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Tucker Livingston Biography "I hope that people relate to what I sing about - that part of them that is healed if healing is needed, that part of them is inspired if inspiration is needed. In sharing your emotions as an artist, it is always an expressed wish that someone sees and understands you. I'm here saying: 'This is me, this is what's in my heart, this is what's on my mind' and I listen for the echo of my efforts. All these events of my life gave birth to this music, and these songs will cry out until someone takes them up into their arms and holds them. That is all any artist can ever ask for. So where are we then, the mother and the child, the radio broadcast and the Saturday night, the song and the audience? We are all fulfilled there. We are all together in that moment..." With songwriters, learning about their past often offers a deeper understanding of their music. This is especially true of Tucker Livingston - knowing the people and the places that have influenced him helps bring his lyrics, and the lyrical nature of his songwriting, into sharp focus. Tucker's immersion into music began with his family. His father, Bob Livingston, had built a successful career as a musician in Austin since the 1970s as a founding member of The Lost Gonzo Band, a progressive country group that helped sweep Austin into the international musical spotlight. And it was Tucker's mother, Iris, who moved him to India at a very early age, exposing him to its rich culture and spirituality, a decision that has dramatically shaped his artistic development. Tucker grew up in two worlds - traveling between southern India and Austin, Texas: "When I was a kid in Austin, I remember listening to Beatles records, and watching my father play his psychedelic country/rock," says Tucker, when asked about his influences. "I was hanging out at the Armadillo World Headquarters, staring up wide-eyed at a giant grimacing painting of Freddy King playing guitar with a bloody armadillo ripping out of his chest. That was my first taste of the blues. But in India, I was surrounded by an entirely different form and atmosphere of music, radiating out of the temples - Karnatic singers and Vedic chanters. I absorbed it, but I don't think its impact surfaced until later on in my life. At the time, my mind was restless. I kept looking back West to dreams of being a musician in America." Tucker eventually moved back to Austin, where his initial foray into the music scene bore little resemblance to the artist we see today. He formed his first band, a space-rock power trio called Flash. "It was full-on glam rock," he says of this early incarnation. "I had long hair, bleached white. I waltzed around town with a purple felt hat and gold lamé shirts, leather pants, played sparkle guitars and wore eyeliner and wrote songs with titles like Starship Queen and Asteroid." It was a conversation with his father after one of these shows that became a pivotal moment in Tucker's career. "My father walked up backstage and said something that really struck me, something that I will never forget. I think it's one of the greatest pieces of advice in music I've ever had. When I asked him what he thought of the music, he put his hand gently on my shoulder and said, 'Son: flesh and blood, flesh and blood,' and then he just turned around and left." "Something clicked. Here I was singing about life in space herding Scarlet Gagafroons on Alpha Zet 6 with naked octa-breasted She-Devils, and my father was trying to tell me something that spoke from the roots, from the black vest of Johnny Cash and the cigarette of Bob Dylan, from the broken beer bottles of Townes Van Zandt and the plush leather seats of Hank William's Cadillac. It stabbed me right to the bone. I remember getting rid of most everything I owned, cutting off my hair, and letting the band drop. I went back to India; I needed to find myself again. I started singing about things that were down to earth - about real life. Flesh and blood." In 1997, at the age of 23, Tucker decided to make Austin his permanent home. He collaborated and toured with his father in 1998, and again in 2000, traveling throughout Asia and the Middle East on a grant from the U.S. Government to act as an official United States Ambassador of Music. Their shows, which mixed a history of American folk music with East/West fusion, were a resounding success. Tucker and his father played in more than fifteen eastern countries including India, Nepal, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, Yemen and Kuwait, and were universally accepted by royalty, state figures and audiences of thousands. "Spending time in the East really affected me. Especially in India, there is a very strong way of life and culture. For instance, there is no such thing as art for art's sake. Every art in India has an upward aim: it's a meditation to something higher, a raising of the heart. Music is only a vehicle for something else being expressed in its entire form. I've tried to learn to recognize and be aware of this process." These travels lent Tucker newfound inspiration and after returning to Austin, he quickly began building a strong reputation for his sophisticated songwriting and guitar work, and for live performances that expressed a heartfelt intensity. His talent soon attracted the attention of music fans and a who's who of Austin musicians, such as Jerry Jeff Walker, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Shake Russell and famed producer Lloyd Maines. Tucker was quickly appearing on a variety of "artists to watch" lists. In the spring of 2003 Tucker was selected from nearly 200 applicants to participate in the Austin Music Foundation's nationally recognized Incubator Program. It's a collaborative program that gives artists an award of $15,000 to record and market a new album. They also work closely with the staff and advisors of the AMF over the course of 18 months to achieve self-defined career goals through training and mentorship. The release of Tucker's debut record marks a significant achievement in the AMF's Incubator program. Soon after Tucker began working with the Austin Music Foundation, he approached accomplished producer and guitarist Mitch Watkins (Abra Moore, Joe Ely, Lyle Lovett, Leonard Cohen and The Flatlanders), who quickly recognized Tucker's potential, and agreed to produce this new record. With his expertise, Mitch helped to create an album that captures the scope of Tucker's musical vision, a record of soaring landscapes and quiet reflection. "These songs had been swimming around in my consciousness for a long time and I knew exactly what I wanted, so there was no guesswork about how to sing it, what key to sing it in, or what string arrangement or instrument to use as a solo. It was all there, ready. Mitch knew how to guide me; we communicated seamlessly." The result of their collaboration is a unique blend of progressive folk music with often startling production ranging from lush orchestral arrangements to stripped-down acoustic ballads. It is an album of musical and lyrical complexity, yet it attains a level of simplicity that reaches past normal genre descriptions to the most basic levels of human emotion. The release of his self-titled debut album marks the beginning of an exciting new phase in the musical journey of Tucker Livingston, and advance copies of the record have already begun generating a buzz within the music industry. Tucker will continue to perform frequently throughout Texas, and beyond as he fulfills his place as one of the most promising new artists to emerge from the storied Austin music scene. ............................................................ "The most mature artist of the Austin second generation crowd, bringing to mind the delicacy and depth of the late great Nick Drake." - Rob Patterson, Country Music People Magazine "There's alot of duality in Tucker's music...he's quickly made a name for himself in Austin." -Andy Langer, music journalist, News 8 Austin "Unique and way beyond his years- destined for greatness." - Lloyd Maines, Grammy Winning Producer "A true original, in a musical world all his own." - Jerry Jeff Walker, Singer/Songwriter Check out the artist's website: http://www.TuckerLivingston.com Track List: 1. City of Gold 2. All Things 3. The Silent Nights 4. Air you Breathe 5. Stranger 6. Elements of Youth 7. Ship without a Sea Suggested CDs:Other Genres:
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