“Yeah, I was born in the Echuca Hospital!” He declares proudly, from the road north out of Melbourne to his home town.
“I’ve got a lot of family up there, both my parents’ parents are up there,” he continues. “I just had an upbringing that was immersed in music and being outdoors. We lived just on the edge of town, my parents’ property backed onto the bushland, so me and my brother and our mates would head out into the bush and make bike jumps, and muck around with our pushbikes and stuff. A lot of fishing, making fires and all this sort of thing, all the things that country kids do.
“There’s just this draw to being in touch with the environment around you… especially after I’ve been away for a while, when I get back home I just want to head out to the river.”
But, as an in-demand musician and songwriter, duty and the road always calls and the man has an extremely busy time coming up in the months ahead – including a high profile appearance at the Australian Worldwide Music Expo (AWME) in mid-November, where he plays a show with no less than Pete Murray.
“Yeah, very excited mate!” he enthuses. “I’m obviously pretty happy about opening for Pete Murray. Before I started doing this full time, I was working a full time job, I was listening to a lot of Pete’s music, he was an influence on me early on. To be lucky enough to share the same stage with him is a bit of a thrill for me. You jump at opportunities like this!” he smiles.
In fact, his October and November are ridiculously busy, with a brand new single being released and a lengthy tour, including dates in Melbourne and quite a number of shows across regional Victoria.
“I’ve got the new single Will There Be a Light coming out on Monday October 20,” he reveals. “Then that weekend, the 24th and 25th, I’m opening for Tex Perkins and The Dark Horses. Then the Bendigo Blues and Roots Festival in early November, and then of course AWME the week after.”
Walker feels very much at home playing to people in regional areas, being such a country boy himself. And the people in those areas appreciate his efforts in playing in their towns. “Yeah, it’s really enjoyable to play regional areas,” he opines. “I’m obviously really comfortable in a regional setting I guess, but for me it’s like, there’s so many little pockets like that around the country; cool little places that you can go and play.
“And it goes both ways, they’re appreciative to get live music, and I’m appreciative to get a crowd in a town that I’m not from. Go and perform, and make my living that way.”
And a new single soon to be released means a brand new album is to follow shortly thereafter, with accompanying touring both nationally and internationally. “Yeah there’s a new album on the way,” he states. “That should be out, hopefully, very early March. We’re aiming for the long weekend in March. It’s a new nine-track album, and it’s going to be called Through the Forest.
“After a new release, I love hitting the road, and getting out and playing the new material, and getting around and doing as much of the country as I can. I usually do a full national tour. And then later in the year I’ll be heading to Canada.”
BY ROD WHITFIELD
