My name is Kyle Lacy, and I was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. I have made New York City my home for 10 years now, and I can’t think of any other place I’d rather live and work. As an artist I have released three studio albums of original music: “Currents” (2017) with my first band, Harlem River Noise, and two solo albums, “The Road to Tomorrow” (2020) and “Pleasurecraft” (2023). I am currently an artist in residence at NYC’s Club Groove, performing weekly on Saturday nights, and I also tour with The Harlem Gospel Travelers and The Rave Ons.

 

I have artistically supportive parents, and when I was in middle school they encouraged me to audition for DeKalb School of the Arts in Decatur, GA. That is where I began to learn the craft of playing music & performing. I did musicals and sang in choir, acted in plays, wrote music for my own bands and helped to organize Fringe activities around the school. My teachers were professionals in the Arts (with a capital A!). They encouraged me to pursue a professional artistic career and with that in mind, I majored in Musical Theatre and attained a Bachelor’s of Music from Oklahoma City University.  

 

I came to New York and began auditioning and writing my own music. In musical theatre I have worked for Ogunquit Playhouse, Gateway Playhouse, and The Muny (in “Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story”) as well as Alhambra Theatre and Arts Center of Coastal Carolina (in “Pump Boys and Dinettes”). In 2014, I released my first original song “Playing in My Head”, followed by a music video for another original in 2016, “One Trick Pony.” These songs were heavily inspired by rockabilly and blues music that I grew up loving as a kid: The Stray Cats, JD McPherson, Chuck Berry. 

 

I took this style and formed a band with my friends called “Harlem River Noise.” We made an album together and hit the road. I really believed (and still do) that the way to connect to a live audience is to write songs that make them move, and that band was definitely a manifestation of that belief. To that end, we toured the United States, playing in small clubs, festivals, and bars and made a lot of great music and memories. 

 

I decided in 2019 it was time to step into my own name as a singer & songwriter and I partnered with Dala Records to release my first solo singles. Producer Billy Aukstik and I recorded enough material for a full length release, which became “The Road to Tomorrow” and entered the world on February 14, 2020. My influences were wide ranging on that album but included soul cats like Otis Redding and Lake Street Dive, as well as jazz cats like Les McCann and Eddie Harris.

 

During and after the pandemic, I started writing songs for a new project. My band and I attained residencies at clubs around NYC and workshopped our new material, which became our new album “Pleasurecraft” - the first album of original music under my own name that I have entirely self-produced. It features 9 original songs. The idea behind the album was to take the sounds of 80’s pop-soul (George Michael, Luther Vandross, the Pointer Sisters) and to make a danceable record that evoked those feelings of love and joy while sounding entirely new. 

 

Plans for the future include touring “Pleasurecraft” and I eagerly await the arrival of Vinyl (I should have it in my hands by June 2023). I also own my own label, Lacy Records, and in addition to releases by Mel and the Tall Boys and Warren Malone, I look forward to producing releases for new artists in the years to come. When I’m not performing I’m likely spending time with my partner Amanda, a talented actress, singer & performer, cooking some of the southern dishes I grew up with, watching Star Trek: The Next Generation, or explaining the NYC Subway track maps (someone has to do it). 

 

I remain grateful as ever, for your presence, support, and listening ears. 

 

Kyle