Track was written by Tucker & Brandi Carlile
Legendary country artist Tanya Tucker has shared a new single, “Ready As I’ll Never Be,” via Fantasy Records, marking her first original music since the release of Tucker’s 2019’s acclaimed, 2X Grammy-winning album, While I’m Livin’. The poignant and moving track, written by Tucker and Brandi Carlile, serves as the end-title of the new documentary The Return of Tanya Tucker – Featuring Brandi Carlile, which opens today (Fri, Oct 21st) in New York and Los Angeles via Sony Pictures Classics.
Produced by Brandi Carlile and Shooter Jennings and mixed by Trina Shoemaker, the deeply moving “Ready As I’ll Never Be,” is a powerful reflection of gratitude and regret — with key contributions from Tucker on vocals, Carlile on piano and background vocals, Phil Hanseroth on bass and background vocals, Tim Hanseroth on background vocals, John Schreffler, Jr. on pedal steel, and Matt Chamberlain on drums and percussion.
Nominated earlier this week for a Critics Choice Documentary Award for Best Music Documentary, the film is also on the DOC NYC Shortlist and featured on the Savannah Film Festival Doc to Watch Panel. In addition, it has played to rapt festival audiences at the Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, SXSW Film Festival, and the Nashville Film Festival, among others. Taking stock of the past while remaining vitally alive in the present and keeping an eye on the future, The Return of Tanya Tucker is a rousing exploration of an unexpected friendship built on the joy of a perfectly timed creative collaboration.
Opening nationwide on November 4th, the feature-length film, directed by Kathlyn Horan, follows Tucker’s richly creative, utterly captivating, bumpy ride back to the top as Carlile encourages her to push past her fears to create a new sound and reach a new audience. The writing, the experimenting, and refining of this new music mixes with all that came before – using rare archival footage and photographs to delve into Tucker’s history, beginning in a single wide trailer in Seminole, Texas.
