Sooj

Big-time In Bloom

Spring is starting to settle in here in my greening home, and it feels like I have a lot of plates in the air. 🙂 I don’t really mind, so long as I can keep from having anxiety about it all. Good changes are coming and good projects are in progress. I’m also working on my taxes, but as long as I can keep thinking of it as a puzzle I get to solve, then the math doesn’t overwhelm me. 🙂

Renée Janski and I will present another Concert Window broadcast together on May 3rd- we have some surprises planned! Go here to subscribe (for free) and get a reminder to watch when we’re about to go live.

I’m freshly home today from an experience I’d never had before: singing at a grave marker dedication, and watching that grave marker be installed.

Some of you may have heard me sing the song I wrote last spring, either live or during an online show, about the woman whose name is on this grave marker. She grew up one hour from where I was born, our birthdays are one day apart, and she was one year older than my grandfather. I can’t believe I had never heard her name before a year ago, especially since her life story, though short, is so compelling and full of courage. If you ask me, she’s a Rejected Princesses candidate (and yes, I have written to RP curator Jason Porath to let him know).

Helen was a teenager when her father was killed. She avenged him before she’d reached what we now consider legal age, served time for shooting his killer, and despite horrific treatment at the hands of those in charge of the Pea Farm (Arkansas’ Depression-era women’s prison, now long gone), never once allowed her spirit to be broken. She was twenty-two years old when the Pea Farm warden set her up to be murdered by a trusty guard, and slander still circulates that she was pregnant out of wedlock when she died, despite five physicians having confirmed the opposite after her autopsy. The press went wild over her story, telling it as exaggeratedly as they pleased, and her friends had to smuggle her body out of its window display (yes, really) at a local funeral home in order to see her body buried. She has been without a grave marker for over eighty years.

This morning, that changed, and I got to be there to sing at her grave. It seems like such a small act, but it’s one I’ll never forget.

Denise Parkinson is the one to thank for all this. She wrote the actual book about Helen’s life which captivated me so when I came across it in 2017. Denise has since given me her blessing and hired me to produce the official audiobook. I hope to have it ready soon.

Until I do, feel free to read it for yourself, and read the accompanying article about Helen on the Encyclopedia of Arkansas website.

Good stuff coming up: MN, AR, and Online!

This Week…

NEXT Week…

And April Fool’s Day!

More info about all three on my tour page!

New Tunes Everywhere!

I have a lot to share today, and most of it is new music. New music that you may enjoy right now if you wish! I have managed to release SIX new songs since the beginning of this month. I hope you will celebrate this victory with me! You may listen to each of them here, for free, and download/purchase them if you choose: http://music.sjtucker.com I’ve also posted them to my YouTube and SoundCloud channels.

Here’s a little bit of info about each one.

I released “Imbolc Song” at the very beginning of February, in time for Imbolc/Candlemas/Groundhog Day. Imbolc, on or around Feb 1st or 2nd, is the witchy counterpart of Groundhog Day. It’s a holiday for celebrating new beginnings and is even observed as the true start of spring. Irish goddess Brighid is wrapped up in Imbolc, and lots of folks think of it as her holiday. She’s a fire goddess, a hearth goddess, and is also considered the patroness of bards, smiths, and poets- I like her for all of these reasons. She’s still celebrated as a goddess in Ireland (and elsewhere), right alongside Saint Brigid. In Haiti, she is known by many as Maman Brigitte. She came to the Lwa pantheon, often revered right alongside the Catholic Saints, in the Caribbean via transported Irish and Scottish indentured workers. Brighid crosses cultures and pantheons, which makes her a great figure to look to where cultural sensitivity is concerned, and how we can step that up (both as individuals and as a spiritual community) as we walk our path “with both eyes open”. Milk is a traditional offering at Imbolc, hence my lyric, “pour the milk upon the ground.” Listen: http://music.sjtucker.com/track/imbolc-song

