Who is in the band Locash?

LoCash, the tenacious duo made up of Preston Brust and Chris Lucas, found success all on their own long before they struck chart gold on a record label. After releasing an album independently in 2008 and earning three Top 50 singles, they released LoCash Cowboys in 2013 on Average Joes Entertainment.

Although their time on Average Joes earned LoCash (formerly known as LoCash Cowboys) plenty of new fans, it wasn't until the guys signed with Reviver Records that Brust and Lucas found themselves competing with artists on major labels for the top spot on the charts -- and winning. "I Love This Life" and "I Know Somebody" became big hits for LoCash in 2016, and their current single, "One Big Country Song" -- part of their 2019 Wheelhouse Records release Brothers -- is on its way up the charts as well.

Read on to learn more about The Boot's picks for LoCash's five best songs (so far).

• 5From 'LoCash Cowboys' (2008)

  LoCash included "Keep in Mind" on their first album, which they released independently. Giving an early indication of how hard Brust and Lucas were willing to work, the song landed in the Top 40 -- without the support of a label or promotional staff.

• 4From 'The Fighters' (2016)

  Thomas Rhett, Jesse Frasure and Josh Kear wrote "Ring on Every Finger" about romantic love in overdrive. With lines such as "I'll put on a ring on every finger / Just to show that I'm legit / Gonna try my last name on ya girl / Just to see if it fits," the groovy song was exactly what LoCash wanted to round out The Fighters.

  “It’s a great tune; it’s real cleverly written. It’s got a nice little dance beat to it, but it’s romantic at the same time,” Lucas tells The Boot. “A lot of guys are going to hate us, and a lot of women are going to love us.”

• 3From 'Brothers' (2019)

  Twangy and driven by a hand-clap beat, "One Big Country Song" focuses on the commonalities we all share: We all work 'til the daylight's gone / We all knock off the edge around five / Fall in love from a kiss on Friday night / And we've all had a broken heart / We've all closed down a few good bars ..."

  "Not everybody's first verse sounds the same / But we all get born and we all get raised," LoCash sing in the first verse, adding in the second verse, "Who ain't got a story to tell? / And who ain't made it through some hell? / Who don't love somebody, don't miss somebody?"

  Jesse Frasure, Ashley Gorley and Hardy wrote "One Big Country Song," which Corey Crowder and Florida Georgia Line's Tyler Hubbard co-produced.

• 2From 'The Fighters' (2016)

  LoCash's first Top 5 hit, "I Love This Life," was written by Brust and Lucas, along with Danny Myrick and Chris Janson. It's an optimistic, uptempo hit that represents all that LoCash believe in.

  “We’re not trying to change the world, and it’s not rocket science, and it’s not a real deep song; it’s just something that makes you feel good,” Brust tells The Boot. “The very first time we played it, everybody’s hands [were] up in the air, everybody started smiling, everybody started moving, and it was like, okay, we’ve got something here.”

• 1From 'The Fighters' (2016)

  "I Know Somebody" was LoCash's first No. 1 hit, and with good reason. Written by Rhett Akins, Ross Copperman and Jeremy Stover, "I Know Somebody" is a catchy song that's perfect for both radio and the duo's live shows.

  “I’m a huge fan of that song — huge," Lucas tells The Boot. "I sent it to Preston, and I was like, ‘This is a radio smash. It’s a smash. We’ve got to sing it.’ He agreed, and someday, it became a single, and here we are.”

Country music’s rowdy outliers, LOCASH, revere small-town values while giving a muscular voice to people who are passionate about working hard and playing harder.

Preston Brust and Chris Lucas have earned three GOLD career hits, two #1s, two acclaimed albums, and nearly 500 MILLION global streams since 2015. The pair have also received multiple major award nominations, but when you build a fanbase on the outskirts, it’s no surprise that their first trophy came from the fans. In 2020, the duo won a Waffle House Tunie Award for Breakout Band of the Year, based on jukebox play at the short-order chain where the discerning after-closing crowd knows what rocks.

LOCASH has sought longevity over instant gratification. From the start, they have achieved success writing hits and performing the music they’ve wanted, the way they’ve wanted.

Their Southern-Rock-infused tropes of rural life comes at a time when there is a genuine need for a fun-and-brash attitude in the genre. They deliver both with their BBR Music Group/BMG’s Wheelhouse Records’ five-song WOODS & WATER – EP.

The adventurous and carefree collection draws inspiration from not only where they go now to recharge as adults, but from each of their childhood locales – Brust, a PK (preacher’s kid), was raised in Kokomo, IN, by way of Arkansas and surrounded by nature, while Lucas grew up in Baltimore, MD, on the water – and WOODS & WATER – EP represents both.

That sentiment is captured on the irresistible, “Beach Boys,” which reimagines the band’s classic “I Get Around.” LOCASH namechecks Brooks & Dunn, but the creative influence of The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson and Mike Love are central to the track as they are credited as songwriters on this fresh tune.

“I moved to Florida to be back around the water,” shares Lucas. “I breathe easier and soak in life a little more near water. It’s a calming place for me.”

Capturing the unfettered joy of being in the natural world where it isn’t about living simply but living well, “In The Woods,” is a catchy mix of Ozark funk and gravelly guitarwork. That theme can also be found in “Small Town For Life,” which digs deeper than superficial platitudes. LOCASH offers an unapologetic voice for the people raised in the middle of nowhere.

Deep in the trees is where Brust finds solace, adding, “I told my mama when I was five that ‘camo’ was my favorite color. I grew up in the woods and it’s still one of my favorite places to be. It’s where I reset, recharge, and recenter.”

