write it out in full granular detail, and

then I'll break it down into like a, a, a, a script-sized, version and

just do like a, 10 minutes or so, of just chattin' it up and sharing a, a

lot of these, these ideas and giving little hints and pointers and things.

and, like I said, it's early days.

I've been on YouTube since 2007, but it's just been a catch it's, but it's been

like a catch-all sort of artist archive.

If I've ever had any video content over the years, I'd post it there.

I was never doing the intentional thumbnail and title and

packaging, the whole thing.

I had no idea that was even going on until the last, five or seven years

maybe, And now it's like, wait a second.

Okay, this is … Now I'm a YouTuber.

That is a little odd, but it's, but it takes that, And it just, it's

another opportunity for me to, to exercise discipline and consistency

and continue to show up for anybody that might be finding value there.

but also, like I said, it's formulating more and more of, of talking points for

future keynote concerts and, and talks and, guest lectures and that kinda thing

that, that, that I seem to be doing a bit more of, in this chapter of my life.

And, and I'm enjoying it.

I enjoy the organizational aspect of it, the consistency of it, and, hopefully

folks are finding value with it.

Absolutely.

I think that's awesome because, again, it goes back to just giving back and

your experience with Adam and back and even the, the, Mickey Mouse Club

and just the philanthropic aspect.

All of this is just giving back, and I think that's awesome.

To be in your level and your, at this time in your career, I think that's fantastic.

I would love to hear just your thoughts just real quickly.

I know we're, we're coming to the end, but I would love to hear your thoughts

on… And this is just, this is, this is preach- I want you to preach to

the choir a little bit 'cause this is something I'm interested in personally.

'Cause we were talking also be- before the show, that I was…

I just love, I love songwriting.

I love the, just the creation aspect of it and doing it all.

I just, the whole process.

And I also know there's nothing that makes you feel more naked than just boring,

just pouring your heart out and then sharing that with the world and going,

"I really hope this goes well," 'cause it's got my name on it, And there's

so much we could talk about ownership.

When you own your art, you put your name on it, put it out in the world.

Mm-hmm.

know, because one of the things I feel like that a, a lot of

young artists and even young leaders, they, it's separating their work a-

and the business, and managing that.

so I, I was m- very, passionate about songwriting and very much into the

music, but then you learn that that, is great if you're in your, in, in your,

you're on your back porch at home.

That doesn't work so well when you say, "I'm gonna, I'm going

to engage in business in this," and there's a business aspect.

And then you hear all the horror stories that come with the music business.

Yeah

you h- You've been in it for your entire career.

How do you manage to balance that creative art with business

of music and still maintain that drive and that, enthusiasm craft?

It's a great question, and I would say the answer has,

has shifted and evolved over time,

Yeah

but I think if you can look at the music as just a vehicle,

and y- you stay on it through all the shifts and changes, and you realize,

the music is gonna take you through, It's gonna get you out on the road.

It's gonna get you out into the world.

It's gonna get you d- developing new skills like getting on stage in

front of an audience and making fans and how to craft the right show.

there's a whole universe of skill sets that you have to acquire,

when you drive the music vehicle out on the road and on the stage.

then you get into, the business admin side of it, And y- you got… Like I said,

you gotta take those things seriously.

ideally, you get to a place where you can afford a team, and you got

trustworthy people around you that are doing your accounting and your business

management and your legal stuff.

That's great, but you gotta know what each of them are tasked with

doing and what your role is in it.

And I think for independent artists that can develop that acumen as well, it's

gonna, it's gonna m- inform you so that when you have a seat at the table, you

know how to hold people accountable.

It's also gonna give you a great deal of gratitude for what those people

are doing and bringing to your world.

If you've done it yourself for years, you know what it's like to have a

guitar tech, he has your guitar-

too.

You're like, "Thank you very much."

That's, honestly, that's what sealed the deal

with the Brett Young thing.

Ah, that's

know, but then you drive the vehicle through, okay, social

media and all the new stuff and streaming and TikTok and, learning

how to, get it all out there.

And, I think the key is to, do it all.

Learn it all, get… a-and learn how to diversify because, yeah, we're not…

Some days it's gonna be great on Spotify, and then it's not gonna be great.

And then YouTube's great, but then, oh, then they cut their monetization hours

into half, and oh, you're kinda always at the mercy of the platform if you put

all your eggs in a basket, one basket.

You gotta, for me, a lot of it has been, I think the, the life

raft of it all is community.

cheesy and hokey and kumbaya, but, for real.

if you, if y-you can take people… If you make people fans of your music and

then find ways, access points, touch points where you can, connect with them,

and, everyone's got their boundaries and their limits, and that's fair.

But, to the extent that you're capable of communing and expressing gratitude to the

people that enjoy your music and sharing, as much of your process as you can with

them, they're gonna enjoy that, and you're gonna develop a relationship of trust.

And you're gonna… then they're gonna wanna support the whole thing.

they… My, my fans, they, n-not all of them are emerging artists.

They're not all gonna take to the whole YouTube page thing that I'm doing right

now, but because my heart and soul is in it, they're supporting it, and they're

gonna continue to spread the word for me.

Yeah

it's like you always have a head start no matter what you embark on

if you've got a community to support you.

And, it's easier said than done for someone who's, 30 years in.

I… If I don't have a community after 30 years, I don't know

what the hell I'm doing.

But I see… but it became apparent early on that this was d-not only

in-indispensable to my bottom line, but it's gonna, it's gonna y-yield

so much more than just monetary gain.

this is what it's all about.

finding community through your art, I think, is just a huge step that

maybe doesn't get talked about nearly as much as it could and should.

But,

I agree.

yeah

agree.

