By Harry Rothgerber ’69
Amanda Lucas, Bellarmine’s Director of Communication for Content Strategy, has only been developing content for BU marketing and communication projects for a year. But she has been conversing through music from an early age. “My parents said
I could sing the entire Annie soundtrack before I was two,” she said.
"The fact that someone wants us and our music to be a part of life's important moments means a lot to me.”
In addition to her role at Bellarmine, she is a part-time lecturer at the University of Louisville College of Business and serves as a social media marketing consultant. But her real passion is music.
“I attended a concert by Trace Adkins and Deana Carter at Louisville Motor Speedway in 1997,” she said. “After watching [Carter] perform, I purchased a used guitar from a pawn shop for $50 and taught myself to play.”
Lucas grew up in Okolona, then moved to Mount Washington and attended Bullitt East High School, where she became a feared softball hitter whose name still graces the KHSAA record books. While earning her Communication degree from Lindsey Wilson College,
she interned at a local radio station and later started her own DJ business, in addition to umpiring softball. But music remained significant in her life.
“In 2008 I released my solo album
Half Empty, comprising mainly songs I wrote in college,” she said. Shortly after, she reconnected with Audrey Cecil, a former softball teammate who was playing in the band Two
Cent Penny. They began to sit in at each other’s shows. Soon, they were collaborating.
“Audrey and I grew up listening to ’90s country,” Lucas said. “So, I think our musical style has some country/Americana influence, with a mix of singer-songwriter, vintage soul and pop vibes.”
The two won a talent-search contest to play the Lilith Fair tour stop in Indianapolis in 2010. Until that show, they had called themselves simply “Amanda Lucas and Audrey Cecil,” but that confused people who were expecting a band name. So,
they came up with one: Bridge 19.
“We had played our first show as a duo at Bearno’s by the Bridge on Dec. 7, 2007,” Lucas said. “That’s how our band’s name originated: 12 plus 7 equals 19.”
Lucas and Cecil were interviewed on Bellarmine’s radio station when they first became a duo, and in 2014, Bridge 19 performed the first official concert for BUKnighted, Bellarmine’s LGBTQ+ identity group.
The duo has produced three albums since 2012. Their fourth record is scheduled for release this fall. It will be the first under the band’s new name, RELAAY.
The name change reflects personal turmoil and growth that she and Cecil have experienced since the pandemic, Lucas said.
“We have reached a place where we are ready to take our music to a brand-new place,” the duo wrote on their website. “Over a year ago, we entered the studio to begin making a new album. This recording process and the music coming from
it differ from our previous musical endeavors in so many ways.… We feel lighter, brighter and truer in this new musical life. RELAAY is a word that is a nod to our nearly lifelong friendship and the joy of creating freely.”
The two have experienced some magical moments on stage. Invited to play at Brandi Carlile’s “Raise the Roof” fundraiser in Seattle, Lucas had to confront her major fear of flying. After eliminating travel alternatives, she purchased
a plane ticket, and her doctor prescribed relaxation medication.
“When my dad came to take me to the airport to meet my bandmate, I told him I couldn’t do it,” Lucas recalled. “He said I had to deliver the news to her face and took me to the airport. Once there, I tried the medication. Needless
to say, it worked!” After playing one of their original songs, they were invited to join Carlile on stage and performed her song “Closer to You” with her.
In 2019, Bridge 19 opened for and was the backing band for Joan Osborne in Louisville. At rehearsal, Osborne asked Lucas to sing several verses of Bob Dylan’s “Tangled Up in Blue.”
“I told her I didn’t know it,” Lucas said, “and Joan replied, ‘You will.’ I probably listened to that song 200 times during those two days. We also played [Osborne’s] ‘One of Us’ with her—a song
I listened to on my Walkman riding the bus home from school. It was surreal.”
As for other influences, Lucas is officially a “Swiftie”—a huge fan of Taylor Swift. “She’s one of our generation's best storytellers and an incredible businesswoman and marketer,” she said.
“What’s meaningful to me is being on stage performing, looking out into the audience and seeing people listening and singing along,” Lucas said.
“It’s also meaningful to be a part of big moments in someone’s life, such as playing a proposal, wedding or party. The fact that someone wants us and our music to be a part of life's important moments means a lot to me.”
Lucas’ music can be streamed on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Google Play, Pandora and all other streaming platforms. Albums can be purchased at the group’s shows.
Photo by Jeffery Parrish