Thursday, Aug. 18, 2011

Alex Tucker: Imparting the Spirit of Rock 'n' Roll

cslate@thesunnews.com

Alex Tucker in the band room at Dino Capone's School of Rock. Photo By Charles Slate for Weekly Surge.

 

When Alex Tucker arrived on the Grand Strand just after Hurricane Hugo in 1990, he was already a working musician, having put in his licks with several touring bands on the Eastern Seaboard. Born in Frankfurt, Germany and growing up in Coeburn, Va., he says he attended the school of hard knocks while constantly honing his craft.

"It was almost like closing my eyes and pointing to a map," he says when asked about his decision to move to Myrtle Beach. He and his girlfriend at the time wanted to get out of southwest Virginia. "We narrowed it down to here or Florida, but the main reason I came down here was for the music scene. I played here a few times and it was really happening then." Indeed, the indie music scene in Myrtle Beach was thriving in those days - and Tucker cited many of the bygone venues that were a testament to that era. "It was happening at places like Rock Burger, Castaways and [the] Kings Road [Tavern]."

Since picking up a guitar at age 14, Tucker's resume has grown exponentially as he played in bands of various genres, including Gruel, Alter Ego, Perfect Tommy, Soul Function, Strike-O-Matics and the Independents, a punk outfit managed by Joey Ramone until his death in 2001. "I played bass with them for a little while, and I was with those guys when they lost all of their gear in New York City. We ended up stranded for about a week - but we got to play with Joey whenever we did shows New York - he'd come on stage and play a few songs."

Another highlight was the Democratic Presidential Debate after party in Myrtle Beach, which Tucker played with Soul Function in 2008 at Broadway at the Beach. "It was freezing cold," he remembers. "The horn players were dying and the horns were sticking to their lips." During the course of his career with various bands, he has opened for the likes of Cypress Hill, Jackyl, and Collective Soul.

Tucker, 40, is now playing in two local bands, Another Affliction and Amendment 21, the former with drummer and entrepreneur Dino Capone. And for more than two years, Tucker has been teaching guitar, bass and music theory at Dino Capone's School of Rock [www.dinocaponesschoolofrock.com] in Myrtle Beach. "It's one of the most rewarding things I have been a part of," he enthuses. "It's so awesome to teach kids - and some of them have their own bands now." This is a direct result of the school's 12-week band program, which groups kids from 7-17 into viable band situations - ultimately showcasing them at venues such as House of Blues and Hard Rock Café.

The school will soon host open auditions for the next band program. "We make them play various scales in a given key and chords so we can group the kids by skill level and age. They have to know a certain amount before we can put them together - enough about music to be able to tell them, 'hit me a G chord' and to know what that means."

Tucker has roughly 25 students for one-on-one instruction. "I have a seven-year-old kid and a 65-year-old guy. He's a beginning bass player and he wants to get into a band." His students range from advanced players to folks who have never even touched a guitar. "I have been all over the board."

Juggling his teaching duties with two working bands, we wondered if Tucker ever hits up the beach.

"I never go to the beach," he asserts. "I get a round of golf in every now and then. I like deep fishing and that sort of thing, but I don't really get a chance to do much of that." One might find him relaxing with friends at the Gator Island Grill & Sports Pub in Socastee or occasionally getting his grub on at Rioz Brazilian Steakhouse in Myrtle Beach. "That place is the bomb - and you better turn that card over or they will keep [the food] coming."

And Tucker will continue to call Myrtle Beach home. "I have been here for such a long time, and I like it here," he says. "It could be better, of course. It seems like right now it's hard to find a real home for live music, and being that's what I do it gets tough every now and then. But I manage to keep working in this vocation. I feel really fortunate that people want me to play with them. That's awesome and it makes me feel great."

Know of a local with an interesting job or career that should be given the Working 4 A Living treatment? Contact Roger Yale at rgyale@gmail.com.