S. J. Tucker

S. J. Tucker

S.J. Tucker (b. February 22, 1980) is an Arkansas-born North American female singer-songwriter. Originally inspired by alternative folk rock artists like Joni Mitchell, Jeff Buckley and Ani DiFranco, Tucker – also called “Sooj” or “Skinny White Chick” – soon branched out to assume a more diverse identity. Like The Beatles – another cited influence – Tucker prefers an eclectic approach to songcraft. Since her debut album in 2004, Tucker’s work has integrated elements of electronica, filk, spoken word, world music and – with the troupe Fire & Strings – fire-spinning.

Musical style

Based around the “guitar troubadour” model, Tucker’s work originally featured acoustic guitar, multitracked vocals, and low-key bass guitar and hand drum parts. In concert, Tucker often appears with a hollow-body guitar and a microphone. However, her third album, Sirens, featured backup musicians, a diverse musical approach, and elaborate vocal harmonies. Subsequent releases have favored a world fusion approach over guitar folk arrangements. Stylistically, Tucker has been compared to Ani DiFranco, Fiona Apple , and Joni Mitchell , among other singer-songwriters.

Career

Raised in an art-oriented family, Tucker began playing music during childhood. Disgusted by “mainstream” employment, she began performing in 1997, formed her first band, Skinny White Chick, in 1999, recording several self-produced EPs over the subsequent years. After performing as a featured artist at a string of festivals in 2002, Tucker decided to self-produce an LP. The result, Haphazard, was recorded both live and in the studio over a handful of days. That album was later cited as one of the “albums no Pagan should be without” in newWitch magazine. From then on, S.J. Tucker began touring full-time, living on the road, in hotel rooms, and in space provided by friends, managers and fans.

In 2004, Tucker met fire-spinner Kevin “K” Wiley during a poi-spinning workshop. After a minor accident in which Wiley “hit her in the face with a flaming ball of Kevlar,” the two became lovers, partners and fellow performers. Combining their respective skills and talents, the couple formed the Fire & Strings troupe in 2005, and began performing at the Burning Man festival that year.

Since beginning her career, Tucker has recorded, appeared and performed with numerous writers, musicians, activists and bands. Sharing stages with Phyllis Curott, Gaia Consort, Wendy Rule, Selena Fox, Catherynne M. Valente, Incus, Emerald Rose, Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Celia, and many others, Tucker has incorporated elements of social activism, neopagan spirituality and mythpunk fantasy into her repertoire. A 2006 rally in Washington to protest the Sgt. Patrick Stewart case was later portrayed in the song "Mandolin Holy Man." More recently, Tucker performed several songs from her neopagan album Blessings at the 2007 Samhain festival in Salem, Massachusetts. [citation needed]

Collaborations

Aside from appearances on albums by Gaia Consort, Incus and Celia, Tucker has collaborated on several book/CD crossovers with author Catherynne M. Valente. Inspired by Valente’s novel The Orphan’s Tales: In the Night Garden, Tucker recorded the album For the Girl in the Garden and the songs "The Girl in the Garden" and "Carousel" as “official companions” to that novel. The two also collaborated on the song “The Drowning” (from Sirens, and – with K Wiley - performed selections from the novel at various fantasy conventions. Tucker’s fire-spinning inspired Valente to include a fantasy version of her – the Fire-Dancer - in the 2007 follow-up novel The Orphan’s Tales: In the Cities of Coin and Spice . This, in turn, inspired Tucker’s song "Firebird’s Child" on the album Blessings, released that same year. The two artists further collaborated on the album Solace & Sorrow, released in conjunction with In the Cities of Coin and Spice, on the same publication day.

Another collaboration of sorts appeared by way of "The Wendy Trilogy" – "Wendy on Board," "Red-Handed Jill" and "Green-Eyed Sue." A three-part saga inspired by J.M Barre’s Peter and Wendy, this trio of songs follow Wendy Darling in her career as a pirate. Taken from the album Sirens, the Wendy Trilogy assumes that Wendy took Captain Hook up on his offer to turn buccaneer. The saga sees Wendy join the crew, grow strong, fall out with Peter Pan, and finally attack Hook after hearing him plot to marry her off to Bluebeard. In the ensuing fight, Peter drops Hook into the waiting mouth of the Crocodile – a coincidental fate, given that the song shares an album with the song "Alligator in the House" (see below). From there, Wendy takes command of the pirate ship, trains an all-girl crew, and becomes a Fairyland celebrity. Eventually she retires, handing the captaincy off to Green-Eyed Sue. An illustration by artist Amy Brown was made for a single release of the Wendy Trilogy, and the song also appears on the album Tricky Pixie – Live!, a release from Tucker’s side-project Tricky Pixie.

Tricky Pixie

Founded in 2007, Tricky Pixie combines music and songwriting from Tucker, Betsy Tinney of Gaia Consort and Alexander James Adams – formerly folk artist Heather Alexander. Tinney and Tucker also collaborated on several other songs, including one of Tucker’s "signature songs," "Alligator in the House". The band appeared – with Celia - at the 2007 FaerieWorlds festival [1], but due to the divergent careers of the three artists, as of 2008 the band remains an occasional sideline.

Controversy

In early 2008, a live video of the joke song “I’m So Sorry” caused a minor dispute on youtube and Live Journal. Recorded at the birthday party of fantasy author Phil Brucato, the video poked fun at fans of Firefly, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Babylon 5 and Doctor Who. Supporters of those shows responded with both amusement and vitriol. Despite the controversy, the video garnered over thousand viewings in one day, and became a brief sensation among fans of Joss Whedon.

Discography

Albums

• Haphazard (2004)
• Tangles (2005)
• Sirens (2006)
• For the Girl in the Garden (2006)
• Blessings (2007)
• Tricky Pixie – Live! (2007)
• Solace & Sorrow (2008)

EPs

• The Nathan Sessions (2001)
• Skinny & The Semi-Pros (2003)
• Tales 0f I-10, Vol. 1 (2005)
• To Black Rock with Love: Burning Man 2005 (2005)
• Tales from the Road (2006)
• Fear, Hope, Fear: Burning Man 2006 (2006)

Singles

• "Go Away, God Boy!" (2006)
• "The Wendy Trilogy" (2007)

External links

• Tucker's MySpace page [2]
• Fire & Strings MySpace page [3]
• Tucker's offical website [4]
• Tucker's artist website [5]
• Tucker's LiveJournal [6]
• Tricky Pixie band website [7]