“Bad Business” is the digital single I released earlier this month in memory of friend and benefactor Brennan de Soto. Any and all download revenue that comes from this track will go immediately to Brennan’s widow, my friend Niki de Soto. If you are able to do a paid download of this one, I thank you so much. I have been able to send $400 directly to Niki already, since this tune’s release on February 8. Brennan licensed this song from me (and paid up front to cover my recording costs) in 2016 for a Supernatural-style film project. I am proud to offer this new version of the mix in his memory. When I learned of Brennan’s early death, I reached out to Niki to ask if I could offer her the download revenue from this unreleased tune to help with funeral costs. The song is about those of us who always ask more questions, always look deeper, and sometimes get ourselves into trouble as a result. We enchant. We inspire. We both share and keep our secrets. Listen: http://music.sjtucker.com/track/bad-business-in-memory-of-brennan-de-soto

“Look to the Water” is another single for now, but will definitely be part of a full length release later this year! I’m making it available from now through the Spring Equinox. Listen: http://music.sjtucker.com/track/look-to-the-water

Lastly is the “Burn Me Out” digital EP, which I released on February 16th, in conjunction with the screening of the pilot episode of a show called Strowlers- I cannot wait for you all to see it, it’s so gorgeous, with such a rich story. The goal of Strowlers is not just to create an awesome indie show and film series, but also to encourage other content creators to make their own films, art, music, and more in the world of the original story. I am so proud to support the project and concept as a songwriter. Listen: http://music.sjtucker.com/album/burn-me-out-songs-from-the-world-of-strowlers

These are all the new works I’ve been cooking this winter so far! I hope that you get a chance to listen and enjoy these tunes soon. I will have a lot more to share with you over the next few weeks, if all goes well.

BONUS: “SNOW MOON” IS AVAILABLE RIGHT NOW! My ephemeral moon tune is back! Get it here: http://music.sjtucker.com/track/snow-moon

With all this personal momentum I’ve got going, my more ambitious goal for 2018 is to release TWO new CDs if I can. The digital releases will come first, and the download revenue will help me to afford the mastering, printing, and replication of physical media/CDs. I will open up pre-orders as well, when the time comes. Of course, you all will hear each bit of my news first, as that process unfolds, as I glide toward my goals. My wish-word for this period of traveling a little bit less and recording a whole lot more, is “effortless”. I’m working very hard, but there are certainly aspects of it all that are going super smoothly.

Thank you all for being so supportive of my work, and of each new piece!

FOURTH of Four new February releases is GO!

<a href=”http://music.sjtucker.com/album/burn-me-out-songs-from-the-world-of-strowlers”>Burn Me Out (Songs from the World of Strowlers) by S. J. Tucker</a>

I’m writing from the Seattle area today, where I’ll be performing these three just-released songs at ZOEcon this evening! Hear them right now if you wanna!

These three songs really made me flex my producer muscles. They’re not flawless to my ears by any means, but I’m no less proud to share them.

Another new tune and a new review!

I released an official single of my song, “Look to the Water” on Friday, February 9, in honor of my buddy Denise Parkinson’s birthday, and also the opening of her Delta: Rediscovered exhibit that evening in Little Rock. The exhibit showcases historic black and white photos from the early 20th-Century Arkansas Delta, taken by photographer Dayton Bowers, and also features Denise’s mini-documentary, “Daughter of the White River”, about life on the lower White River and the River People’s most famous community member, Helen Spence. Denise incorporated this song as part of her documentary. You can view the exhibit and the documentary together through April 28th of this year, in the Loft Gallery of the Butler Center Galleries, across the street from Little Rock’s River Market. And you can listen to and download this single version of “Look to the Water” through the Spring Equinox of this year! After that, wish me luck on this, it will be part of a new full length digital album. 🙂

&lt;a href=”http://music.sjtucker.com/track/look-to-the-water”&gt;Look to the Water by S. J. Tucker&lt;/a&gt;

“Bad Business”, the tune I released just a couple of days before “Look to the Water,” has its first review- wonderful praise, totally unsolicited, and immensely appreciated! Read it here! Thanks so much to Audiofuzz reviewer Phil King for his support and his assessment of this new piece, which has raised $400 for my friend Niki de Soto, recently widowed. Niki sent her thanks, and says that it helps so much. Good job, my heart-tribe.

