Al Tuck’s a different duck (in the best way)
Submitted.
Al Tuck pays a visit to The Capital this Tuesday, Nov. 8 in support of his new album Under Your Shadow.
November 2, 2011 6:00 AM ADT
To his daughter, Isabel, he’s just Daddy.
But Feist has called him “a living legend”, and Jason Collett of Broken Social Scene has dubbed him “the greatest songwriter of [his] generation”.
He is Al Tuck.
He’s back with a new album, Under Your Shadow, and he’s bringing his songwriting prowess to Fredericton this Tuesday, Nov. 8 for an album release show at The Capital.
The 44-year-old based in Hunter River, P.E.I. has been on the music scene since his days at the University of King’s College in Halifax where he studied English literature, and released his first album, Arhoolie, in 1994. But he got his start in a boys’ choir at the age of 10, making trips to Maine and Bermuda to sing.
His earliest memories of music include the first long family trip to Quebec in a Buick station wagon and there were a couple of 8-tracks in it – one of which was a Nat King Cole album. He also recently came across a Harry Belafonte album; one he said was perhaps the only pop record his folks had in their collection.
“It was great to hear it again because that was quite an eye-opener, or ear-opener at the time,” he said.
His many musical influences span decades and genres, and they’re potent in his work. Under Your Shadow is a contemporary ode to Bob Dylan, a hipper reinvention of Sam Cooke, and occasionally, a slightly tamer version of Tom Waits; if Waits was crunchy peanut butter, Tuck would be smooth.
The deep, throaty voice on the album is not to be mistaken for anyone else’s, though. It’s distinctly his, and in that case, he isn’t living under anyone’s shadow. But the meaning of the album’s title, he said, is quite literal.
“I guess I’ve lived under the shadow of a lot of people, and maybe we all do,” said Tuck.
“It could be somebody who’s accomplished a lot or it could be somebody who controls things. It could be different kinds of shadows.”
He’s come a long way since his debut release in 1994. Back then, he wrote from imagination. Now, he writes from years of experience and his lyrics are richer for it.
“Back then I was already in my mid to late 20s, so I had figured out how to write songs and record them with some success. But live, it was inconsistent. And now I think I’ve shaken the reputation, if I had one then, of being kind of unpredictable or disappointing live.”
Tuck said sometimes he finds himself projecting what he expects might happen in his writing. Under Your Shadow has a more general political application.
“I’m curious if they have any life to them… whether people will be playing them in a couple years’ time. I expect them to make more sense later, than they do now.
“I’d be more interested in just being applicable to the times than achieving a masterpiece. And I think it is applicable.”
Critics have suggested that the new release could be Tuck’s best yet, and he humbly agrees to say he’s quite proud of it, but has one regret.
He wishes he could’ve sequenced it just a little differently.
“There was one song that remained undone at the last minute, so I managed to record it with Joel Plaskett in his Scotland Yard studio,” he said.
“But once you throw another song into the mix, it can throw the rest out of whack and you gotta rethink the order.
He said maybe he’ll add his suggestion for the proper order to listen to the album to his website for fans.
He also recently lent his unique voice to a milkman cat character in a Spike Jonze production called Higglety Pigglety Pop, and voice-acted along side leading lady Meryl Streep, who played Jennie the runaway dog.
Tuck’s six-year-old daughter Isabel, whom he shares custody of with friend, ex-wife and Maritime folk singer Catherine MacLellan (daughter of the late folk artist Gene MacLellan), is especially proud of her movie star dad.
They had read the Maurice Sendak (Where the Wild Things Are) book that the movie was based on before.
“Now when we read the book we’ll come up to the chapter with the milkman cat she says, ‘it’s you Daddy!’”
“The movie’s cute but it’s also scary, sort of a nightmare. It’s maybe more suited for kids than Where the Wild Things Are, but not by much.”
Another thing the two share in common? Stompin’ Tom Connors. Coming from a family of established singer-songwriters, Isabel is sure to have a natural ear for quality sound.
Tuck’s been dazzled by big-name musicians like Nina Simone and Ray Charles with a “larger-than-life” message (he even hitchhiked to see Ray Charles play at a rink in Charlottetown in 1981), but now he’s focusing more on talent at an arm’s reach.
“I came across two songwriters this past year that amazed me -- Jack Marx, from Toronto… he came down here and I kind of became the chauffeur because he drinks all day,” he said.
“And the other is Stompin’ Tom’s opening act, Tim Hus, and he turned me on to Albertan country music with the show he did here. “
Under Your Shadow is available now at www.maplemusic.com, or you can pick up a copy at the release show at The Capital this Tuesday, Nov. 8. Tickets are $7 at the door, show’s at 10 p.m.
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