By Vanesa Brashier
After seeing the lip sync challenges being performed by Texas law enforcement agencies and posted on social media, a Liberty County lawman has raised the bar by actually singing in a video and enlisting the help of a Nashville recording artist.
John Tucker, a deputy constable with Liberty County Pct. 2 and resident of Devers, Texas, said when he saw the lip sync challenge online, he thought to himself, “I have to do this John Tucker style.”
He picked up the phone and called country singer Matt Kennon in Nashville. The two became acquainted a few months back after Tucker performed one of Kennon’s songs on Smule, a phone app that allows people to do karaoke performances that can be posted online.
“I did a song of Matt’s and posted it online. Somehow or another, he found it and posted it to his personal Facebook page. We’ve been friends since then,” Tucker said. “So, when I saw the lip sync challenge going down, I called Matt to see if I could use his song ‘The Call’ for my challenge. I asked him to join me and said, ‘Let’s blow this thing away.’”
Kennon needed no convincing, Tucker said.
“Matt is very supportive of law enforcement,” the deputy said. “He’s always backed police and firefighters.”
The two friends arranged to log onto Smule at the same time, when Tucker was off-duty, and perform a duet, with each one singing a solo verse.
“We did one take. He grabbed it with me on the first run and there it went,” Tucker said. “I never thought it would have the response that it has gotten.”
Since first posting the video, it has gone viral, with more than 300,000 views as of July 18.
“The Call,” a song written by Matt Kennon, Jeremy Campbell and Noah Gordon, talks about how one phone call can often alter the course of a person’s life. The song starts with a man contemplating suicide until he gets a call from a friend, continues with a young girl considering an abortion until her boyfriend changes her mind, and ends by encouraging people to “make that call” to a friend who is weighing on their mind.
As a law enforcement officer, Tucker has seen first-hand how one person’s actions can change the course of another person’s life.
“One phone call at the right time can save a life. I wanted to sing a song that had heart, something with emotion and powerful,” he said.
The Smule recording is not the first for Tucker, who records songs nearly every day before or after his shift at the constable’s office.
“I love to sing. It’s how I deal with the ghosts that we deal with in law enforcement,” he said. “Some people drink, but I don’t drink. My passion, my getaway, is singing. I just go home and sing.”
Tucker is relatively new to singing. It’s a hobby he picked up as an adult in 2004 at the age of 24.
“I was going through a rough patch. I was going through a divorce and coming home to stare at four walls,” he said. “So, I picked up a guitar and learned to play a little music. I belted out a song one day and fell in love with singing.”
His career in law enforcement also came a bit later in life, just three years ago, after a 16-year career in oil and gas. When the oil fields suffered a brief recession a couple of years ago, Tucker says he went home one day and told his wife, Tiffany, he wanted to pursue a law enforcement career.
“She was wholeheartedly in support of it. I signed up for the police academy and haven’t looked back yet,” he said.
His first job in law enforcement was for the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office under Sheriff Bobby Rader. Two months ago, he transitioned to the Liberty County Pct. 2 Constable’s Office with Constable Les Hulsey.
Tucker is enjoying the feedback he is receiving about his performance through social media but says people shouldn’t expect him to make another career change.
“I was one of those people who had a dream as a kid of being a police officer. This has always been my dream job,” he said.
To see Tucker and Kennon’s performance, go online to https://www.facebook.com/jts.honeybees/videos/2122305834708062/