Showcasing another side of the duo’s well-known wry humor and raucous leanings are the vibey “Sippin Sunsets” and “Chillionaire,” which boasts about a cooler full of “I don’t care.”

Boisterous and unrestrained performers, Brust and Lucas have attracted the attention of iconic national brands including the first Pepsi Tailgate Tour, a multicity stadium tour of key college and NFL matchups, plus MTN Dew’s newly launched Woods Or Water Getaway campaign. On the horizon is a to-be-announced project with the Outdoor Channel.

Reaching fans where they live and play matters, but Brust and Lucas are also family men with full lives and growing families offstage.

They met as DJs but forged a bond comparing musical notes and working on harmonies between sets. That kinetic creative exchange resulted in an undeniable stompy, rough-hewn sound of gritty soul swathed with gospel harmony.

As successful songwriters, they have penned hits for other artists including Keith Urban’s #1 “You Gonna Fly” and Tim McGraw’s Top 10 “Truck Yeah.” And they have had their own high charting GOLD-selling singles including “I Love This Life” and #1 “I Know Somebody,” plus recent Wheelhouse releases “Feels Like a Party,” which was co-written and produced by Corey Crowder and Tyler Hubbard, and the #1 “One Big Country Song.”

Their success has caught the attention of Country music tastemakers with Duo of the Year nominations from the ACM, CMA, and CMT. But those industry nods are a derivative of their genuine connection with their fans.

Brust and Lucas are attuned to what makes people passionate: working hard, loving life, and living honestly.

LOCASH, the musical duo composed of singer/songwriters Chris Lucas and Preston Brust, was already a need-to-know band in country music before their 2021 EP Woods & Water. After all, their last three records have charted in the top 40 on the U.S. Country charts and several of their songs are certified Gold (like their 2016 hit “I Know Somebody”). But now, with its release of Woods & Water, the pair of artists are showing the world that endless levels of LOCASH have yet to be unlocked.

To catch up on all things LOCASH, American Songwriter swung by the duo’s set up at this year’s CMA Music Festival where the duo was performing. 

“It is full out there, and the festival is back,” Lucas says about the Nashville festival. CMA Fest took a two-year break between 2019 and 2022 due to the pandemic. “It’s always good when you walk up and your publicist says they’re at capacity.”

Among the many songs that LOCASH is playing live is the duo’s latest collaborative track with Mike Love and Bruce Johnston of The Beach Boys. Their song together is aptly titled “Beach Boys.” It’s a remix of an earlier version that LOCASH released on Woods & Water that came together after one particularly exciting call from Love. 

“When we wrote ‘Beach Boys,’ the original version, it didn’t have The Beach Boys on it,” Lucas explains. “We had to wait for them. We had to wait three months to even get them to approve it. And when they did approve it, they also said they wanted to sing on it. That was a moment [we’ll] never forget.”

“We didn’t think they were ever going to approve it. Then I got a phone call, one day, from Mike Love,” Brust adds. That phone call solidified the blossoming friendship and partnership between the two bands. Oh, and Mike Love is as groovy as you’d expect. “He speaks in this slow banter, and it’s real cool, ultra-cool,” Brust says. “He was like, ‘Well, you can call me Dr. Love.’” 

After that phone call, LOCASH drove their neon green tour bus to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to meet up with The Beach Boys in person. Parked backstage at a Beach Boys concert, the musicians recorded the song “Beach Boys” in the dressing room of the LOCASH bus.  

“We were just feeling like teenagers again,” Brust says of the experience. “I mean, [it’s] so much fun to work with your idols.”

PHOTO CREDIT: CHRIS HOLLO

And not only did Lucas and Brust collaborate with The Beach Boys, but they were also handed the proverbial torch to carry. “The Beach Boys can’t get any more famous. They’re already there, and they’re not trying to get more famous,” Brust says. “They [The Beach Boys] were like, ‘So this [collaboration] is about LOCASH for us. We want to pass the baton to you guys. We want to be a part of what’s going on in your success story and your journey.”

“The baton is very heavy,” Lucas chimes in. “We probably can’t pick it up for a while, but we’re working on it.”

Outside of the success of “Beach Boys,” the boys of LOCASH are ready to fully celebrate Woods & Water with their fans. For Lucas, “Sippin Sunsets” stands out on the EP. The song captures the feeling of wanting nothing more than the simple yet priceless pleasure that soaking up a sunset affords. “I came up with the idea of ‘Sippin Sunsets’ on a bridge in Tampa,” Lucas explains, “looking at the sunset going down, I’m like, ‘How do we drink that?’”

Another can’t-miss song on the record is the ever clever “Chillionaire.” 

“We were like this is gonna go out to all the dudes and folks who just love to sit in a lawn chair out back and drink a beer and they just feel really rich,” Brust says. “That makes you feel wealthy right there because you’re like, ‘Man, I’m just livin’ large today.’”

If cold cans was cold cash
I’d have fat stacks everywhere
If time is money, I’m swimmin’ in it, honey
Self-madе in the shade, straight chillionaire

And as far as the EP title goes, Lucas clarifies that the Woods & Water represents the two halves of LOCASH. Lucas is the water, and Brust is the woods. Just as two sides of the same coin, the pair complement each other in their craft.

Still admirably humble, though, LOCASH also points to their mentor Jeffrey Steele as another motivator for success. Steele always advises LOCASH to make every line a home run and to “never skimp on the ingredients” of songwriting.

As far as we can tell, LOCASH is still hitting homers and serving up first-class songs.

Photo Credit: Chris Hollo