Longtime songwriter and performing artist, Kate Tucker is expanding her creative reach to produce and host the Hope Is My Middle Name podcast, and the YouTube series, Made In America. She is the editor of the new book, Comeback Evolution: Selected Works of Walter K. Delbridge, published by the University of Akron Press. The book emerged from a documentary film she is directing on the life and work of Delbridge.
Kate's latest record, Singles Club, features songs written and produced by Tucker and Gregory Lattimer (Aaron Lee Tasjan, The Strokes), recorded in Lattimer’s Nashville studio, with the exception of “Real Love” written by Tucker, Grammy-nominated Alissa Moreno and Evan Coffman, who produced and recorded the track at Starstruck, and “Social Anxiety” written with Chuck Bein and Alissa Moreno, tracked that same day in Moreno’s basement.
Out of a passion for collaboration, Kate has built a large body of work spanning genre and modality, with an ever-growing cast of characters. Her main squeeze is Kate Tucker and the Sons of Sweden, Seattle indie rock darlings who recorded their debut at Bear Creek, produced by Ryan Hadlock (The Lumineers, Brandi Carlile) with Damien Jurado on guest vocals. Up next was The Shape The Color The Feel visual album with thirteen music videos, two short films, and an art exhibition, featuring collaborations with Matthew Perryman Jones, SHEL, and Jessie English.
Other collaborations include the sparkling eighties-infused pop duo Little Reader, with Ross Flournoy (Apex Manor, The Broken West), whose debut "The Big Score," was produced by Mark Watrous of The Shins, and all-woman supergroup Band Of Their Own, with members of Belly, Veruca Salt, Letters to Cleo, and The Bangles.
A self-taught musician, Kate spent days rewinding VHS tapes of The Cranberries MTV Unplugged to learn chords on a guitar her godfather built. By age 16, she could play their entire live set and was ready to write songs of her own. Influenced by Radiohead, Innocence Mission, and Mazzy Star, she developed a sparse, yet intentional approach to her guitar work, with repetitive arpeggiated patterns and heavy swirling rhythm.
Growing up in a family of truck drivers, Kate became acquainted with the American road from an early age. A sense of place, home, and the vast unknown continues to inform her work in both mood and lyric. Perhaps this frequent travel set in motion what would become her musical journey, cutting her teeth in Cleveland rock clubs, moving to France to busk in the streets of Paris, setting off for Seattle to start a band, only to hit the road again for NYC to finally land in Nashville, Tennessee.
Kate has earned “Best Score” and “Best Picture” awards for her acting and composing work on the feature film Everything Went Down, and has participated in various festivals including Sundance, TIFF, and Stony Brook, where, in addition to performing with her band, she has spoken on the intersection of film and music.
In the midst of this, she’s garnered a devoted fan base grassroots style, releasing everything on her independent label, Red Valise. Her songs have charted college and commercial radio and landed spots on numerous TV shows, feature films, and compilations. She’s toured extensively, with appearances at Bumbershoot, SXSW, and Bonnaroo.
Follow Kate’s adventures on Instagram @katetuckermusic and on YouTube @katetucker