On the road with TAUK

The up and coming rock-fusion group TAUK is gaining popularity across the country, and there are no signs of slowing down for the four musicians.

Their latest tour with popular jam band Umphrey’s McGee has given TAUK unbelievable exposure in markets that have never had the chance to experience TAUK’s sound.

The two bands recently finished a tour that started in Bellingham, Washington, and ended in Los Angeles, marking TAUK’s first appearance on the West Coast. “Our music is a little different than the typical West Coast vibe, and we’re really excited to have such a positive response up and down the coast,” TAUK keyboardist Alric “AC” Carter said.

But TAUK is also excited to be back in the Southeast for their two-night performance at The Ritz in Raleigh this weekend (tickets can be found here). “The Southeast is one of the first regions of the country to really catch onto our sound and really support us,” AC said. “So we’re looking forward to getting back down there.”

When bands tour for weeks on end, it’s important to keep things interesting and fresh. TAUK does so with frequent badminton games, documented on the band’s Instagram. “We’re competitive,” AC said. “It doesn’t make a difference whether its laser tag Mario Kart, badminton, whatever it is, we’ll challenge anybody as long as we can have fun.”

TAUK makes sure to keep their music fresh while they’re touring as well. “We have to keep changing it up,” AC said. “We want to make sure there are places in our songs and in our material where we’ve got room to jam, room to take risks, making sure you’re not being complacent.”

In fact, TAUK and Umphrey’s have included a few special “TAUKing McGee” sets throughout their tour. “Each player responds differently from each other,” AC said. “Umph brings a different flavor, and adding them in the band as well just makes things different. It’s fun to explore those energies with capable musicians like the guys from Umphrey’s.”

For a band that has played over 350 shows in the last two years, a studio album seems ambitious. Nevertheless, TAUK aims to release their fourth studio album in August. To make this possible, the band spent the summer flying home between festivals to rehearse, and fully took November, December and January to focus on the album, something they weren’t able to do with past records. “It was nice that we could sit back and focus with this record and really take time and get under the microscope and figure out how to make each song unique and shine and stand on its own,” AC said.

TAUK fans can expect this album to encompass and combine all aspects of their past albums, plus some new elements and sounds that the band has acquired as they’ve matured as a band.

“Our first album is a little bit more technical, and then Homunculus is more composition-based ,” AC said. “[With] Collisions we incorporate a lot more of what we do live. I think that this new record is a combination of all three albums – technical approach, the composition and the live.”

TAUK has plans to support this album with a headlining tour that includes the West Coast. In addition to their tour with Umphrey’s, which officially ends in Dallas on April 23, they’re just starting an 11-show run in 12 days.

Check out TAUK’s website and Instagram for upcoming show dates and updates on their tour.

Written by Anna Norwood