Tuatara is a Seattle-based composers collective started by Barrett Martin of Screaming Trees, Justin Harwood of Luna, Peter Buck of REM, and the extraordinary saxophonist Skerik. The band formed in 1996 and expanded to include a 10 piece ensemble known for their cinematic compositions that conjured both jazz and world music styles.

Initially a strictly instrumental venture, Tuatara has become an alternative rock supergroup of sorts, composed of principle members Peter Buck and Scott McCaughey of REM, Barrett Martin of the Screaming Trees, bassist Kevin Hudson, horn players Dave Carter and Craig Flory, and percussionist Elizabeth Pupo-Walker, and have moved on to work with a number of reknowned guest singers, such as Mark Eitzel and John Wesley Harding on their more recent albums.