Lucas to perform at Good Samaritan House benefit

CARBONDALE - Local musician Kevin Lucas will be hosting a benefit concert for the Good Samaritan House homeless shelter of Carbondale at 2 p.m. Saturday, June 30, at Alto Vineyards.

This is the third year that Lucas is hosting this event and every year it has raised more money than previous years.

"This is the kind of thing that builds on itself year after year. I am extremely excited about this year and Patty Mullen from Good Samaritan has been doing a great job of getting the word out," said Lucas.

Lucas said that with state funding being cut for homeless shelters, it is more important than ever to raise money for them in new and creative ways.

Lucas was awarded a silver medal in the 2018 Global Music Awards for his remake of "Africa" by Toto. "Africa" was recorded and produced on three continents (Africa, India, and North America) and featured two Grammy Award winners and two number one Billboard artists. The track includes Wouter Kellerman on flute, Dave Gross on Hammond B3 and synthesizers, Jerome Lawrence on bass, Alek Razdan on sax, and Ricky Kej on percussion.

Ricky Kej also mixed and mastered the track at Raveolution Studios in Bangalore, India. Additional mixing was done by Mike Lescelius at Misunderstudio in Murphysboro. The track was arranged by Lucas and Jeff Moore, who is Professor of Percussion and Dean of Fine Arts at University of Central Florida in Orlando.

Also in 2018, Lucas was asked by famed British New Age composer Michael Hoppe to perform and record a track from his new release called, "Beneath Mexican Stars."