'I have a great love for it': Reever finds music home in Owensboro
May 30—Lucas Reever is not originally from the Owensboro area, but he is taking advantage of what the 'Bluegrass Music Capital of the World' has to offer under the stage name Lucas Tex.
Reever, 33, is a native of Fairfield, Illinois, was raised by a single mother, and graduated from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale with a theatre degree in 2012 before he "moved all over" pursuing a career in the entertainment industry in music, acting, producing and writing.
"I lived in St. Louis, I lived in Los Angeles, I lived in Portland," he said. "I've been around, moved to a few big cities, (but) I definitely love the country life."
Reever moved back to Illinois at the age of 27 where he reconnected with his former partner, Kelsey. The pair became engaged in 2022 and they recently welcomed their first child — a baby girl named Lynnon James — in April.
It was while he was home that he became more involved with music.
"When I came back, I had a few buddies and we started jamming," Reever said. "It's just a lot of fun getting together with your friends, and making music and being on a totally different wavelength."
Reever's plans shifted at this time to wanting to pay homage to his upbringing.
"I just decided: 'You know what? I'm gonna be a country, Americana, blues rock artist,' " he said. "... I grew up racing horses, so we were obviously deep into cowboy culture. ... (My mom and I) used to cruise around listening to 90s country and my grandfather was a Southern gospel producer and he produced a bunch of Southern gospel bands."
Reever went through "an emo phase" musically and continues to have a fondness of hip hop music, R&B and rap, but "you kind of gravitate back towards your roots as you get older," he said.
Reever moved to Owensboro in October 2020 after being offered a job opportunity by a friend at Family Dream Homes Owensboro.
He's "very happy" with the decision to move here and with the local music scene.
"There's just a major scene for country, and folk and bluegrass music, and I started to just appreciate it more and more," he said. "I've got to watch musicians around here perform and see how talented they were and see how well the crowds responded to their genres and music choices.
"Owensboro definitely helped pull me closer and closer into the country, Americana style of music for sure," he said.
Reever was welcomed by musicians and venue owners such as Andy Brasher and Tamarra Miller of Brasher's Lil' Nashville, who gave him an opportunity to showcase his talents at open mic nights.
