When the Jim Beam Main Stage lights up at Royal Oak's annual Arts, Beats & Eats festival on Sunday, Aug. 31, audiences will get a taste of Downriver pride and country-rock energy as Taylor Tucky kicks off the day's lineup at 4 p.m.
The band, long a staple of the southeastern Michigan music scene, will take the stage ahead of national country stars Joe Nichols and Randy Houser -- an honor that underscores just how far the group has come since its early days.
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Taylor Tucky was formed in 2012, born out of a desire among seasoned musicians to keep performing together without the constraints of competing projects. Guitarist and vocalist Chris Wietzke explained that the band's origins came from necessity as much as inspiration.
"Taylor Tucky is actually our second entity," Wietzke said. "We have another entity called Sinjon Smith, and we're all professional players. We wanted to work as much as possible, but the singer for that entity didn't want to work as much. Rather than everybody finding separate projects and running into calendar conflicts, we decided to form a new entity with the same players and a new singer."
At the time, country music was riding high in the pop realm, making it an ideal lane for the group's blend of rock roots and country flavor. Their name, however, came from something much closer to home.
"The name actually came from the original singer, who lived in Taylor," Wietzke said. "His family was part of the Taylor-Tucky migration. When the auto industry started building plants here, a lot of people moved up from Kentucky to work in them and settled in Taylor. That's where the term came from."
Though some considered the phrase derogatory, the band embraced it as a badge of identity.
"It was a hard choice to use that name," Wietzke said. "But, it's cool to be a redneck. We went with it. We figured we were cutting edge with it. We've even played for the city of Taylor, and while some of the older folks weren't too happy about the name, that's when we knew we had a good one."
Today, Taylor Tucky features a lineup of talented musicians from across the region. Bassist David Connors migrated from Cleveland, while drummer Lonnell Lewis and guitarist Marc Davis bring their own distinct energy. A key recent addition is vocalist Ryan O'Neill, who joined earlier this year after longtime frontman Perry Joe Zaremba retired.
"Our new singer, Ryan O'Neill, is a fantastic talent," Wietzke said. "He's got a strong career ahead of him, and we're very lucky to have him."
Musically, the band draws on both rock and country traditions.
"We're rockers at heart," Wietzke said. "Back then, if you were a rocker and you wanted to be a recording artist, you went to Nashville because that's where country was changing from the twangy '80s and '90s sound into more rock-based music. That's our heart and soul, too. But we made sure when we released our album that we included country elements like steel guitar, violin, and banjo, so it would still be recognized as country."
The band's 2019 debut album, "Where There's Smoke," highlights this fusion, with tracks like "I Bleed Country" alongside a cover of Heart's "Straight On." The title track has garnered more than 75,000 streams, and the album's presence on the TouchTunes jukebox network has given the band a national reach.
"Being on TouchTunes was a big deal for us," Wietzke said. "Typically, you have to be a major album seller to get on that network. We just got lucky that one of the administrators loved our music. Now, if you're at a bar with TouchTunes, you can fire up some Taylor Tucky right from your phone. That's pretty cool."
Audiences at Arts, Beats & Eats can expect a mix of originals and crowd-pleasing covers.
"We do a mixture of both," Wietzke said. "We'll play songs from our first album, some new material we've released, and some popular covers. The reason behind that is covers are where the money's at. We all have mortgages and families, so we're not going back on the road full time. But we love writing and performing original music. We'd love recognition, maybe a Detroit Music Award, or for another artist to record our songs. But the main reason is we just love to entertain people."
The group has been a fixture at Arts, Beats & Eats for several years, but this marks their first time on the national stage lineup. Their set will run about 30 minutes, giving them the chance to deliver a high-energy performance to a fresh crowd.
"We've been a staple at Arts, Beats & Eats for four or five years," Wietzke said. "We were lucky to be presented with the national stage this year. We're the low man on the totem pole, so we get a half-hour set -- about eight or nine songs. But we're going to make sure it's all high energy. We want to kick off Sunday with a bang."
Even with a busy summer -- 21 shows in August alone -- the band still cherishes the chance to perform at large-scale festivals. Among their favorite memories is a show in West Virginia for the World Scouts Gathering, where they played for an international crowd of 30,000 youth.
"It was awesome," Wietzke said. "There were kids from Finland, Norway, Germany, and they all knew the words to our songs. Singing along with us, it was really cool."
With another album in the works and an ever-growing fanbase, Taylor Tucky is proof that Downriver grit and Nashville polish can coexist. As they take the Jim Beam Main Stage on Aug. 31, they'll be bringing both to Royal Oak, along with a sound that's all their own.
Taylor Tucky performs at 4 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 31 on the Jim Beam Main Stage at Arts, Beats & Eats in Royal Oak. For more information, visit artsbeatseats.com. Follow the band on Instagram at @taylor_tucky.
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Taylor Tucky is a five-member country band rooted in Taylor, Downriver's largest city. The group blends rock energy with modern country sounds. Formed in 2012, the group includes Chris Wietzke (guitar, vocals), David Connors (bass, vocals), Lonnell Lewis (drums), Marc Davis (lead guitar), and new frontman Ryan O'Neill. The 2019 debut album "Where There's Smoke" features fan favorites like "I Bleed Country" and is available on Spotify, Apple Music and on the TouchTunes jukebox network nationwide. Known for high-energy live shows, Taylor Tucky has opened for Kane Brown, Old Dominion, Brothers Osborne, and more, earning recognition as one of Michigan's top country acts.