Tanya Tucker is on tour to promote her first album of original songs in 17 years, While I’m Livin’. The album was co- produced by Brandi Carlile and Shooter Jennings. Most of the songs on the album, 7 of the 10, are originals written by Brandi and her bandmates “The Twins,” Tim and Phil Hanseroth. The other 3 songs are covers.
Tucker and her band performed to a rowdy, near sold out crowd at The Cave in Big Bear, CA. The Cave has played host to many a musical star over the years, and its walls are lined with autographed guitars, drumheads, photos and other memorabilia to prove it.
A lot of times it was hard to hear Tanya speak, (she has a quiet, husky speaking voice) over the rambunctious crowd but when she sang, she sang with a clear powerful voice. She has fun onstage, interacts with the audience, at one point stopping the show to speak to a 79-year old fan standing right in front of the stage for the whole show. She shared a shot of her new tequila brand, Cosa Salvaje Tequila, with a man in the audience. She even brought two young girls who were at the all ages show up on stage and talked to them. She signed a guitar for one young girl, about 10 years old, who was singing along with every song.
Her set included both old and new songs including, “I’ll Come Back as Another Woman,” “Love Me Like You Used To” and a cover of the Eagle’s “Peaceful Easy Feeling.” From the new album she sang “Mustang Ridge,” “The Wheels of Laredo” and “Bring My Flowers Now.” The latter she dedicated to her dog who was is suffering from cancer and was rushed to the emergency veterinarian that afternoon. She almost cancelled the show because of it and was obviously very emotional when she sang the song. It was the only song she sat down to sing. She closed out the show with undoubtedly her biggest hit to date and the song that burst her on the scene as a 13-year old sensation, “Delta Dawn.”
Opening the show for Tucker was a newcomer to the music scene, Alex Hall. Alex just signed a record deal, literally while on tour with Tanya, with Monument Records. He is currently working on his first album. He didn’t have any cds to sell in the back but he did have a stack of 8x10s and a bunch of t-shirts. He had quite the group of people, mostly women getting autographed photos and buying t-shirts. Even I, and I rarely do this, had a photo taken with him. That way I can say I knew him when.
The show was fantastic. Alex Hall is a future star and Tanya Tucker is a legend. Both of them will be around for a long time to come.