"It was a producer in Nashville telling me he liked my songs," said the Baltimore native. "He invited me to come down and work with him."
At the time, Lucas was singing in one of the Williamsburg theme park's musical productions, a gig like the one he held the previous summer at King's Dominion near Richmond. All the while, he had been sending demos of his work to various Music City publishing houses.
"I had to take that offer," Lucas said, "but I loved working at the theme parks. Some people might think it's kind of cheesy, but for me, it was a great stepping stone."
Several years after leaving the Old Dominion, Lucas was working as an emcee at a popular Nashville music venue when he met a kindred musical spirit in Preston Brust. Bonding over a mutual love of '80s-era rock 'n' roll and hip-hop, the duo formed LoCash Cowboys, an act that fuses those genres with contemporary country.
"Not to blow our own horn, but I feel like we were a little ahead of the curve," Brust said.
Eight years later, country superstar Jason Aldean scored a No. 1 hit with his country rap song, "Dirt Road Anthem." Since then, Brad Paisley has collaborated with hip-hop hero LL Cool J, and Blake Shelton, a judge on NBC's "The Voice," recently hit gold with his own country rap song, "Boys 'Round Here."
"I feel like country radio is finally catching up with what we've been doing," Brust said of LoCash Cowboys. The duo performs Sunday at the Ferguson Center for the Arts in Newport News.
From the slick production of "C.O.U.N.T.R.Y." to the hip-hop-meets-country-boy beat on "Bounce," LoCash Cowboys blur the lines of contemporary country on their self-titled debut record, released in June.
Elsewhere, they get more traditional on "Independent Trucker," a '70s-style country joyride, featuring guest vocals by George Jones in one of his last recordings.
The late country music lion became a mentor to the young musicians after meeting them several years ago in an Alabama airport.
"He was a rebel, and I think he looked at us as rebels in this new genre," said Lucas. "He told us not to change for anybody."
Upbeat anthems may be the duo's bread and butter, but their newest single is perhaps their most accomplished song to date.
A moving tribute to Lucas' father, "Best Seat in the House," is a tender ballad celebrating the bond between father and son.
"Every night at 6 o'clock Chris' dad would call him and ask if the Grand Ole Opry had called," Brust said. "This went on for years, and Chris would always say, 'No, Dad, not yet.' "
The invitation to play country music's most historic stage finally came - three months after Lucas' father had died of a heart attack.
"It was a bittersweet night for me," Lucas said of the performance.
"At one point during the show, Chris pointed up to the sky, and I knew he was pointing to his dad," Brust said. "Right then, it hit me that his dad was there. After we got offstage, Chris had tears in his eyes, and when I asked him what was wrong, he said he wished his dad could have been there. For whatever reason, I said, 'Chris, your dad had the best seat in the house.' "
"When Preston said that to me, something clicked, and I think we both felt that my dad had given us a song," Lucas said of "Best Seat in the House."
"There is a saying in Nashville that country music is three chords and the truth, and that's what that song is," said Brust. "We tried to capture all the big moments that Chris' dad had the best seat in the house, whether it was teaching him to tie a tie or being on the 50-yard line at one of his high school football games."
"There's blood, sweat and tears in that song," Lucas said.
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