Well, we have something in common here.
It's a good thing that we're able
to survive and be here to do this show.
What's good?
Because, Joyce, you had a situation,
Karen. You had a situation.
I had a situation
where we really shouldn't be here.
But the big guy had other plans.
That's right.
The three of us had that situation.
How do you like that? For an opening.
Welcome to
What's Good with John and Joyce.
Subscribe for free on YouTube.
Share it with a friend who needs
inspiration, which we all do nowadays.
And we have a guest who inspired me
the first time I met Don't be what's good.
Tell me what's nice.
Keeping it cool. Keeping it calm.
Keeping it light. Time to rejoice.
What's good, what's good?
What's good with Tom and I'd like to say
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Ascend dot bank her.
Super super talented lady.
Love her joy, love her talent.
And she she's really overcome adversity.
And we we really kind of focus on that
with the show.
So many people overcoming adversity.
You think successful people, Joyce
they just pop out of a genie bottle
and they're successful.
They don't realize that they rode.
The success goes through the dump
for all of us, or being thrown
out of a car through a windshield.
I do like that for an intro. Karen.
Karen Lucier, welcome to
What's Good with John and Joyce.
So happy to meet you.
I'm meeting you for the first time, and
I heard so much about you through John.
Oh. Thank you.
Most of it. Most of it. Good.
That's all good.
I was reading Karen's bio.
And what don't you do?
Oh, gosh.
You're a singer?
Yeah. That's.
You know, you
you help people legally. You.
There's so many things that you do.
And I'm a mom,
you know, like, for so many years,
being a mother was,
you know, my main goal in life, really.
But when I was young, my parents really
reinforced my art,
you know, which was singing.
And so since I was a youngster,
like at the age of seven,
they sent me to Catholic school
and the nuns at the school,
you know, chose me,
kind of separated me out.
And I was able to play Annie
as a young child, you know, like kind of
it was our,
like, Broadway. Give us a little tomorrow.
Give us a little Annie.
Go ahead. Go, go. Come on. Come here
tomorrow.
I love you to morrow.
I love it, that's great.
Now, Joyce, it's your turn.
Okay,
donkey.
Oh, God.
Oh, man.
That's funny.
You did that. Music could make you happy.
Yeah, if you're down, you know.
And so it's been a huge part of my life
in terms of healing.
And also it's
the universal language of the world.
It is.
So you can see to anyone in a different
language anywhere in the world.
You know, if you're singing to them,
they're engaged because it's an art
that really touches the heart,
I should say.
We noticed that recently
with the World Cup,
how it brought everybody together, all the
different cultures, 48 different teams,
and they were all singing the same songs
and all the different stadiums.
It was universal.
What a feeling.
I, I that's one of the coolest things
I think has happened in a long time
because we're it really showed us
how much more we're connected.
Yes, yes, yes.
So for years,
the University of Connecticut wouldn't
allow just anyone off, you know,
anyone to come in and sing the national
anthem for the sports facility.
So I convinced them, as a mom
living in town,
then I should be able
to at least audition, you know.
So anyhow, long story short,
they let me sing and Gamble Pavilion,
and I encouraged everyone
before the game to sing along with me.
You know, tell telling everyone,
sing it with me, please.
Let's let's have a feeling, you know?
And so as I'm in the middle of the arena,
you know, on the big husky dog
Campbell
Pavilion is singing along with me.
What a rush.
Unbelievable.
I get off, you know, I'm just like,
I can't drive
walking around.
I mean, how do you wake up the next day
and you have to do normal
things like go get the mail
and wash the dishes and all that?
Yeah, yeah.
It stays long with you.
It really does it.
Especially for Fenway Park.
That's a huge thing.
Tell us about that.
You the the the I mean, at the time
we were taping this broadcast,
the Red Sox were on a major role.
14 wins in a row at press time.
I'm not sure what they're doing right
now, but still, the single Fenway Park,
the Green Monster and all that.
I mean, come on,
what was that like that I'm so proud of?
Because there are over a 20 year
period, you know, so when you get to sing
at Fenway Park, it's an honor.
It's such a privilege, you know?
But for a long time, I told I told
my husband, Jimmy, of 36 years this year.
