Newport native Lucas O’Reilly, just 20 years old, has made his voice heard in the indie-folk genre, and has even appeared on NBC’s “The Voice”. PHOTO CREDIT: Contributed by lucasoreilly.com
Ariana Grande told twenty-year-old Newport native Lucas O’Reilly, “I would listen to an album of yours.”
O’Reilly’s love for music began when he learned guitar when he was 6 years old, and he started making his own music only a few years ago.
He recently competed on NBC’s “The Voice.” While his performance of James Taylor’s “Carolina on My Mind” didn’t turn any chairs, he valued the time spent in Los Angeles and on the show.
“It was just kind of surreal,” O’Reilly said. “I still haven’t really wrapped my head around it.”
“The Voice” was a “great” opportunity, according to O’Reilly, but the process was grueling. He went through multiple rounds of auditions and video submissions before flying out to L.A.
O’Reilly said that the COVID-19 protocols were “pretty strict” but that the show “took care of him.” In the weeks leading up to his performance, O’Reilly said he rehearsed and prepared with the band which he described as “incredible” and “amazing.”
“You’re there for, you know, a couple of weeks and then your day comes,” O’Reilly said. “Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to stay but I mean, the whole thing, I’m really grateful for.”
O’Reilly praised a close friend of his for helping him make the decision to audition for “The Voice.”
“I wasn’t sure directionally where I wanted to go with music and she just sent me a sponsored Instagram ad from ‘The Voice’ casting department,” O’Reilly said. “I sort of thought to myself ‘you know, I’m not doing anything else,’ so I went through with it.”
After some time and through some technical challenges, O’Reilly eventually made it through to the blind auditions.
If he had made it on the show, his dream coach would’ve been Grande.
“Ariana has got an incredible following and also is just like hyper-hyper-talented and genuinely a really cool person and really, really nice,” O’Reilly said.
Dave Sarazen, a friend of O’Reilly and senior at URI, is excited to see where the music takes him. He helped O’Reilly with some of the videos that were used for “The Voice” audition process.
“Seeing that all come to fruition was really cool for me,” Sarazen said. “It was the first time that I had a close friend that got to do an experience like that. It was really awesome seeing him up there and getting to talk to the judges.”
O’Reilly describes himself as an indie-alternative folk singer-songwriter. His inspirations include Jeff Tweedy, lead singer of the band Wilco, Thom Yorke of Radiohead and Bob Dylan.
“I take influence from not just the older stuff, but some of the contemporary stuff as well,” O’Reilly said.
He hopes to continue working in the music industry and is in the process of going back to school for music while also planning on releasing a full-length album soon.
“Right now I’m figuring out where I want to record it and just have some writing to do, that’s my focus,” O’Reilly said. “I want to get some more stuff out there.”
His first single “Aurora,” which was recorded in 2020, is available to stream on Apple Music and Spotify and has over 2,000 streams so far, and O’Reilly added that he can’t wait to get back to performing.
“I’m excited to get back to it. I just love playing with other musicians.” O’Reilly said. “If there are any musicians that read this, you know, reach out to me, I’m around Rhode Island and I’d love to play.” https://www.lucascoreilly.com