BIOGRAPHY
Tuck Andress was born on October 28, 1952 in Oklahoma. His father and older sister played piano where his father led a college jazz band but later gave up regular playing when he became a lawyer and oil company executive. Her sister studied classical piano when during those times, Tuck would roll under her sister's feet that might have trained Tuck's ear. At the age of seven, his sister taught him some few things on piano then later on studied formal classical lessons until the age of 14. It was the influence of Beatles and Rolling Stones that made him realize that he should be playing rock and roll. He started a neighborhood band where he played the piano. It was during this period that Tuck decided he must play guitar. This was pre-Jimi Hendrix, so his first playing was reminiscent of Chuck Berry with Beatles/melodic influences. His first electric guitar was a Ventures Mosrite, with a Vox Pacemaker amp.
Tuck took a few lessons from a Chet Atkins-inspired guitarist, Tommy Crook. However, Tuck was mostly selftaught. It was Jimi Hendrix's album that blown him away because of the power playing of Hendrix. And his other influence at that time was the blues. Some blues artists that inspired Tuck were B.B. King, Albert King and Freddie King, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Michael Bloomfield, Steve Hickerson, Jim Byfield and Tommy Tripplehorn. It was the emphasis on bends and slides but no emphasis on playing fast but considerable technique was necessary to accomplish some of the subtle moves these players used.
Tuck enrolled in Stanford in 1970. The musical life there was rock bands, and he was still teaching himself jazz and Jimi Hendrix in every available moment. After the first quarter he dropped out and went to Los Angeles to rejoin some of the members of the band he had played with in high school. Thanks to Dean Parks he was given the opportunity to take over the guitar position for the Sonny and Cher tv show, which was very popular at the time. Tuck then left Los Angeles and went back in Stanford to study music while also going to Tulsa, where he played with the Gap Band.
During this period, Tuck was studying Wes Montgomery, George Benson, Jimi Hendrix and John McLaughlin's Mahavishnu Orchestra and listening to every jazz album he could find, especially early Miles Davis. While in Stanford Tuck had two years of weekly classical guitar lessons, first from Stanley Buetens, then Charles Ferguson. He already had a lot of classical experience from childhood and piano, a lot of left hand technique from playing electric and enough right hand technique to play the pieces he was learning. Therefore most of their focus was on expression, and learning to hear and experience one guitar as several different instruments at once. He also experimented with varying the volume and tone of each part independently. This would later become the most characteristic ingredient of the fingerstyle.
During the 1970's, Tuck was well known in San Francisco jazz circles as a flat pick electric player. In 1978, he met Patti Cathcart and married shortly after following a trip together to India. It was only after he started playing with Patti that he developed his unorthodox but influential fingerstyle technique. Tuck's style of fingerstyle guitar playing exemplifies the art of simultaneously playing a bassline, chords, and melody. He also uses a broad pallette of techniques, including slapped and tapped harmonics, percussive slapping,
Tuck Andress was born on October 28, 1952 in Oklahoma. His father and older sister played piano where his father led a college jazz band but later gave up regular playing when he became a lawyer and oil company executive. Her sister studied classical piano when during those times, Tuck would roll under her sister's feet that might have trained Tuck's ear. At the age of seven, his sister taught him some few things on piano then later on studied formal classical lessons until the age of 14. It was the influence of Beatles and Rolling Stones that made him realize that he should be playing rock and roll. He started a neighborhood band where he played the piano. It was during this period that Tuck decided he must play guitar. This was pre-Jimi Hendrix, so his first playing was reminiscent of Chuck Berry with Beatles/melodic influences. His first electric guitar was a Ventures Mosrite, with a Vox Pacemaker amp.
Tuck took a few lessons from a Chet Atkins-inspired guitarist, Tommy Crook. However, Tuck was mostly selftaught. It was Jimi Hendrix's album that blown him away because of the power playing of Hendrix. And his other influence at that time was the blues. Some blues artists that inspired Tuck were B.B. King, Albert King and Freddie King, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Michael Bloomfield, Steve Hickerson, Jim Byfield and Tommy Tripplehorn. It was the emphasis on bends and slides but no emphasis on playing fast but considerable technique was necessary to accomplish some of the subtle moves these players used.
Tuck enrolled in Stanford in 1970. The musical life there was rock bands, and he was still teaching himself jazz and Jimi Hendrix in every available moment. After the first quarter he dropped out and went to Los Angeles to rejoin some of the members of the band he had played with in high school. Thanks to Dean Parks he was given the opportunity to take over the guitar position for the Sonny and Cher tv show, which was very popular at the time. Tuck then left Los Angeles and went back in Stanford to study music while also going to Tulsa, where he played with the Gap Band.
During this period, Tuck was studying Wes Montgomery, George Benson, Jimi Hendrix and John McLaughlin's Mahavishnu Orchestra and listening to every jazz album he could find, especially early Miles Davis. While in Stanford Tuck had two years of weekly classical guitar lessons, first from Stanley Buetens, then Charles Ferguson. He already had a lot of classical experience from childhood and piano, a lot of left hand technique from playing electric and enough right hand technique to play the pieces he was learning. Therefore most of their focus was on expression, and learning to hear and experience one guitar as several different instruments at once. He also experimented with varying the volume and tone of each part independently. This would later become the most characteristic ingredient of the fingerstyle.
During the 1970's, Tuck was well known in San Francisco jazz circles as a flat pick electric player. In 1978, he met Patti Cathcart and married shortly after following a trip together to India. It was only after he started playing with Patti that he developed his unorthodox but influential fingerstyle technique. Tuck's style of fingerstyle guitar playing exemplifies the art of simultaneously playing a bassline, chords, and melody. He also uses a broad pallette of techniques, including slapped and tapped harmonics, percussive slapping,
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