A Star on The Rise
By Robby Eichman
MaryJustice Lucas
A couple of weeks ago I got an e-mail from my editor telling
me to check out a young singer songwriter named MaryJustice Lucas. MaryJustice,
being only 17, is out of my normal bar scene element so I had never had the
pleasure of meeting her. I learned that she got her start, and continues to
play, at the Coffee Tree on Bailey Cove. I am familiar with the Coffee Tree as
it was my first place to play in Huntsville as well, aside from my high school
and my front lawn. So I asked if she would be willing to meet and tell me a
little about herself.
We met at the Coffee Tree on a Monday afternoon shortly
before close and she sat across from me with her sprite and brownie. She told
me she had been playing guitar for about two years now. “I was little and I
would sing and stuff, but I always thought I would be a dancer… but, I got a
knee injury and couldn’t dance anymore. So we came to the Coffee Shop on a
Wednesday night and it just so happened to be songwriters’ night, and that’s
how it all began… When I wasn’t able to dance anymore, God opened another door
and that was definitely music.” Lucas said. “For a while there I was singing
only a cappella and we finally got some tracks done and I would sing along with
them… someone eventually told me if you learn that guitar you’ll have an
instrument to carry around.”
MaryJustice recently got back from receiving fourth place
for her CD on the national level at the North America Country Music
Associations, Int’l (NACMAI) as well as first place 2012 Songwriter of the Year
and first place 2012 Entertainer of the Year. “It was a surprise to me because
that CD was just recordings from my living room and we just threw it in there
to see what happens.” Lucas said. “The state competition, Tennessee Country
& Gospel Music Association (TCGMA), I got 2011 Video of the Year, 2011 CD
of Year, 2011 Songwriter of the Year and second place, 2011 Most Promising
Entertainer of the Year, and that was exciting!” Most of the other contestants
performed with tracks, but MaryJustice competed playing her guitar making her
win all the more exciting. The highest honor, 2012 Female Entertainer of the
Year in her division was won with her new country rendition of Bob Dylan’s
“You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go” and one of her newest original
songs, “So Much More.” I asked if there was video of this performance and she
said she is working on getting one up. I hadn’t had a chance to listen to any
of her music, and since I usually write about artists on the stage, I asked her
to come down to (Shameless plug alert!) my show at Bandito South that I play
every Monday night. She and her grandmother said that they would try to stop
by.
Well, they showed up and it was a good thing. I played my
first set and asked if MaryJustice would like to play a few. She seemed almost
timid when she first stepped on the stage, but it took only one ring of her
guitar to snap her into game time mode. She began to play and the crowd
immediately took to her. It wasn’t until she started to sing that the magic
really began. Out of this tiny 17 year old girl, came the voice of a veteran
stage performer. A very deliberate and confident tone soared through the PA. I
counted at least 3 jaws hanging open. My first thought was “I have to follow
this…” She played a few songs including
her rendition of the Dylan tune she played at TCGMA. When she got off the stage
the people quickly started asking where she would be playing again soon. She
has some scattered shows over the next few months. You can head to Coffee Tree
on a Saturday night and if she’s not in Nashville shooting her next video, or
at the prom, and the stars are shining down on you, maybe she will pop in. And
I can only hope that she will come back to Bandito when I’m playing, because
she WILL end up on that stage again if she does. You can check out some of her
music on her ReverbNation page listed below, and I highly recommend it. Be on
the lookout for MaryJustice Lucas, because I assure you, this will not be the last
time you read her name in the press. http://www.Reverbnation.com/MaryJusticeMusic
