How can imitation be the sincerest form of flattery if you don't really mean to do it?
WANT TO GO?
Adam Tucker
WHERE: Haddad Riverfront Park
WHEN: 6:30 p.m. Friday
TICKETS: Free
INFO:www.liveontheleveecharleston.com
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- How can imitation be the sincerest form of flattery if you don't really mean to do it?
Sissonville native Adam Tucker says he was a fan of Tim McGraw's almost from the second the country superstar hit the radio, but he never really wanted to sound like him.
Tucker, who closes Charleston's Live on the Levee series Friday, made a go of it, singing his own songs with his own band. He even made the jump to Nashville, played up and down Music Row, and tried to get signed.
"I've been so close," he said. "I'd be face to face with Sony or RCA records, and they'd all say the same thing:
"'Adam, we think you have a ton of potential, but you sound too much like Tim McGraw.'"
Another performer might have been crushed.
"But I looked at it as a positive and decided to run with the ball," he said.
Tucker's association with McGraw's music goes back to his beginnings as a performer. Even when he was mostly playing shows in West Virginia, Tucker usually included McGraw songs in his set.
Impersonation was part of the act. Now it's most of the act. He became a full-time Tim McGraw impersonator a year and a half ago.
WANT TO GO?
Adam Tucker
WHERE: Haddad Riverfront Park
WHEN: 6:30 p.m. Friday
TICKETS: Free
INFO:www.liveontheleveecharleston.com
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- How can imitation be the sincerest form of flattery if you don't really mean to do it?
Sissonville native Adam Tucker says he was a fan of Tim McGraw's almost from the second the country superstar hit the radio, but he never really wanted to sound like him.
Tucker, who closes Charleston's Live on the Levee series Friday, made a go of it, singing his own songs with his own band. He even made the jump to Nashville, played up and down Music Row, and tried to get signed.
"I've been so close," he said. "I'd be face to face with Sony or RCA records, and they'd all say the same thing:
"'Adam, we think you have a ton of potential, but you sound too much like Tim McGraw.'"
Another performer might have been crushed.
"But I looked at it as a positive and decided to run with the ball," he said.
Tucker's association with McGraw's music goes back to his beginnings as a performer. Even when he was mostly playing shows in West Virginia, Tucker usually included McGraw songs in his set.
Impersonation was part of the act. Now it's most of the act. He became a full-time Tim McGraw impersonator a year and a half ago.
"The doors started opening," he said.
His bookings went up. He started playing everywhere.
"I just got back from Ottawa, and I've played this show from Portland, Maine, to Portland, Oregon," he said.
And it only gets better. Tucker recently signed a deal to appear at the Golden Nugget Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas, where he and his band will do their Tim McGraw tribute show five nights a week for the next year. Mostly, he says, they focus on the hits.
"We cover his entire career," Tucker said. "We do everything from his first number one hit, 'Don't Take The Girl,' to his latest, 'Southern Voice.'"
Toward the end of the show, they'll work in some other material not from the country star.
"Not everybody is a Tim McGraw fan," he noted.
Tucker is in the process of relocating and hopes to be settled in by mid-fall, but he'll still appear around West Virginia a few times.
Aside from Live on the Levee, which coincides with the West Virginia H.O.G Rally in Charleston, Tucker will appear at the Paden City Labor Day Celebration Monday and The Clay County Golden Delicious Festival on Sept. 18.
He'll also open for Bucky Covington at the Buckwheat Festival in Kingswood Oct. 1. His last show in the state will be at Ravenswood's Octoberfest on Oct. 2.
"It might be a while before I get back," he said.
Tucker is looking forward to the move, but he won't be doing any gambling.
"Oh, I did enough of that out in Vegas about 10 years back." He laughed. "I don't think I'll be placing any wagers."
However, he might be looking into branching out further with his Tim McGraw impersonation.
"There might be a musical in Hollywood," he said. "They're doing some casting for a Faith Hill, but I could be the lead."
As much as he's immersed himself in all things Tim McGraw, Tucker says he's never met the man.
"But you never know ... It could happen someday."
Reach Bill Lynch at ly...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5195.
