Today we’d like to introduce you to Erich Tucker.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Erich. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I grew up in Winter Beach, Florida about a mile west of the Indian River Lagoon. My family lived next door to my grandparents who lived next door to my great-grandmother Bertha, an immigrant from Germany. While I performed on stage in my first musical in preschool, I fell in love with music and the flute when I was 11. Inspired by the legend of the Pied Piper of Hamlin, I remember opening my flute case for the first time wondering why it was metal and not wooden like the fairy tale. I was fortunate to grow up near the ocean, and I somehow inherently understood that the waves in the sea were not that different from the phrases of sound in musical compositions.
I experience music in part as a language; reading, writing, listening and speaking, each component a fundamental aspect of musical performance. I love spinning sound both on an off the page. I love Beethoven and Bach, just as much as I love improvising a new piece. For me, the flute is an extension of my human voice, the same air that sustains biological life generates the flute tone. My first album, Prana, was born out of my yoga practice and the connection between breath and life in the human body.
My flute has traveled with me to the very ends of the earth and we welcome opportunities for performance across the globe, the further and more creative the better. I’ve performed Bad Romance at Alcatraz, the Under the Sea on a submarine in Barbados, and recently began research on the alleged supernatural powers of the flute in world and pop culture while traveling to Budapest on a travel grant. When I’m in town you may likely find me dressed as the Pied Piper wandering through the Kimbell Art Museum, or I recently gave a multidisciplinary collaborative solo flute recital at TCU with a visual artist and a dancer.
Tangent to my performing career, I embrace a lifetime love of music and learning with my music studio. I prefer to think of them as artists-in-training rather than students. For two decades I’ve shared music with the brightest and best artist in town, this keeps me young and fresh and constantly leaning into new ideas. I’m also in my 17th year of directing improvisational theater camps (Second City style) and musical improv workshops. As alumni of The Company, touring repertory ensemble, I’ve found unique and innovate ways to quench my love for travel, music, and theater. I teach and coach via my home studio in Fort Worth, as an instructor of flute and musicology at Tarrant County College. I’ve recently developed a growing studio of artists who study with me via Skype and Facetime!
Beyond excellence in skill, which is a given in the performing and teaching industry for most career artists and musicians, I believe that music overflows from our own humanity. Who we are as people, and how we see the world, that shows in our music. So I embrace being nice, and kind and welcome the opportunity to connect with new artists and new platforms as often as possible. All the good stuff about life that I love so much, I put that into my music.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I believe that we are never truly creative until we run out of options. Every time I’ve hit a brick wall creatively or literally, I’ve found a way through it. Necessity is the mother of invention. The blunders and missteps, be they large or small, they are part of the final product. I’ve realized that the more of life I’ve lived, the easier it is to glide over those bumps in the road. I’m still looking for my genie in the lamp so I can wish for a gold flute, billion dollars and unlimited wishes. Let me know if you have any leads on where to find one.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Erich Tucker story. Tell us more about the business.
As a performer, I love playing all kinds of music, it’s my way of experiencing and appreciating all cultures across the world. I’m just as comfortable sitting in an orchestra as I am improvising in the recording studio. I’m willing to travel just able anywhere on earth to find the next “perfect note.” I play silver flute and piccolo, as well as world flutes (Celtic, native America, pan, fife). My favorite performances are collaborative adventures with singers, theaters and diverse arts organizations.
As a teacher, my specialty is teaching flute lessons to artists of all ages and levels who love learning and share my genuine desire to create authentic music. I also coach any woodwind instrument, teach music history and lead workshops and camps around the world. Our next Boom Squeak music improvisation workshop is scheduled for June 1st, 2018.
What sets me apart from others? Well… that’s a great question. I believe every person/business has a unique life path and mission to accomplish. My love of the stage in theater cross-pollinates with my love of music and teaching. Early in my life, I completed a degree in Psychology, and from that, I gained a basic understanding of human motivation and behavior… this gave me a head start when I jumped full force into the performing arts.
While I’m especially proud of producing the top razz-muh-tazzical flutists in town who consistently win auditions and embrace success, I’m more proud when they each find their authentic voice, their authentic mission, when their eyes (and the eyes of their audience members) are sparkling because of the genuine joy of their connections.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I’ve often considered myself to be the most fortunate man alive. The amount of sheer “muchness” that my family, teachers, colleagues, friends, students and at times even perfect strangers have given to and invested in me is beyond astronomical. To have crossed paths with this amount of greatness so many times… I could have never deserved this. I believe that there is a benevolent divine force watching over us and making sure we have all the experiences I am meant to have in this lifetime.
Pricing:
- Prana, my first solo improv flute album is available on all digital platforms, $10
Contact Info:
- Website: www.ErichTucker.com
- Phone: 817-907-8155
- Email: Erich@ErichTucker.com
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