Happy anniversary.
Hey, Jimmy. Jimmy.
That.
I was going to sing for them
one day, you know,
and that's really kind of a far out idea
for most people, but I did.
I, the Boston Red Sox called me on
Saint Patty's Day.
The luck of the Irish won the World
Series.
Yeah. Really? Yes.
And I opened the season for them
against the New York Yankees. Wow.
Never at Fenway Park.
Fan here.
Okay, now, let me ask you this.
Did you have an encounter
with any of the players?
Did any of them ever come up and say,
like, wow, that was really good?
Well, the people in the audience, right?
You know, but but do you have a chance
to actually get up and close
on any of the players at all?
If you wanted to, you probably could.
I wasn't really that you weren't into it
that way.
Well, yeah.
No, I was so excited just to be able to
I have to ask you this
because I always hear
so many celebrities say they're so afraid.
They're afraid of messing up the words
and they get nervous.
How did you feel?
Well, most of the time
you were not allowed to sing it live.
You had to have an under track
so that the because the timing, especially
at Fenway being such an old facility,
there was like almost three second time
delay, just under three seconds.
So by the time you finished
finish your first phrase,
it's just coming out of the microphone
as you're going into your second phrase.
So the timing, yeah,
just really messes you up.
So they always required a track.
But then I tried to convince Fenway Park
because doing it live,
especially for video, you can see
when it triggers because up in the booth
I couldn't I didn't know when the track
was actually going to start.
So you could see that
little bit of a hesitation beforehand.
So but it was so old
and just the system needed to be upgraded.
So they did upgrade it.
And then I have footage on YouTube.
Now that was the first live,
live performance you were singing live.
Yes. Wow, that is so cool. Yeah.
All right.
Yeah.
So sad because all the big guys, you know,
it was just.
That's the thing you had to do
because you don't
want to mess up the national anthem.
No matter what you do. You know?
You know what, Joyce?
I'm listening to the Karen right now.
She should be our new agent. Yeah.
And we we
we we need we need a really good agent.
Yeah,
you should do them.
How good you are.
But what do you know
in the business right now?
Yeah,
but I've always kind of said to myself,
if I can't do it the way I want to,
then I don't want to do it.
And, you know, where did that come from?
Was that for your mom or dad,
do you think?
I think both. Both?
Yeah, both of them.
They just always supported my music.
No matter what they sing.
My mom could sing.
So. Yeah, she just loved to Be-Bop around.
Her favorite song is suds in the bucket.
Oh, Sara Evans.
So I'm coming here
listening to that full blast.
Yeah, yeah yeah, yeah.
And then usually in my set,
I always do Johnny Be Good and Chuck
Berry, I love it so much.
It brings me back to my dad.
You know, it was John.
And when I hear that and get to sing it
on stage, it's almost like I fall into
this familiarity with, he's with me
and I'm going to have a great show.
Yeah.
You know, so the music is really
what pumps me up to get me going if,
if I'm sad or in a bad place or whatever.
Turn on some Jason Aldean, you know, with
Rich Redmond playing in the background.
Yeah.
Tell us a little bit about that,
because a lot of people, you know,
watching and listening right now,
I'm sure they know Jason Aldean's name,
one of the biggest superstars in music,
all different genres.
I mean, people know him
all across the rich.
Redmond, great, great drummer, had
a chance to meet him a Connecticut guy.
Yeah, yeah.
Connecticut's own.
And now you've actually been doing
a lot of marketing
to help these people
as well over the years, haven't you?
To a to a point. To a point.
I think it's more of a
welcoming type of a thing.
Okay.
You know,
when when these guys are on tour, it's
really a brutal thing
because it's city to city.
There's nothing sexy about being on tour,
is there really?
People think that it is, but it's not.
So I just always wanted to welcome
the drumming community to Connecticut
when they came to just kind of like,
get all of the people who love to drum
or some of the high school kids
who need some incentive.
Why the drum in community?
Well, well, for me, it was just that,
you know, Rich had just put out a book
where he basically tailors
it towards a younger
audience, mostly kids in school.
It was fundamentals of drumming,
and it encouraged
the kids to get out
and pick up an instrument,
because music is such a huge,
absolutely a super positive charge.