I love that.

That's really just a fantastic answer.

I think that's so true, and I think that community, that you're creating, whether

it's the community with your fans or the community like the Mickey Mouse Club.

you look at your story, there's so many aspects and different facets

of it that, that is exactly that.

now you've got the community with, Brett Young.

You had the community with Mickey Mouse.

You got community with your fans, and they're helping you launch your YouTube.

that all it is.

And it's just, it's really fascinating because it, it's, it also helps you it,

it helps you when you run in- when you're driving the vehicle of music and you

run into a, you have a flat tire, you run into a wall or whatever, you've got

community and support there that, that can talk you off a ledge sometimes, So

I think that's I think that's so true.

I think that's outstanding.

I think today, I just, I think for me, I've really enjoyed our conversation

because when I hear you talk about your career, I love how you talk

about it like, this is act one.

This is act two.

This is act three.

Here's an inflection point that changed this direction.

Here's an inflection…" And you've had these pivots, and it wasn't, small things.

These are, massive shifts.

You went from independent artist to now being Brett Young.

That's a big, that's a big shift.

But you've been able to move through these pivots in your career just

really, I don't know, just with ease.

I think some of that is like what you're saying with the community.

but I think that's what I'm taking away.

If you're leading an organization or you're leading a team, the other

thing I think with the pivot is I think that you've done a really good

job of being, being okay with taking, doing things that are uncomfortable.

you're kinda sitting there going, "Oh, I don't know about this Brett

Young thing. This kinda feels uncomfortable." All right, let's do it.

I don't know about this YouTube thing.

It kinda feels, like, uncomfortable.

Okay, I'm gonna do it.

and I think that taking those calculated risks that you're uncomfortable with

but are in line with your passion, that are in the center mass of what you're,

wanting to accomplish, it helps you move through the pivots, I think, with success.

I think you're showing that.

In every stage, you've moved into that next phase successfully.

And, man, just congratulations.

That's, I think that's fantastic advice for leaders, anybody.

I think it's just really good.

If you're facing something challenging and stuff, I think your story

is very inspiring to that end.

Yeah, man.

thank you so much.

It's

Yeah

been fun kinda getting into the weeds with you.

No, that's good.

So listen, we always ask our guests, all right, two, two questions to end the show.

Number one, how can people, get in contact with you if they wanna

learn more about your music?

obviously we'll put the YouTube page up, but how do people reach out if they

wanna find out more about Tony Lucca?

if they wanna just, reach out personally, [email protected],

but my tonyluca.com is where it's at.

I, I have a whole, custom songs page over there as well.

That's another thing we didn't really touch on today, but, but, that's

been a, a fun little side hustle.

It's not hustle, but like a side offshoot of the, the songwriting career

has been writing custom songs for people, and there's a whole page there.

But there's also, [email protected] if you wanna, jumpstart a conversation

about, diving in on this a little more

Wonderful.

Okay, so we'll put that in the show notes.

If you're driving, don't worry, we got it in the show notes for you.

And the last thing we always ask every guest on the show is if you were to listen

to someone on The Last 10%, who would you like to hear as a guest on The Last 10%?

Oh, man.

That's a great one.

I'm trying to think of who I just saw recently that had a big win,

and it was like, "Man, do that." I think it was, I think it was this

young guy, Scott Pelman, who is, he's an independent artist out there.

Similar story in that he got-- he was in the business early on, got a deal when

he was younger, and, has been up and down in the, the in-music industry grinder.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah,

but he finally emerged, with a really cool sound, and he wrote

a song that was like a big middle finger to the industry, to the music business,

specifically, like the old school A&R guy.

Oh

and this song is called "Mr. Record," "Mr. Record Label." And

it-- he made these-- he made a series of viral music video clips on Instagram

all spring and summer this year.

st- going back to June, I think, and, incessantly just barraging Instagram

with these clips, and then tying them into clips of interviews with

Lady Gaga and Rihanna and, like, all these artists giving interviews

talking about how the label industry, the label system screwed them.

And then it cuts to his music video, and you're just like, "Whoa." it just--

It became this infectious song of the summer on Instagram, and then he

finally put it out, two weeks ago, and it, and streams went through the roof.

He got a spin on S- SiriusXM, Alt Nation, got a shout-out on the BBC.

it snowballed because he did it.

he did the thing.

It connected like nothing else, and it, he also, salt and peppered the

whole thing with some, personal posts on Instagram, like behind-the-scenes

kind of things, like on the set of a shoot, and be like, "Guys, I'm just,

just finished a shoot," and, you could just see this guy was, like, wearing

this what-am-I-doing kind of head space.

and it paid off, man.

And I just, I want that kid's story to be heard by as many

people as, as he can tell it to.

All right.

All right.

We'll have to reach out.

We'll have to reach out and see if we can get, we'll get ahold of him and

see if we can get him on The Last 10%.

That'd be awesome.

That'd be… That's a great story too.

That makes for

Because I'm sure you tapped into something very akin to the

last 10% to get that to happen, man.

So yeah.

awesome.

yeah

listen, Tony, thank you for being a guest.

You've been a fantastic guest.

You've dropped some amazing value bombs on the show today.

It's just

Thanks

story's incredible.

I just love it.

I think there's so much that people can get from it.

and, listen, if you guys are listening, reach out, tonyluca.com, check out

the mentorship, check out the YouTube page, check out the songwriting.

Man, that's awesome.

If you can get a songwriter of his caliber to work on some stuff with

you, that is mind-blowing, dude.

That's ins- I go there after the show.

But, listen, thank you again for being on the show, Tony

You got it.

My pleasure, man

Thanks for joining us today on The Last Ten Percent.

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