>> Teeny Tucker: When I was 15, my dad came to visit me, and I had just did my first song on our gospel album.  It was called " meet me in heaven" and Doris Akers who was a famous, you know her?  She was a famous gospel writer.  She asked me at 15 would I do her song "Meet me in heaven" (singing).  And I said "Ok, I'll do that!" And so when my father came, the record was done, it was on a album, a record album, they didn't have CD's then.  And I played that for him, and he said "That's you?" He couldn't believe it was me.  And I said " yeah that's me!" He said you want to be a singer.  I said I am a singer.  And so I just wrote a new song on my new CD called "Daughter to the blues." My daddy told me, when I was little girl, that I was going to be a singer, singing the blues.  Stop being so shy girl, just sing your song.  There ain't nothing you can do that can't go wrong.  I've got it all my album, I'll let see you guys hear some of it.

>> Interviewer: just the life stories that come out of your songs are incredible.

>> Teeny Tucker: and my mother couldn't sing, she couldn't hold a beat for nothing.  She was my biggest fan, before she died a year ago, she was my biggest fan.  If I did a show, she was there if it was here.  I'm actually doing two shows here, one in Granville and one in the Lancaster music series this summer.  So if you get a chance, come out.

>> Interviewer: this summer you said?

>> Teeny Tucker: Ya this summer, I think ones in August.  It's on the schedule, my space.

>> Interviewer: all check that out, sure, excellent, that's amazing.  Is there a certain venue that you prefer to perform in?

>> Teeny Tucker: I like festivals.  Blues festivals.  I mean I've done a lot of clubs and stuff, but my desire is to do festivals, I love festivals.  I figure if I'm going to touch souls, I want to touch a lot of them, you know what I mean?  You know I'm not really with the gospel choir or anything, but when I go to churches and I visit, or when I go to my church now I usually get up and sing a solo or something like that.  They'll ask me to come up and sing something, especially if I'm here.  I'm gonna lot, traveling.

>> Interviewer: is your husband musical at all?

>> Teeny Tucker: He played the saxophone in high school.  And football.  He never continued it, but I think he really enjoyed it though.  And he knows music, he has a good ear.  And last year I was asked to come and visit Fort Hayes, so I went over to Fort Hayes school.  And I worked with (…), he's a blues musician and he's done a lot of stuff that the kids in the school.  So we got up and did some stuff that the kids and the school, and I really enjoyed that.  And so I said "This is going to be my plight for this year, to help more kids in the school do blues." And all the sudden, the Monterey Bay blues festival calls me and says " this year's are 25th anniversary, we want to know if you want to work with the kids in the school?" And I was like "Wow, excellent, right up my alley, I can teach someone my songs and we can go on the main stage before it opens up because I think they're going to have Edna James this year.  And we're gonna open up and do a song on the main stage a song with the kids for blues in school.  Well, you know, blues is the origin of music.  Particularly black music.  R&B, soul, and I think country and all of them are all mixed together.  Some wear something has to start.  And to me, blues, you know prewar blues has its origin.  You look back and you see that a lot of the old great blues artist were Males.  It was dominated by men.  So I'm thinking "Dang, how can a woman really get in and fit in?" (Laughter) and that's what you do too, you get in where you fit in.  And I think you have to gain you respect.  But blues for me, its storytelling.  It's like country, you listen to country music and it tells a story that everybody, and not everybody necessarily with that particular story, but everybody somewhere along the line can relate to it.  It happened to them, you know?  It doesn't necessarily have to be sad, or something that happened that was a distraughtful if he thing, you know what I mean?  It can be something about your life that you tell that you triumphed over something, or you overcame something.  And I think that's just the plight of people period.  And blues does that, it tells a story of reality, of things that happen to people throughout the world.  Throughout life, throughout your life experiences.  And you can really listen to it.  And there are so many styles of acoustic blues, delta blues, folk blues, traditional blues, contemporary blues.  Blues is a home.  You see I get excited when I talk about it.  It's just a huge, it's huge.