Yes. These children,
to feel those vibrational notes
in a saxophone, in a guitar,
and in this case it was in a drum.
So when I reached out to Mr.
Redmond, he accepted my idea
because he was an educator.
You know, he he's a great motivational
speaker, motivational speaker.
And I just said, you know, I could do that
and I could maybe host him and
and make him feel
welcome back here in Connecticut,
you know, while he's on tour
and she's done the same thing
with Rascal Flatts and also Florida
Georgia Line, you know, and Mr.
Redmond had introduced me to Mr.
Riley from those how formal she is. Mr..
Mr.. Redmond and Mr.. Riley,
you would
be in the position that I get to be in.
Yeah.
It's such an exciting thing to be able
to see an 80 year old man who's still
drumming coming to the clinic, you know,
a youngster who is seven years old.
Yeah.
Getting up on that drum kit with with
Rich, you know, and with Sean and and Mr.
Riley, they're all clinicians, you know,
but it was just
it was a very, very weird thing
how it happened.
But I'm so glad that it did, because
just being able to do
this has really enriched my life.
And just to backtrack a little bit, I'm
so glad you stopped calling me Mr.
Civil.
You know, I mean, she was calling me Mr.
Civil
right up to showtime today. Mr. civil
again,
my folks, you know, just really instilled
a kind of old fashioned way in me
where it's you always have to.
I think it's admirable.
I think it's admirable, I really do.
I do. Yeah.
So tell us about, you know, going
back to the the car accident.
I mean, that could have derailed
everything, right?
Joyce.
Much about it. Sure.
So how long ago was that?
It was 1993, actually.
Wow. December 22nd. 33 years ago.
33. Wow. Wow.
Just knowing that now.
33. It was a very, very bad accident.
It was pretty bad.
And as I've gone through life
now, 33 years, as you just mentioned.
Right.
I didn't want it to identify.
I didn't want that to be my identity.
Yes, yes.
And because the first thing
that you want to tell
people is how much you're hurting,
but you have to hold that in
and and put that smile on.
And as they say,
the show must go on. Right.
So I really just tried
to focus on being a mom.
And so I wrote out to different
people like NASCAR and, you know,
the the
guys that jumped in, not the motocross
but the.
Oh, I know who you mean, I can't remember.
Yeah. Grave diggers in it. Yeah. Yeah.
Graves. Yeah. Yeah.
My suggestion.
Monster jam.
Monster jam for, like, 5 or 6 years
in Hartford, where we would rent
a hotel overnight, and my girls would come
and they'd bring their friends
and some of the drivers.
They treated me so nicely,
and they would come up.
And one of the guys
gave our kids with the flag. Wow.
Yeah, yeah.
So the kids loved it because we could
go to these things and they would.
They would just sponsor me to go
and we would have a blast.
You know,
it didn't cost us any money. Really.
I was I sing.
Wow. So, wait,
so you're in this horrific accident?
Can you still sing?
Are you like, what?
What was that recuperation like?
Well, that was a tricky one.
That was tricky.
We we lived in Hebron, so it was,
you know, I was part of the business
association there.
I sang at the Hebrew and Fair
for so many great people.
Ricky Skaggs.
Kenny Chesney was one of the bills
that I got to have a Hebrew. Wow.
That's a big deal. Yeah.
And Tammy Wynette
really deal with Tammy Wynette. Wow.
And there was a few others.
Really great people, you know?
But at the time, I was nursing Emma,
so I wasn't.
I wasn't really into wanting
to meet anybody.
I was loving being with my baby, you know?
Sure.
So I did a couple of shows,
and then we got the tour bus,
which was so much fun to be on.
You know, the tour bus
just in throughout New England.
But what a hoot that was to be able
to, you know, do those things,
live out my dream, you know, and still
have my girls, which was just amazing.
But that but that may never happen.
I mean, that that accident was just,
I can't 33 years ago.
I mean, I could have, just,
like I said, derailed everything for you.
And the rehab must have been a long time.
Yeah, well,
you know, there were like, I think, like,
I want to say eight surgeries on my back.
So the fusion, the spinal fusions
take a little bit longer,
you know, to recover from.
