Forever's Not As Long As It Used To Be by Lucas MirÉ

" -- James Cool, Madison Park

"What's evident from the beginning on the CD is that Miré's strengths lie in his songwriting. As a lyricist, he cuts deeply and honestly into the maelstrom of angst and pain that color intimate relationships. And the candor is frequently startling." -- Van Gower, New York Blade, NYC

"Miré's smooth voice and intimate lyrics break your heart and then heal it, all in the same phrase. 'Forever's Not As Long As It Used To Be' is about love lost--but also about resolve found." -- Jennifer Vanasco, nationally syndicated columnist

"Atlanta-based Lucas Miré is another welcome voice on the gay male singer/songwriter circuit. 'Forever’s Not As Long As It Used To Be' is a pleasure from start to finish." -- Gregg Shapiro for Bay Area Reporter, Philly Gay News, Chicago Free Press

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On his new CD, "Forever's Not As Long As It Used To Be," singer-songwriter Lucas Miré crafts a quintessential song cycle about the ups and downs of intimate relationships.

This contemporary troubadour writes and performs these songs with equal parts earnestness and angst, heart and hurt. The results are at once deeply personal and universal.

Miré went into the studio in 2003 with a handful of tunes to work on. Some, like "24 Hours" and "Francis," were among the first he'd written. But as he and Atlanta-based producer B. Calm started selecting the final tracks, it became clear there were powerful themes running through this group of songs. Mainly, the bewildering passage of time and an intense inquiry into relationships.

"I'm in my thirties now, and at some point you begin to understand that things always work out for the best, but not necessarily how you'd planned," he says. "I think we've all seen that relationship we thought would last forever fall apart right in front of our eyes.

"I don't know how anyone can handle the increasing pressure of time passing without becoming a sidewalk philosophizer about love and what makes a relationship work. In this set of songs, I tried to look at how we learn to deny our own culpability when love goes awry."

Since 2001, he's taken his questioning to the stage -- and his audiences.

The up-and-coming pop songster honed his self-taught acoustic guitar skills and vocal talents in some of Atlanta's most-popular venues -- notably, Eddie's Attic, Acousticpalooza at Smith's Olde Bar and opening slots for the likes of Joe Rathbone, Arlington Priest, and Amy Rigby at Red Light Café.

But it wasn't always so clear that he'd end up here.

In 1996, Miré was a producer at a small television station. One day, his boss walked in and threw a book called "The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron on his desk.

"She said, 'You're depressed. Read this book or get a therapist,'" Miré remembers. "Being an overachiever, I did both. The book helped me find myself, and from that, I found my voice, and from that, I knew that whatever happened, I'd be OK."

Within a year of working with the book, he made some radical changes. He ended a relationship, quit his television job and moved to New Orleans with only a few thousand dollars in his pocket. In short order, someone gave him a guitar. In late 1998, he wrote his first song.

"I never intended to be a songwriter," Miré says. "Like almost everything else in my life, I just fell into it. I've just always been a huge music fan and collector and thought it would be fun to strum a few of my favorite songs in my bedroom at night."

Shortly after a move to Atlanta in 2000, Miré began playing intimate clubs in his new hometown, bolstered by the welcoming support of musicians he met in the Southeast music community and a growing fan base.

In 2002, Miré was one of 12 songwriters from around the world invite to NY to participate in a three-day workshop with singer-songwriter Lori Carson (solo artist, Golden Palominos). The song he wrote there, "1-1000-2," appears on the resulting 2004 songwriter compilation, "Songs At The Point."

He also recorded a cut for a tribute CD celebrating the sublime songs that make up Carson's eclectic back catalogue. When the tribute CD was scrapped, Miré realized his cover of a Carson classic "Part Missing" would be the perfect way to end "Forever's Not As Long As It Used To Be."

"I was so excited that it worked out the way it did because 'Part Missing' exemplifies the exact mix of wistfulness, strength and sadness I was trying to capture on my record," he says.

"To me, it says, 'All these things may happen to me as I move forward in life, and people come and go, but when I really look inside, I'm just fine.'"

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