"I know I'm not the only person to benefit from it"
Episode 041: Shana Tucker
This is Play It Like It's Music, I'm Trevor, thanks for listening.
[photos all by Jannelle Blackman]
On Wednesday, May 27 of 2020 Music is not content, it's connection. The quarantine wears on, the death toll climbs and the life toll sits in limbo. I am here with another conversation today, and I'm super thankful that those of you players I know who listen to the show keep telling me you get so much out of this. It can be a damn lonely life*, but it doesn't have to be.
*For cellists, especially!
But not today, because I'm blessed to have Shana Tucker on the show.
She's a cellist, singer-songwriter, arts advocate, teaching artist, collaborator and all-around cultural conduit. Shana is a builder-of-connections, whether she’s associating STEM concepts with backbeats or engaging a packed house through candid song-storytelling in performance.
And she can really play! As a cello/singer guy I can't help but smile: Shana's unique genre of ChamberSoul™ weaves jazz, roots, folk, acoustic pop, and a touch of R&B into melodies that echo in your head for days. Plus, there's polish.
She keeps busy on the road and in the studio, working with Bennie Maupin, Nicole Mitchell and The Foreign Exchange. She also worked in Cirque du Soleil, which we don't talk about at all. Why would we?
She's got a band of her own. Shana is also a front-line advocate for arts education, as well as a recipient of several arts council grant awards for her exemplary work as a Performing Artist. She serves on review panels and advisory committees for arts organizations across the country.
These are all big accomplishments, but what amazes me is how good she is at creating relationship around her work. We all need to get better at this, and I think Shana is a leader. She knows how to be a star and how to blend.
This was so much fun, let's cut right to it.
Press PLAY above to hear my conversation with Shana Tucker.
Thanks for listening to Play It Like It’s Music. Thanks to Shana for spending some very generous time with us. You can find her music at Shana Tucker dot com and on all the socials.
If you like this show, please tell a friend:
Follow me on social media @trevorexter and talk to me on there if you have thoughts about the show.
We're all contending with a mutating professional landscape, jacked revenue streams, a catastrophic global pandemic and plenty of other noise out in the culture.
But you gotta keep playing.
We don't draw any lines here between scenes or styles.
As always, thank you for listening and remember to play it like its music.
You can check out my music on bandcamp and other places. It’s all at my website, trevorexter.com. Sign the mailing list on substack to get this show sent right to you the very moment it comes out. Consider hiring me to score your piece, do some cello, teach you lessons, produce your show or back you up onstage.
Music is a beautiful thing and it makes the world go round.
Big love to your ears.
Trevor
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* Hear songs: the “Trevor Exter Playlist” on Spotify
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