Lucas Gillan started playing drums when he was nine years old in his hometown of Tucson, Arizona, and quickly found himself performing frequently in settings as varied as churches, punk clubs and jazz concerts before entering high school. While in high school, Lucas played in Tucson's top student jazz and classical ensembles and decided that music was destined to be more than a hobby for him. This led him to the elite Jazz Studies program at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb.  He graduated in December '07 with a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies and a minor in Journalism.

While at NIU, Lucas maintained a 3.75 GPA and played in numerous jazz, classical, and world music ensembles including the Philharmonic, Percussion Ensemble, Latin Jazz Ensemble and the renowned NIU Jazz Ensemble under the direction of Ronald Carter.  While with the jazz ensemble, Lucas had the privilege of performing with jazz greats Antonio Hart, Claudio Roditi, John Clayton, Charles McPherson,  Rodney Whitaker and Jiggs Wigham.  In the summer of 2006, Lucas played drums in the showband of the Carnival Pride cruise ship, playing for audiences of thousands every night in week-long trips to the Mexican riviera.

Nowadays, Lucas stays busy playing with Callaloo, Anomalous Visage, Terry Bartolotta, Kevin Presbrey, Bonzie and plenty of other bands and musicians.  He also leads an original, creative jazz group called Lucas Gillan's Many Blessings.  

Other musicians and groups he has played with include Fareed Haque, Dave Miller, Jeb Bishop, Jerry DeVivo, Greg Spero, The Right Now, Jesse Scinto, John Goldman, Erin McDougald, Susie Gomez, Natalie Ferwerda, Josh Moshier and renowned improv comedy act Baby Wants Candy. He has performed at countless Chicago area venues including the Green Mill, Andy's Jazz Club, the Jazz Showcase, the Velvet Lounge, United Center, the Apollo Theater, Martyrs' and the Old Town School of Folk Music.

Besides being a busy performer, Lucas is a dedicated educator, having taught privately for over six years.  He loves sharing his passion for music with drummers and guitar players of any age, and teaches over 30 students every week.

Lucas also works as the brand director and program director for AccuJazz.com, an Internet jazz radio station based in Chicago whose parent company is leading global webcaster AccuRadio.

Besides being a drummer and percussionist, Lucas is also a singer-songwriter with an extremely original voice.  He regularly plays and sings for audiences throughout the Chicago area.

Visit Lucas on Twitter.