'It's a very moving thing:' Al Tuck reacts to tribute CD

Singer-songwriter Al Tuck says he was shocked to receive a certain surprise gift when he turned 50 in December.

It was a tribute CD that two friends of Tuck'sput together for the local musician at his birthday party.

"It was totally out of the blue and I just felt like my head was spinning around," Tuck told CBC's Mainstreet Thursday. "It was a real treat to take it home and listen to what all they'd done. A lot of work went into it, obviously."

The CD, titled Behind that Big Red Curtain, was a project of two friends, Andrew Murray and Adam Gallant.

Joining Tuck on Mainstreet:P.E.I., producer Gallant, of The Hill Sound Studio, says the pair started working on the project last summer. They emailed artists on P.E.I. and across Canada, asking them to contribute to the CD and giving them a list of songs Murray and Gallant wanted it to include.

"It was a resounding 'yes,'" Gallant said. "Everyone was very excited."

Meanwhile, he and Murray also gave the artists the opportunity to pick songs from Tuck's broader catalogue.

Gallant said local artists joined Murray in studio, where he accompanied them on the guitar.

Artists based elsewhere submitted songs.

"There's three great submissions on here," Gallant said.

These include a rendition of Only Just Rehearsing by Halifax's Tyler Messick, who Gallant says is a close friend of Tuck's.

"We kind of wanted to aim for artists who were close to Al at any point during his career," Gallant said. "I know Tyler and Al were close."

'It's a very moving thing'

Reflecting on the CD, Tuck joked that he was most impressed by "Adam's (Gallant) sheer professionalism," which made him and Gallant laugh.

"A lot of the versions are quite true to the original arrangements or the ones that I had on my recordings, so I thought that was pretty amazing," Tuck said. "But they were souped up a little bit in certain ways to make them even more catchy.

"I was just impressed by the amount of work that must have gone into it," he added. "It's a very moving thing."

Another tribute in the works

Last October, Tuck recorded a new album "very quickly."

He can't say for sure yet when it will be released, but says he thinks it will be out by the spring.

Coincidentally, it's also a tribute, but to fellow Island singer-songwriter Gene MacLellan and consists of 11 of the late artist's songs.

"So the tributes," Tuck said, "I'm giving as well as getting."