But I can remember it was just shortly
after one of one of them,
it was Kenny Chesney at Vigilant Stadium,
and I had sung for the
MLS there on the Major League
Soccer teams maybe three times.
I taught myself the Dutch anthem
to be able to sing until that stadium
in order to get.
Did you sing it in Dutch? Yeah.
Wow. Yeah.
She did. And she's.
I said, well, do I got the
do I have the job?
And he said,
well I don't know anyone who's gonna.
Right, right.
And I was nine months pregnant.
Eight months pregnant with Emma.
I was so big.
And I was out there wattled out there.
And the gentleman from
it was the I accent.
And the coach came over to me
and took his pen off his lapel,
and he gave it to me, and he said,
thank you for singing our anthem
in our language. Wow. Yeah.
Recording of it.
I gave it my all.
I really knocked it out of the park, baby.
And so all the security
at Gillette Stadium, like, okay,
maybe some of them recognized me.
This guy recognized me
that night to go to Kenny Chesney.
And he said, do
you want to watch the show from backstage,
or do you want to watch it in a seat?
Oh, geez.
Wow. Wow.
So I'm like, cheese. This is amazing.
How does this happen?
So I went by, I got through,
you know, a couple checkpoints, but
I had a credential that said I had opened
for Kenny back here in Hartford.
So, you know,
I kind of pushed the the limit.
Yeah.
So would you say that you like
you opened for people?
Are you opening
always with a national anthem?
Are you actually singing other things?
Right. That's such a great question.
Oh my gosh, thank you for that.
But usually with the race tracks,
you know, like NASA
seeing a lot of Stafford Speedway,
those types of divisions,
I sing just the national anthem.
But for, you know, doing shows at The
Meadows or, you know, Mohegan Sun, say,
or, you know, wherever things like that,
I would be hoping for national acts. Wow.
This is back now,
20 years ago.
25 years ago, because I was 29.
Now, when you're saying
you mentioned a lot of the country acts,
but I know you do a lot of 80s, you know,
some some of the 80s rockers,
like a lot of the, the, the,
the Pat Benatar
and maybe some maybe Patti, Patti
Smith and Scandal and, you know, Joan Jett
and the heart and a lot of the real
can I say this word that badass
female rockers.
Right. Yeah. Love em.
Yeah.
Really,
what I try to do is take a song from each
or each decade, because what I want
my whole job as the opening act is to get
the audience ready for the guy coming out,
the person coming out and get them all
rallied up,
especially if the crowd participates.
Your song choices? Right.
So I do seven songs.
They know every single one of them. I'm
getting them all rallied.
Got to play the warrior.
The warrior. Yeah. That's
that is a really good.
That's one of my faves.
Absolutely.
But you know the crowd jumping in and.
Hell yeah.
Having a good time.
Yeah.
Gretchen Wilson is open the show
and have everybody just be so into it.
They're stoked people sing along with you.
Does that?
Yeah.
So what are we going to get you
as a headliner, Kenny Chesney,
to open up for you?
So what if he's had 62 top ten songs?
You know, 62 top ten songs?
You know, I first of all,
I have to say I'm blown away.
You were such a force.
You were such a positive. Yes.
So much.
Don't make me cry, Joyce.
I may be the sage is.
Thank you.
So make people cry.
Right, right, right.
Yeah.
No, but you are. Well.
So I would imagine.
First of all, were you always that way?
Did singing help you? Like.
Oh, gosh. Most definitely. Absolutely.
From being at a young age
and being able to enjoy it like I did,
my folks
drove us to drove me to Boston, to WBZ
TV, where there was a community
audition, was what it was called,
and I was in elementary school
at the time, and they were not only paying
for my tuition at the school,
but then they paid for us to go to.
They didn't really have the money,
you know.
Yeah.
So we went though, and they were so proud
and it was just amazing
to be on television.
And then we came back to Andover
after they edited it.
Yeah.
And watched it at my Uncle Gene's house
with everybody,
because back then
it was a big deal to have a VCR or,
you know, any kind of media
that we could get from Boston.
Joyce, can I ask you something?
What was the VCR?
Yeah. Oh, yeah. Right.
He was just a huge thing.
