Jeremy Porter and The Tucos

2010: formation

Jeremy Porter & The Tucos were formed in the Detroit suburb of Plymouth, Michigan, in November 2010 by Jeremy Porter when he needed musicians to play on a Christmas song he had written for the annual Suburban Sprawl Music Christmas Compilation. Jeremy recruited drummer and multi-instrumentalist Gabriel Doman (The Hotwalls) and bassist Jason Bowes (The OffRamps, Fidrych, Culture Bandits) to round out the trio for the recording session. The lineup would remain intact for four years.

The band's name is based on the character Tuco Ramirez, played by actor Eli Wallach in The Good, The Bad & The Ugly and was an alternative to a suggestion by original bassist Jason Bowes, who proposed The Mortimers, after the Lee Van Cleef character when the band found that a punk band from Poland had already claimed it.

2011

In 2011, the band released their first single Night On The Town b/w Ain't My House Anymore on the Toronto, Ontario-based record label Magwheel Records and started playing regional shows across the upper-Midwestern United States. Their third show was a coveted support slot for Jesse Malin & The Saint Marks Social at Small's Bar in Hamtramck, Michigan. That same year they made their first appearance at the Hamtramck Blowout, now known as the Metro Times Blowout, a music festival featuring mostly Detroit-area bands, and crossed the border into Canada for their first shows in Toronto, Ontario, Montreal, Quebec, and Wakefield, Quebec. The Canadian shows and a previous run of Midwestern USA shows were a double-bill with Toronto/Newfoundland singer-songwriter David Picco (Jetset Motel).

2012

2012 saw an increase in activity for the band. They released the live-acoustic ep Live and Acoustic @ The Plymouth Coffee Bean in August, featuring "unplugged" versions of five songs, including "Way It's Been" by David Picco and "My Uncle" by The Flying Burrito Brothers as well as three Porter originals.

2013: Partner In Crime

In March 2013 the band released their first full-length LP Partner In Crime on the Detroit-based New Fortune Records. After the release of the album, the band toured more consistently and appeared in bars, clubs, theaters and festivals across the United States, including The CMA Music Festival in Nashville, Tennessee, the Bearded Lady Motorcycle Freakshow in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the Common Ground Music Festival in Lansing, Michigan. In November 2013 the band embarked on their longest tour to date, playing up and down the East Coast of the United States, hitting most of the major cities including Brooklyn, New York, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Boston, Massachusetts, and Washington D.C.

2014

2014 saw the departure of original bassist Jason Bowes and the arrival of Patrick O'Harris (Mike Hard Show, Sons of the Gun). O'Harris quickly garnered the nickname "Patty 'Two Shoes'" for the white leather leisure shoes he wears at the band's performances. The band toured the western and southern United States with the Lexington, Kentucky, rock band Those Crosstown Rivals, playing as far west as Denver, Colorado, with the punk band King Rat, and as far south as Houston, Texas, and New Orleans, Louisiana. 2014 also saw the band increase their footprint in the Detroit area with high-profile support slots for bigger-name touring acts like Lydia Loveless, Lee Bains III and The Glory Fires, Two Cow Garage, Supersuckers, and Old Man Markley, and the record release show for ex-Junk Monkey David Bierman.

2015: Above the Sweet Tea Line

in 2015 the band released the follow-up to Partner In Crime, Above The Sweet Tea Line, on New Fortune Records. The title is a reference to a saying by J. Tyler Gregg of Those Crosstown Rivals who refers to "the sweet tea line" as the divide between the Northern and Southern United States where iced tea comes sweetened by default (South), rather than by request (North). The album was received well by national press and the band continued their aggressive touring schedule throughout the year, including a return appearance at the CMA Music Festival in Nashville and their first appearance at the Detroit Riverdays Festival. The "Above (And Below) The Sweet Tea Line Tour" took them to several new markets, including Chapel Hill, Asheville and Charlotte, North Carolina, Athens, Georgia, Jacksonville, Florida, and Knoxville, Tennessee, among others, as well.

2016: present day

2016 started with the band contributing their song 'Pretty As You Please" to the Slimtown Singles series of songs donated to benefit Slim Dunlap, the gutarist from The Replacements who had suffered a major stroke in 2012. In March 2016, Jeremy Porter & The Tucos were officially nominated for the category "Outstanding Alt/Punk/Indie Artist/Group" at the Detroit Music Awards.

In May, the band continued the "Above (And Below) The Sweet Tea Line Tour" with shows in new markets in upstate New York, the Midwest, and their first Canadian shows since 2014. They recorded a Daytrotter Session in June, and On July 1st, they released a new 7" single on New Fortune Records, 'Barrel of Tears,' featuring a cover of the song Blue Letter by Fleetwood Mac on the B-side. The download that accompanies the single includes a bonus track called 'Cemetery Road,' a fictional homage to Columbus, OH.

The Tucos toured the Northeast in October, hitting several new cities including Burlington, VT, Ithaca, NY, Providence, RI and Charleston, WV as well as several others. Also in October, their second 7" of the year 'Avenues Are For Heroes' was released as a limited edition, hand-cut, antique-lathe pressed clear-vinyl record by LEESTA VALL Records out of Brooklyn, NY.

In November, the band's Daytrotter session was released to the public. Recorded in May in Rock Island, IL between tour dates in Iowa City, IA and Lafayette, IN, the session contained 4 songs and was recorded live to 2-track tape.

Current members

Former members

Albums

EPs

7" Singles

Compilations