It’s been nearly 10 years since
Lucas Hoge left his humble hometown of Hubbell, Nebraska. Almost all
of Hubbell's small but mighty population of 50 generous people came
to support Lucas during his farewell concert, surprising him with $2,500
to invest in his dream.
Lucas hit the road strapped with a little cash, a lot
of love and everything he owned in his 1994 Dodge Ram pickup truck.
Driving through the night, in Music City by morning, Lucas Hoge had
reached his destination wide-awake in his dream.
Lucas learned quickly that it takes more than moving
to Nashville to get noticed. He sacrificed, working diligently around
the clock to form the foundation on which he built his career upon.
Lucas spent his first year in town living in a 500
square-foot apartment as he worked full time in construction.
He devoted his evenings to performing in the honky-tonk
hotspots up and down Broadway. Every weekend, he dedicated his afternoons
to writing. Things started to look up for Lucas when Warner Brothers
called him to tell him that they would feature his song, ‘If I
Only Could’ on their hit show ‘Smallville.’
“I was really excited to get the call from Warner
Brothers. I watched the show all the time, it was one of my favorites,
so to have my song in Season 5 was surreal.”
Shortly after, Lucas scored a HBO TV series, wrote a
jingle for Lipton Tea and took his talent to the studio where he recorded
two country albums and a Christian EP.
“Writing is my passion, along with performing.
I don’t look like a farmer with my long hair but don’t let
my looks fool ya. I grew up in a small farming town and it’s a
big part of who I am, so it will always be in my music. I write a lot
of songs about farming and working in the dirt.”
Hence the title cut of his debut release Dirt, which
has clearly become one of the album highlights and is featured on the
Words and Music compilation CD.
Dirt has received rave reviews, winning multiple music
awards, including Country Album of the Year at the 16th Annual Los Angeles
Music Awards and which also named Lucas as Contemporary Christian Singer/Songwriter
Of The Year for “Get The Door.”
Lucas’s soul stirring voice isn’t the only
thing that has gotten him noticed. He has appeared on TV with Faith
Hill for the Sunday Night Football commercial campaign, with Toby Keith
in his Christmas special and in a Mary Kay commercial with Danielle
Peck and Jennifer Hanson.
Back in 1997, Lucas rode his 1985 Harley to Sturgis,
South Dakota.
“I remember seeing thousands of bikes and big
stages and said to myself that someday I would play here.”
In 2007, his goal became a reality when he was asked
to play the entire week at the famous Buffalo Chip Campground. The owner
of the rival Broken Spoke Saloon heard Lucas and wanted him to play
for them the following year. Now Lucas is touring major motorcycle rallies
across the US and is a staple at Sturgis, entering his fourth year there
and also at Broken Spoke where they’ve built him his own stage.
Lucas has toured Denmark, Norway, Sweden and has traveled
to the Middle East to perform for our troops.
“Not only was my trip to Iraq, Kuwait and Kosovo
the greatest honor in my life, it was the most fun I’ve ever had,”
Lucas says. “After my trip, I knew I wanted help our troops any
way that I could back in the States, so I began by writing ‘Soldiers,
Creed and Medal Of Honor’ which is featured on the Music for Our
Troops CD.”
Since, Lucas has become involved with ThanksUSA.org,
which is a charity that helps military families with education scholarships.
In 2010 Lucas made his premiere as a reality TV star
on Animal Planet’s show Last Chance Highway, for which he wrote
the theme song. Last Chance Highway is an eight-part series that focuses
on the monumental mission of a dedicated handful of rescuers. Each week,
they organize a band of volunteers to take part in a unique mobile adoption
campaign in an effort to find homes for strays and unclaimed shelter
dogs.
Every week Lucas and cast member Kyle Peterson climb
aboard Animal Planet’s big rig to transport more than 150 dogs
thousands of miles to meet their new families.
“It’s an exhausting ritual but one that
finds homes for more than 6,000 pets every year,” says Lucas.
“For me to be able to contribute to even a fraction of that number
is greater in its true sense, than any number of miles I’ll ever
drive.”
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