Dara Tucker on ReverbNaion, Twitter and Facebook profile picture

Dara Tucker on ReverbNaion, Twitter and Facebook

About Me

Dara Tucker's brand new CD, "All Right Now" available now!
Dara Tucker was born into a musical family. So it’s no surprise that her love affair with music began at such an early age. The product of a music minister father, and a songstress mother, she began singing in her Tulsa, Oklahoma church at age 5. By age 8 she was playing simple melodies on the piano and soon began accompanying her brothers and sisters at performances. Says Tucker, “We performed as a group in churches and youth events throughout the city. It was a real proving-ground for us. We grew our own musical legs, independent of our parents. That was a very important learning time.” Throughout her college years, Tucker continued to hone her skills as a vocalist and musician. After obtaining a degree in International Business and German studies, she worked for a time in the corporate language-training field, eventually relocating to Interlaken, Switzerland to study German. It was there that Tucker began to write the first of her very personal songs. “I discovered my own creative voice during my time abroad,” Tucker says. “That’s when I began to realize that true artistic expression comes from a very personal place. You can’t fake it. My songwriting speaks of some hard-learned lessons, and long-fought battles.” Rather than allow those experiences to breed bitterness and distrust of the world, she channeled them into a unique musical discovery. “I found something within myself that I didn’t realize was there – music’s ability to ensure my spiritual and emotional survival. No one can ever take that away from me,” says Tucker. Tucker’s original songs speak to her life philosophy. Among the first songs she wrote during her time in Switzerland is an ode to the importance of risk-taking -- I Dare Not Dream. Songs such as Golden Time and It All Works Together were soon to follow. With their R&B edge, songs Beautiful Sun and Loving You highlight her versatility while staying true to a common theme of living life to the fullest. Dara Tucker’s original songs fuse her gospel roots with jazz’ subtlety and free spirit, while paying homage to American Folk music. Her style, while difficult to pigeonhole, can best be described as Urban Singer-Songwriter. With subtly soulful undertones, she seeks to convey her pensive, searching, but always-hopeful outlook on life through her music. Since moving to Nashville, TN to pursue music fulltime, Tucker has begun to establish herself as a strong presence in Nashville’s burgeoning jazz scene. Displaying a love for standards and swing that belies her years, Tucker’s reverence for the Great American Songbook can be felt in her careful delivery of these timeless songs.In January of 2009, Dara's long-awaited debut CD release, "All Right Now," was released independently. Dara’s music can be heard on local Nashville jazz stations, 89.5, WMOT and 88.1 WFSK. She performs regularly at Sambuca in Nashville's trendy gulch district, the legendary F. Scott’s Restaurant and Jazz Bar in the Green Hills district, & the long-standing Jefferson Street Jazz and African Street Festivals. She has also performed at Snug Harbor in New Orleans, The Basement, Boscos and The 12th South Taproom. Visit Dara online at www.myspace.com/daratucker.