It was a big deal back then.
Yeah.
So it all goes back to my parents.
You know, I just love the fact that
your parents were so supportive of you.
Oh my goodness. Well,
all three of us girls, you know.
Yeah, but if you have that foundation,
you don't really need money.
Money helps.
But they gave us such an incredible
foundation
for us to be able to believe in ourselves.
Yeah. And. Wonderful.
Yeah. It is.
And so I've carried
that all the way through.
And now I'm proudly 55
and still not giving up on my.
Now you have to do Sammy Hagar.
I can't drive 55.
Yeah.
Kind of get you going.
It does. Absolutely.
So I get excited
when I get to do my music and,
you know, be
part of really any musical scene.
I was able to go to Nashville last year
for the very first time in my life,
which was such a it's
been that first time in your life really?
Last year? Last year.
Wow. For a charity event,
it was Sean Fuller's
charity event for his little girl.
Great drummer for Florida
Georgia Line and Tyler Hubbard.
Yes. And Rich
put the whole thing together.
It was part of that.
Yeah. Rich Redman,
a Connecticut drummer. Yeah.
And so he was there.
It was a pretty amazing event.
And I said how wonderful it was that
I was able to go down there
supporting such an incredible family
and such a huge charity thing
to be a part of.
You know, for my very first time,
it was meant to be that way.
I believe, you know,
when you get to go and see someone else
and and she's doing really, really good.
God that's awesome.
Yeah, she's doing amazing.
So to be a part of that
for the very first time in Nashville
was just a dream come true.
So I pray every day for for Cora
and for their family,
because it's really difficult
when you are in the music industry
and your child gets sick,
you know, but positive energy, prayer,
I mean, you know,
the whole power of prayer is huge.
Absolutely. So. Absolutely.
Yeah. So, yeah.
So what's next for you?
I mean, you've got such boundless energy.
You have so many different, so
many different directions you can go in.
Where do you see yourself with?
I know you like to manifest things.
What are you manifesting right now?
Well, I have
one song that I've been working on
for about 25 years,
and my best friend from elementary school,
Jenny Castles, and her husband.
Hey, Jenny.
Yeah, they own village Springs Water.
They're my one of my sponsors.
And every time I need water
for any of my shows, they always.
Now, where are they out of?
Where are they?
Where are they
from? Wellington. Wellington, Connecticut.
Okay.
And, she's she's been my best friend since
first grade,
you know, always supporting our music.
And she introduced me to a gentleman
who I co-wrote this song with.
It's all based on my husband
and I, you know, marriage
and wishing for him as a teenager
or a young child, you know,
hoping to meet the love of my life
and then actually do is a blessing. Wow.
So this song wraps all around our love.
And you know what it means to me
or what it means to us.
What a gift to your husband, though.
To what a gift. Very supportive.
Yeah. My husband living with me.
I've just been a crazy person
to get this far.
Yeah, he's a he's a saint.
Really?
But, so I'm really excited about being
able to put it out there in the world.
We're working on it
in Nashville with a producer, and
he greenlit it for me
just a few months to work on.
So do you like writing?
Like, do you have, like, a little catalog?
I only have really two songs
that are my originals.
It's hard to put out original music.
People are very taking
a, you know, they take a step back.
It's very difficult.
So I like to do covers.
I think it's fun,
but I would love to see this song,
you know, be able to go
somewhere into the universe.
Yeah.
Right.
Just amazing.
I think it could be great for a movie.
Wow. Okay, let's
let's put it out there in the universe.
You hear that, Christopher Nolan?
Music tells a story.
It tells a story about your life
and what you've experienced.
And when you can put that out
and people receive it, you know,
it's a great feeling.
Well, we all have that,
you know, being in the radio industry,
you know, music's been part of my life.
And and Joyce has worked
with Michael Bolton and Mariah Carey
and a whole bunch of other,
you know, great stars over the years.
Michael was writing with Diane Warren.
Oh, different things,
but I don't want to miss a thing.
Would always ask Michael,
usually an interview.
Is this all about your life experience?
Like.
And he I remember he said once,
if I lived everything
that I wrote,
I would be like crawling on glass.
Having you stand up.