Here’s that song again, if you haven’t yet heard it.

<a href=”http://music.sjtucker.com/track/bad-business-in-memory-of-brennan-de-soto”>Bad Business (in memory of Brennan de Soto) by S. J. Tucker</a>

Song Review: “Bad Business”

“S. J. Tucker sounds like no one else out there. I’m not sure if she is fairy, shape-shifter, otherworldly, or just a super intelligent, super perceptive young woman. All I know, she makes beautiful music that is unusually beautiful. Critics have compared [her singing] to Joni Mitchell and Tori Amos, her guitar style to Emily Saliers. I believe she is a complete original coming straight from Neverland where Magick is real. I love this woman. She touches the heart.”

—Phil King, Audiofuzz.com

Another new song released today!

&lt;a href=”http://music.sjtucker.com/track/bad-business-in-memory-of-brennan-de-soto”&gt;Bad Business (in memory of Brennan de Soto) by S. J. Tucker&lt;/a&gt;
Proud of this one. It was a trial by fire, emotionally, to get it ready for release this week.

I’m asking y’all do to a paid download of this one if you are able to do that, at the amount of your choosing.

That’s because I am sending ALL of the download money for this new song to Niki de Soto, longtime friend of mine and widow of my friend Brennan, who licensed a previous mix of this tune from me when he was alive. We sing to mourn, we sing to heal, we sing to keep the memories real.

Tiny Pilgrimage Time: the White River Bridge

Yesterday I got to accompany my buddy Denise White Parkinson on a tiny pilgrimage.

Denise is the author of Daughter of the White River, a book which has inspired more than one new song from me in the past year, and which I am producing the audiobook of right now. We have a lot in common, as nomadic gals who’ve both found an unexpected home in the place that raised us, and we have a lot of shared big feelings about Arkansas history, conservation, and culture.

So when Denise, whom I’ll be supporting this Friday evening at her Delta: Rediscovered gallery reception in Little Rock (free admission, join us!) invited me to take a little road trip with her to see Clarendon’s historic White River bridge, I said yes.

The majority of local folks hope to conserve the historic bridge, which the Department of the Interior wants demolished, and see it become the landmark pedestrian bridge it deserves to be. I am told that demolition would cost the state (and the public) easily twice as much as conservation in this case. Learn more about the organization working to save the bridge.

Some of y’all know me as a child of many rivers, and how much that chosen identity has inspired me recently. Arkansas has several big rivers, all of them mighty, a little frightening sometimes, and gorgeous all the time. I’ve spent my life admiring them when I’m at home, and I have no idea how many times I’ve visited or crossed what I think of as the big three (The Mississippi, the Arkansas, and the White River) in my life. I still have Delta-born living relatives who remember the flood of 1927, and I am learning their stories. As a result of all of this, I have at least one brand new river song that I hope to release this year. Here’s a clip. Turn on your sound. 🙂

Had to go sing to the #whiteriverbridge at #clarendon #arkansas today. Hoping a miracle will let it become the historic, pedestrian landmark it deserves to be, instead of just another demolition. Look at local news/Google to learn more. Here it is with the Clarendon filter (cuz I’m meta like that) and a #newsong clip. ???????????? #lettheriverrunsong ????

A post shared by S. J. Tucker Music (@sjtuckermusic) on Feb 5, 2018 at 8:17pm PST

Next month and Now

Paganicon in the Twin Cities is having me back this year; staff just sent me this gorgeous new flyer! Lovely, right?

Renée and I had a delicious time giving our online show last week, on January 31st. If you missed it, watch the clip below – our very first-ever live performance of “Imbolc Song”!

Just released Imbolc Song!

&lt;a href=”http://music.sjtucker.com/track/imbolc-song”&gt;Imbolc Song by S. J. Tucker&lt;/a&gt;

tadaa! And this isn’t even one of the ones I’d said I was planning to release this month! I hope you enjoy it. My lyrics and notes about the song are below.