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Member Since: 16/01/2006
Band Website: www.daratucker.com
Band Members: Dara Tucker, Greg Bryant (Originals), Dara Tucker, Greg Bryant, Paul Horton, Giovanni Rodriguez, Reagan Mitchell (Standards)
Influences: My parents, Doyle and Lynda Tucker. Other than that, I'm all over the board. I love singer/songwriters of every era such as James Taylor, Bonnie Raitt, India.Arie, Lauryn Hill and John Mayer. I cut my musical teeth on standards from the 40's and 50's sung by artists such as my favorite singer, Mel Torme. Nat King Cole couldn't be any more perfect. Harry Connick jr. is one of my favorite artists of today--his funk albums are seriously underrated. Michael Buble and Jane Monheit are doing a great job holding up the "Standard." And of course, I love Ella, Dinah, Billie, Nancy and Sarah. Barbara Streisand and Whitney Houston are probably my favorite 'belters' of all time. That's something I'll never be. My favorite singer of today has to be Lizz Wright. I'm actually kind of pleased that the world hasn't discovered her yet. I feel like I sort of have her to myself. Check out some of her live stuff on youtube. You'll be amazed. Other artists I admire: Bob Marley, Eva Cassidy, Ray Lamontagne, Alison Kraus. My guilty pleasures are many: Karen Carpenter, Barry Manilow, Beyonce, The McGuire Sisters, The Four Freshmen, The Bee Gees, Dionne Warwick, Lawrence Welk and Mr. Rogers. I was raised on gospel music, and artists such as The Winans, The Hawkins, Mahalia Jackson, Bebe and CeCe and Andre' Crouch continue to influence me to this day. My favorite contemporary Christian artists are Bryan Duncan, Susan Ashton and Amy Grant. I also love soul music--Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, Ledisi, Faith Evans, Brandy, Donnie Hathaway, Gladys Knight, and of course, Stevie. Always Stevie.Songwriters--Burt Bacharach, Johnny Mercer, Hoagy Carmichael, James Taylor, Stevie Wonder...
Sounds Like: My mother

Record Label: Watchman Records
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

Amazing Grace and the Search for Cohesion

Okay, so its time I got serious about this blog. Im in the midst of two massive undertakings. Im promoting my first CD while working to complete my first film - a documentary about my grandmother. ...
Posted by on Wed, 15 Apr 2009 21:30:00 GMT

Gettin Jiggy With YouTube

I'm now exploring the joys of Youtube. I've been filming more of my gigs lately, and I thought I would put the videos to good use. I'll be posting more as time goes on, but for now there are 3 videos ...
Posted by on Sun, 25 Jan 2009 18:13:00 GMT

Nashville Jazz Singer Dara Tucker Performing at The Rutledge

Dara Tucker performs and original song at The Rutledge in Nashville, TN 1/12/09.
Posted by on Thu, 22 Jan 2009 22:24:00 GMT

CD Release concert, WFSK 88.1 Jazz Artist of the Week...

Hello everyone, I wanted to quickly make the official announcement that my brand new CD, "All Right Now," will be released on Sunday, January 11th. We're having a CD release concert at Sambuca from 7-...
Posted by on Tue, 06 Jan 2009 17:59:00 GMT

Dara Tucker @ Snug Harbor in New Orleans, LA 1-03-09

Join Dara Tucker for her first Snug Harbor gig. She'll bring her unique blend of jazz and soul to the "City Beneath the Sea" on the 3rd of January. Joining her will be New Orleans based heavy-hitters,...
Posted by on Thu, 01 Jan 2009 03:02:00 GMT

Rollin, rollin, rollin

Alright, just wanted to give an update on the documentary project. I took a trip home this weekend to do some more filming. Things went well. We got lots of good interview footage from my grandmother ...
Posted by on Wed, 13 Aug 2008 16:53:00 GMT

Up and Rollin Again...

Hi there folks, Been a while, huh? Yup. Well up to this point, I haven't posted 'cause I haven't had much to post. Life's been happenin', you know? We had to put the documentary on hold for most of th...
Posted by on Tue, 05 Aug 2008 09:28:00 GMT

Film updates

Well, gosh. It's been a long while, hasn't it? Things are moving in a forward direction -- though not as quickly as I would like. Sometimes though, we have to step back and get perspective on how far ...
Posted by on Wed, 07 May 2008 08:12:00 GMT

Step by Step...

I just came back from my hometown where I began filming the first hours of footage for my documentary. It was a really exciting time for me. I think the footage came out extremely well, and I'm lookin...
Posted by on Fri, 07 Mar 2008 08:55:00 GMT

Grateful

It's amazing how life responds to our willingness to be proactive with our desires. There are some really great things in the works (none of which I can speak of yet) because I was willing to get off ...
Posted by on Tue, 26 Feb 2008 16:09:00 GMT