Shonna Tucker is a bassist and songwriter from

Killen, Alabama Killen is a town in Lauderdale County, Alabama, United States. It's part of the Florence - Muscle Shoals Metropolitan Statistical Area known as "The Shoals". It was incorporated in 1957. As of the 2020 census, the population of the town is 1,034 ...

, near

Muscle Shoals Muscle Shoals is the largest city in Colbert County, Alabama, Colbert County, Alabama, United States. It is located along the Tennessee River in the northern part of the state and, as of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, the populati ...

Background

Tucker grew up in

, receiving her first bass at age 12, a gift from her father. She describes her musical education as "mostly playing along with

Creedence Clearwater Revival Creedence Clearwater Revival, also referred to as Creedence and CCR, was an American rock band formed in El Cerrito, California. The band initially consisted of lead vocalist, lead guitarist, and primary songwriter John Fogerty; his brother, ...

tapes".

With the Drive-by Truckers

Tucker joined the

Athens, Georgia Athens, officially Athens–Clarke County, is a consolidated city-county and college town in the U.S. state of Georgia. Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta, and is a satellite city of the capital. The University of Georgia, the sta ...

-based

Drive-By Truckers Drive-By Truckers are an American rock band based in Athens, Georgia. Two of five current members (Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley) are originally from The Shoals region of northern Alabama and met as roommates at the University of North Alabama ...

in 2003, replacing original bassist Earl Hicks. Tucker had previously played upright bass on the Truckers' album ''

Decoration Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have fought and died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monda ...

''. She played bass on their next two records, '' The Dirty South'' and ''

A Blessing and a Curse ''A Blessing and a Curse'' is the sixth studio album by American rock band Drive-By Truckers, released in 2006. It peaked at #50 on the ''Billboard'' 200, which was the highest charting for the band until 2008's follow up, '' Brighter Than Cre ...

'', before contributing her first songs on 2008's ''

Brighter Than Creation's Dark ''Brighter Than Creation's Dark'' is the seventh studio album by American rock band Drive-By Truckers. It was released on January 22, 2008 in the United States. Background Recorded during and after the acoustic Dirt Underneath Tour, the album ...

''. She wrote three songs on that record: "I'm Sorry, Huston", "Home Field Advantage", and "The Purgatory Line". She also joined the band backing up

Booker T. Jones Booker Taliaferro Jones Jr. (born November 12, 1944) is an American musician, songwriter, record producer and arranger, best known as the frontman of the band Booker T. & the M.G.'s. He has also worked in the studios with many well-known art ...

on his record ''

Potato Hole ''Potato Hole'' is a 2009 album by Booker T. Jones, recorded with Drive-By Truckers as the backing band and guitar accompaniment by Neil Young. On January 31, 2010, ''Potato Hole'' won the Best Pop Instrumental Album award at the 52nd Annual G ...

'' and

Bettye LaVette Bettye LaVette (born Betty Jo Haskins, January 29, 1946) is an American soul singer-songwriter who made her first record at sixteen, but achieved only intermittent fame until 2005, when her album ''I've Got My Own Hell to Raise'' was released to ...

on her record ''

The Scene of the Crime ''The Scene of the Crime'' is a studio album by American singer-songwriter Bettye LaVette, released in the United States on September 25, 2007 on the label ANTI-. It is a collaboration with Drive-By Truckers as backing band, Spooner Oldham on pia ...

''. For most of her career in the band, she was married to guitarist

Jason Isbell Michael Jason Isbell (; born February 1, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is known for his solo career, his work with the band The 400 Unit, and as a member of Drive-By Truckers for six years, from 2001 to 2007. Isbell h ...

, though the two eventually divorced. She also performed on Isbell's first solo album ''Sirens of the Ditch''.

Solo career

Patterson Hood Patterson David Hood (born March 24, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter and co-founder of the band Drive-By Truckers. Early life Hood was born in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, the son of Jan Patterson Adams and David Hood, the longtime bassist ...

announced Tucker's departure from the band in December 2011 via a post on the band's Facebook page. Hood stated that "Her charm and spark will be irreplaceable and her part in our last decade of this band's history is indisputable." Tucker released a series of instructional cooking videos on YouTube, entitled "Sweet Soul Cookin' with Shonna Tucker". Tucker's next musical project started taking shape when she,

John Neff John B. Neff, CFA, (September 19, 1931 – June 4, 2019) was an American investor, mutual fund manager, and philanthropist. He was notable for his contrarian and value investing styles as well as for heading Vanguard's Windsor Fund. Windsor ...

, and Bo Bedingfield worked up a version of

Deana Carter Deana Kay Carter (born January 4, 1966) is an American country music singer-songwriter who broke through in 1996 with the release of her debut album ''Did I Shave My Legs for This?'', which was certified 5× Multi-Platinum in the United States ...

's " Strawberry Wine", thus forming the band Shonna Tucker and Eye Candy. The band released their first album ''A Tell All'' in October 2013, a record that features songs "about love and jealousy, nights spent on the road and nights spent in the kitchen, the things men do to women and women do for men." Tucker contributed a cover of "Roll On (Eighteen Wheeler)" to the

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

tribute record ''High Cotton''.

Eye Candy

Tucker's current band, Eye Candy, is made up of primarily

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

-based musicians. The lineup is currently: *

(ex-guitarist for the

). * Bo Bedingfield (guitar). * Clay Leverett (drums, formerly of Bright Eyes). * Neil Golden (keyboards, formerly of

The Glands The Glands were an American indie rock band from Athens, Georgia, United States. Their first CD, ''Double Thriller'', was self-released in 1996 and reissued on Bar/None Records in 1998. Their self-titled album was first released in 2000 on Capri ...

Japancakes Japancakes is an American indie rock group, based in Athens, Georgia, United States. History Rhythm guitarist Eric Berg formed the band with the idea of putting ten musicians in a band without any rehearsal, and performing a D chord for 45 minut ...

and

Elf Power Elf Power is an American indie rock band that originated in Athens, Georgia, United States. The line-up consists of guitarist/vocalist Andrew Rieger, keyboardist Laura Carter, guitarist Dave Wrathgabar, bassist Bryan Poole, and drummer Peter Al ...

Discography

Studio albums

*''A Tell All'' (2013) *''Dreams of Mine - EP'' (2019)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tucker, Shonna American rock bass guitarists People from Killen, Alabama American rock songwriters American rock singers American women singers Women bass guitarists Living people Drive-By Truckers members Year of birth missing (living people) Guitarists from Alabama 21st-century American women Singer-songwriters from Alabama