Lucas still giving back to city that first embraced her music

By: JIM TRAGESER - Staff Writer | Wednesday, December 5, 2007 1:57 PM PST ∞

Fresh out of high school, Christiane Lucas arrived on the campus of UC San Diego with both an engineering major and a classical guitar.

Fortunately for local acoustic music fans, the guitar won.

While Lucas' interest in the sciences is unabated ---- she works as a technical writer for a local high-tech firm ---- her passion for music has kept her busy at local clubs and coffeehouses in the years since.

"My first quarter there, I played a gig at a tiny little coffee shop called Earl's Place," said Lucas (who plays Saturday night at Hot Java Cafe in Carmel Mountain Ranch). "All I had was a little nylon string guitar; I wanted to see what I could do with what little I had.

"I put fliers all over campus and ended up packing the place."

Lucas said it was the Northridge earthquake that drove her to San Diego. Attending high school in the Los Angeles area, she had her heart set on going to UCLA while living at home. But when the earthquake forced her family to move in with relatives, the overcrowded conditions made living in the dorms at UCSD look pretty attractive.

"UCSD was the first UC school to accept me, and it was close enough to visit" family on weekends, she said.

Introduced to music on the violin in the fourth grade, Lucas later switched to cello in the school orchestra before picking up guitar in high school.

"I never took professional lessons, but I played in school," she said of her musical education. "I come from a very musical family ---- everyone plays at least one instrument, if not more."

And while she had played a few open mics at coffee shops in L.A. while still in high school, it was that first gig at UCSD that made her realize music was going to be part ---- a big part ---- of the rest of her life.

"That's what made me change my major" from engineering (to communications), she said.

"That first gig at Earl's Place showed me that this is something I love doing and I can do it."

While this week's Hot Java show will be a solo performance, Lucas also plays out with a band as well.

"The last six years I've been constantly changing musicians, trying to start a full-fledged band," she said. "Right now, I've got a bass player and a drummer. It's the first time I've had a committed drummer who's not in a thousand other bands.

"I've played with a lot of different musicians, but it's hard in San Diego because if a musician is really talented they're going to have a lot going on."

As far as influences, she listed a disparate group ranging from Simon & Garfunkel to R.E.M. and U2, Pearl Jam and Nirvana.

But she said she also has a love of easy listening.

Still, above learning from or emulating anyone else, she said it's writing her own songs that defines her experience in music.

"I consider myself a writer first and foremost before I consider myself a musician," she said.

After she was laid off during a dot-com downsizing a few years ago, she said she lived off savings for six months and concentrated on her songwriting ---- building up a bank of new material she's still drawing off of.

She's also preparing to record another album ---- her first since her self-produced 2000 debut. She's not playing out as much ---- "I hardly go out to open mics anymore" ---- as she focuses on getting a band together and recording that CD.

It's hard work, she acknowledged, having a full-time career during the day and working on her music evenings and weekends.

But she said the naysayers in her past, those who assured her she had no chance of finding success in music, are what keep her going.

"That's what drives the dream ---- when you want to overcome obstacles and want to overcome the people who say you can't do it."

Christiane Lucas

When: 7 p.m. Dec. 8

Where: Hot Java Cafe, 11738 Carmel Mountain Road, Carmel Mountain Ranch

Admission: Free

Info: (858) 673-7111 or myspace.com/hotjavacafe

Web: audio.xanga.com/c_lucas

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