But he took from other people
in a little of yourself.
Sure. You know.
Yes. No. The stories are out there.
That's it. You know.
Yeah. Everybody.
Every picture tells a story.
Everybody's got a story.
There's stories everywhere.
Every every, every person you pass by
has a story worthy of a song
or a book or a movie. It is so true.
But you're lucky.
I always say
I count my lucky stars from my life.
Because I've had the best life
so far at 55.
You got a long way to go, Karen.
A long way to go.
Yeah, I'll say that.
But I think if you pursue your dreams
at your pace and don't and don't push
yourself, you know, push it.
If it's forced, it's.
I learned that lesson.
It was like maybe 15 years
that I was working on NASCAR
because I wanted my Cup race.
I wanted my Cup
race to sing the national anthem
because it was nationally televised.
A lot of circuits, you know.
But I did the Truck series
and the bush cars and every division
and every time I was doctored
for national television.
A Dover in a Dover in Daytona
for the motorcycles, Daytona 200
and in Loudon three times I was knocked
out of the spot by weather. Wow.
Like electrical storms, rain pushed
everything out till the following Monday.
Tuesday and nobody.
Oh, I'm glad it didn't get in the way of
you getting to the studio today.
I know exactly,
because you just never know
what the weather,
what it's going to happen.
But no, I realized I was forcing it.
I was forcing wanting to do that so badly.
And then I.
I let it go.
And I just said, if it's meant to happen,
it will happen.
The magic happens. Yes.
And sure enough,
I was able to meet Michael Myers on Fox.
Wow. I got to remember,
I think of Michael Myers.
I hear that I think of Halloween or Nightmare on Elm Street, whatever it was that
because Fox was, there
was a big deal, you know, to be able
to sing the national anthem? Yes.
But anyhow,
that was a lesson to me, to let things
go and not worry so much about it.
Because if you do that,
your energy is almost in a resistance.
Yeah.
You know,
because you want to attract more of that.
Yes, yes, yes. Exactly that. You know.
So I listened yesterday to the podcast
and I heard you say how in the morning
so important to start off your day
with your manifestation beliefs
or just telling yourself or tapping,
you know what you do.
Joyce, I do the same thing.
I learned that from John. It's so good.
Oh, it's so good.
Yeah, but telling yourself
verbally out loud every day
I am successful, I am worthy.
Yes, I am, I am, I am.
Yeah, exactly.
That's positive. Zero negative.
It goes back to Moses.
When Moses first met, God said,
who do I say that you are?
Say that I am, that I am.
So what we say after I am is very,
very powerful and various.
So first thing in the morning we got,
like you said, we need to set that tone.
But Karen, this has been an absolute blast
having you here.
On what's good with John and Joyce.
You know incredible to be here.
Guys, thank you so much for having me.
And you going to give us a little
maybe a couple lines of in a capella
maybe to kind of send us out.
Think of think of something.
I was thinking today.
You had me do tomorrow, but that's fine.
Yeah, but yeah,
but that's such a recognizable song.
We said we were
just going to be off the cuff so long.
Goodbye. Yeah.
Give, give, give us something like
the Mickey Mouse, the Mickey Mouse.
Now it's time to say goodbye.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Let's see.
Don't make me sing.
Thinking of.
Jeez, I know we got to go.
I don't want to hold you up either.
I'm really. I'm so excited to be here.
You know what?
We put her on the spot, folks.
Maybe that'd be an episode in the future
when she comes back
as a national recording artist.
When Kenny Chesney
is opening up for Karen, her song.
Is that hit in the movie?
Exactly. That's right.
So I'm crazy in love.
I'm downright crazy in love.
I'm crazy in love with you.
Oh, now that was worth waiting for.
I love it.
Well, this is where we say goodbye.
Till next time, we love you.
God bless you and your family. And Karen,
thank you.
And thank you for tuning in to
what's good with John and Joyce.
Till next time. Bye.
Hey, I heard you got engaged.
Congratulations.
Now it's time to book the DJ.
And that's where we come in.
Hi, I'm John Cadillac,
Seville with John Seville entertainment.
Wedding wire and the knot 2026 Couples
Choice Awards winner.
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(200) 398-8065 eight.
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