Tucker Beathard Turns Raw Emotion Into Honest Art With ‘Nobody’s Everything’

Tucker Beathard acknowledges he’s long harbored a tendency to write “middle finger songs.” But his debut double album Nobody’s Everything reflects Beathard’s evolution from an angsty teen to a matured artist who’s turned his complicated emotions into a strong work of art.

Beathard has faced a series of tribulations since the release of his debut hit “Rock On” in 2016. After years of being stuck in “lawyer land” as he refers to it, trying to get out of his contract with Big Machine Label Group, Beathard finally parted ways with the company in 2018. But his challenges began long before that, when he was sucked into the vortex of life on the road as a 19-year-old aspiring singer-songwriter.

Beathard channels the depression, angst and attitude he felt in those moments into Nobody’s Everything, an outlet that enabled him to release this pent up tension in the form of nine songs, giving him the creative liberation he was craving.

“I was pushed through a lot of new limits, a lot more extremes emotionally, and it matched perfectly with being put in a place to where there was no boundaries, no rules,” he says of making the album. “It was super easy for me to totally just get in that frame of mind and head space to channel the most vulnerable and authentic recording.”

In order to get to that vulnerability, Beathard had to reach his personal breaking point and find a breakthrough. He reached this point after enduring a tug-of-war with his former label over creative differences, and the breakthrough came when he recognized that the emotions he had been suppressing needed to come to the surface in order to make the music he was striving for. “You’re in that place to where you have to own those emotions. Instead of fighting them, you just kind of own them. That’s where a lot of walls got broken down for me to where you can’t lie to yourself anymore,” he explains. “There’s a lot of having to humble myself. There was no avoiding it.”

Nobody’s Everything keeps Beathard true to his word, letting his guard down with each track. “Somethin’ to Say” keeps his angsty teen spirit alive, while the raw “Leave Me Alone” proves his worth against those who see him as second best. But the album’s most striking moment comes with “This Life.” The dark track composed of a gritty guitar and Beathard’s rugged vocals portray a picture of the young singer experiencing sleepless nights as he travels from one unfamiliar town to another, surrounded by “free girls, free drinks.” The defining line “this life is gonna kill me somehow” is a genuine depiction of someone trapped in a world of temptation and dealing with the aftermath of giving in to them. “That was like my college experience, so in being open to all that and having that lifestyle, it’s hard to have self control,” he begins. “The whole sex, drugs and rock and roll thing, it kind of just left me feeling a lot more empty after years of realizing it. And then when other things in your life seem like they’re kind of falling apart or not making sense, you can’t hide that aspect as much, so it hurts a little more.”

All of these moments culminate on Nobody’s Everything, a project born from the soul of a self-proclaimed outlier who saw the importance in voicing his own emotions to establish a connection with those who identify similarly.

“I’ve always felt misunderstood to some extent. There’s nothing wrong with being who you are and if naturally people feel emotions that I have felt, if I’m watering that down, it’s less likely to be relatable for people. It’s not so much a middle finger attitude thing,” he says, “it’s just being authentic.”

Part one of Nobody’s Everything is available now.