Meet Kyle Lacy | Musician and Singer-Songwriter

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kyle Lacy and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kyle, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
Risk is the thing that keeps you going. When you look at an opportunity and say, I have 100% chance of succeeding at this, the opportunity becomes ultimately unsatisfying. You have to take risks and put yourself out there to have a career as an artist. You have to be willing to stand firm on your tastes and beliefs even when society tells you otherwise. Not counting all the financial risk you take as an independent artist, the risk of standing out on your own can also connect you to your true fans.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Being an artist is never easy. But the choice was.

I started out in Musical Theatre. I trained in High school doing performances of Damn Yankees, Seussical the Musical, Pajama Game, The Mikado, and Sweeney Todd. I also did show choir, drama ensemble, and took dance classes. I led my own band and performed at local music venues, in our church basement, in our local music store back room (really, wherever we could get a gig).

In college, I attended Oklahoma City University and studied musical theatre. I had some great professors there that helped me hone my voice and acting chops as well as my professional attitude about the business. Even the parts of college I didn’t like became an asset to me, by showing me that this career was never going to be easy. I also met and became part of a church family and led musical worship every week. That was my home away from home. While there, I auditioned for the Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma’s production of Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story. I got the job, as their drummer and actor. My whole family and church family made the trip to see me perform. I knew I was on the right path.

The time came after college was done to move to NYC. Luckily, I got a summer job at Hersheypark in Hershey, PA, playing dueling pianos and driving a kooky-looking piano truck around the park. It was fun and hard work and it helped me save up for my first new york apartment. During my time there, an old contact from Oklahoma called me with news of an audition for another production of Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story. I left my summer job early to go to Long Island and Ogunquit for that show. It put me on my feet as a professional performer.

It wasn’t long before I was back in the city and needing a survival job. I worked various odds and ends as a temp before applying to local restaurants and getting a job waiting tables at a classic American bistro The Bar Room across town on the East side. I worked there for 4 years. I acted in plays, some more productions of the Buddy Holly Story around the country at other regional playhouses, and did two productions of Pump Boys and Dinettes, a country music show.

After a couple years acting, I felt that my heart was leading me somewhere, away from theatre and into music. I had written and recorded music all throughout high school and college, and always wanted it to go somewhere. I started attending open mics every week in NYC, and playing my original songs for anyone who would listen. It was at these open mics that I met people who would become my very best musical friends in New York, singer-songwriters who are my most honest friends to this day. I cherished my time being a part of the musical community. I also began to email local venues and book shows for a band I had formed with some guys I knew from the musical theatre world, and some local musicians. We were called the Kyle Lacy band. Shows started slowly, and I really didn’t know what I was doing at first!! Time helped, and by the spring of 2015, I had a good band and we were making great music together and having a lot of fun doing it.

In 2017 my best friend Josh passed away from complications from several serious medical conditions. I knew the time was now or never- I had to make something of myself. I picked two months of the year on my calendar, August and September, and booked my first tour. I assembled a team of musicians and formed a new band, Kyle Lacy and the Harlem River Noise, and we made an album and completed our first cross-country tour later that year. Sometimes we made no money at all, and got through on sheer gumption. But we stuck with it. we continued touring for 2 years, and simultaneously, I made my first solo album with some new friends back in New York.

I had just released that album when in spring of 2020 the pandemic shut us down. I had to cancel 2 months of touring and move into a different direction with my life. I was also going through a divorce and moving back to be in New York Full-time. It was a trying time but a very productive one, as I wrote the songs which would become my 2nd solo album, “Pleasurecraft”. I moved back to New York and through patience and perseverance, was able to secure local recurring gigs for my band and to record the new album with my band at a legendary local recording studio.

Pleasurecraft was released on January 20, 2023 and in 2023 I had the honor of touring to lots of different cities to play songs from the record, including an opening slot in London in summer ’23. I also became the musical director for Harlem Gospel Travelers’ touring band and produced a new EP for Gibson Malone and the first single for pop artist Ifedayo.

There are times when I feel that I haven’t accomplished my goals, that I still have so much more to do. This can be very depressing, but when I look back over my career I can say that the best times were undoubtedly the hardest, as they lead to the greatest personal growth.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Well I’m a morning person, so I’d definitely demand we go to a classic new york deli for breakfast! You gotta have the bacon egg and cheese and coffee… so salty and tangy with ketchup and mayo. I’d take them to the museums, the natural history museum as well as the Met, and to central park to see the views and watch the horses take tourists around. We’d have to go to prospect park too in Brooklyn. While we’re there we might as well stop for lunch. Park slope has some of my favorite restaurants, including Miss American Pie which has homemade pies and a cute little seating area. Then from there we’d go to Dumbo and see the water and grab a drink, head over the Brooklyn Bridge walking path to manhattan. Lower manhattan has some beautiful historic areas, the Tenement museum offers a living connection to NY’s immigrant past thats important to recognize in the 21st century. Of course we’d have to go to Greenwich village, a place where I perform regularly at many local music venues. My favorite restaurant there is Caffe Reggio. I live in uptown manhattan so it’d be absolutely essential to visit Maison Harlem, as well as Riverside park at sunset. From there, you can ride bikes all the way up to 185th street where I live, and just make it in time to get a late night pizza slice before they close 🙂

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to dedicate my shoutout to my alum, DeKalb School of the Arts in Atlanta, GA, for showing me all the joy and love I have for performing.

Website: https://www.kylelacymusic.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/kylelacymusic

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kylelacyband

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtifv2lz8Q-S_v7hSMfoDvw

Other: https://www.lacyrecords.com

Image Credits
Hannah M. Gore Ciro Medina