Joey Stuckey has an established 20-year career in the music industry. He is a producer, educator, sound engineer, journalist, recording artist, and media personality. His hometown of Macon, GA even awarded him the prestigious title of "Official Music Ambassador." Joey studied music business .and music composition at Mercer University and Berklee College of Music, arrangement with internationally acclaimed jazz composer, David Berger, and guitar with American Jazz Legend, Stanley Jordan. Today, Joey is Professor Music Technology Mercer University. Joey is a blind brain tumor survivor with a passion for making music and music technology accessible to all. He has worked with such renowned artists as James Brown, Trisha Yearwood, Ted Nugent, Bad Company, Smash Mouth, Mike Mills (REM), Alan Parsons, Ross Hogarth, Ryo Okumoto, Nick D’Virgilio, the B52s, Randall Bramblett, Paul McGuinness, Jimmy Herring, Jimmy Hall, Allen Vizzutti, Shannon Forrest, Mark Hornsby, Sammy Nestico, David Berger, Stanley Jordan, Billy Duff, Danny Seraphin, Kevin Kenney, Lee Brice, and many more.
Off his latest album In the Shadow of the Sun , the song “Aint’ It Good To Be In Love” will make you a fan. “Ain’t It Good To Be In Love” was originally written with Joey’s close friend Charlie Hoskyns of The Popes. Charlie passed away in late 2017. The recording of the song pays tribute to Charlie. Nestor Jaenz, the bass player on the recording, directs the Howard Middle School Choir who sang on the recording along with horn player Al Chez from Tower of Power.
“Ain’t It Good to Be In Love” gets you hooked from the start. It opens with a well-conceived, accented and syncopated guitar riff, along with smooth bass, to create a very nice, upbeat groove that's easy to get into. The drums come in adding to the rockin' funky flavor with a nice light touch. Joey enters on the first verse with a vocal performance that is one of his very best. His singing is filled with charisma and nicely forward in the mix. He sounds exuberant. You can hear that a lot of love went into this track.
The chorus showcases old-school harmonies that makes it completely contagious. Joey sings the pre-chorus, “There ain’t nothing’ we can’t figure out. When I’m holding her darlin’ there’s no doubt I can see this, I can see this lasting forever. Yeah!" which builds to the extremely cathcy chorus, "Sing, Sha La La, Ain’t it good to be in love? Sing, Sha La La, Sing, Sha la, la. Ain’t it good to be in love? Sing, Sha La, la. “ The vibe is uplifitng and overflowing with positivity. Tight horn solos by Al Chez are simply perfect. Chez is a master and his solo work will completely blow you away. The song has a wonderfully crafted chorus sung by Howard Middle School students along with a clapping section that invites everyone to join in. It would literally be impossible not to smile and get up and dance to this song.
Here's another song from the album, titled "You're So Wrong"
Joey Stuckey and Charlie Hoskyns song “Ain’t It Good To Be In Love” will fill your soul with warmth and good vibes. The hook will stick with you for a long time and put a bounce in your step the whole day. For more treasures by Joey Stuckey Trio, please visit their website.