Seth Walker is often cited as one of the most prolific Americana artists on the scene today. He’s a multi-dimensional talent who combines a gift for melody and lyric alongside a rich, Gospel-drenched, Southern-inflected voice with a true blue knack for getting around on the guitar. His latest studio album, I Hope I Know, produced by Jano Rix of The Wood Brothers, and a series of singles entitled Blueprints featuring renditions of songs by Al Green, James Taylor, Bobby Charles and more, further build upon this reputation.
Walker also added published author to his oeuvre with his first memoir, ‘Your Van Is On Fire.’ A riotous and charming melange of a touring musician’s life, the book is comprised of many short essays, poems and paintings he’d accumulated over a near 30-year career. Written during the pandemic lockdown, Walker offers a first hand account of an artist in perpetual motion who’s dedicated his life to chasing the muse wherever it may lead.
Growing up on a commune in rural North Carolina, the son of classically trained musicians, Seth Walker played cello long before discovering the guitar in his 20s. When his introduction to the blues came via his Uncle Landon Walker, who was both a musician and disc jockey, his fate was forever sealed. Instantaneously, Seth was looking to artists like T-Bone Walker, Snooks Eaglin, and B.B. King as a wellspring of endless inspiration.
The rest is history. He’s released ten albums, broken into the Top 20 of the Americana Radio Charts, reached No. 2 on the Billboard Blues Album Chart and received praise from NPR, American Songwriter, No Depression and Relix, among others.
Alongside his extensive songwriting and recording pursuits, Seth is consistently touring and performing at venues and festivals around the world. Along with headline shows, he has been invited to open for The Mavericks, Marc Broussard, The Wood Brothers, Raul Malo, Paul Thorn and Ruthie Foster, among others. Seth Walker is currently based in Asheville, NC after previously residing in Austin, New Orleans, and Nashville. He’s used those experiences wisely, soaking up the sounds and absorbing the musical lineage of these varied places. With a bluesman’s respect for roots and tradition, coupled with an appreciation for—and successful melding of—contemporary songwriting, Seth sublimely incorporates a range of styles with warmth and grace. Perhaps Country Standard Time said it best: “If you subscribe to the Big Tent theory of Americana, then Seth Walker –with his blend of blues, gospel, pop, R&B, rock, and a dash country—just might be your poster boy.”
“…an accomplished guitarist and an even better singer, distilling the soul of Ray Charles, the Southern boy roots charm of Delbert McClinton, and an uptown blues turn of phrase (à la Percy Mayfield) into his own distinct voice”
– The Vinyl District
“Walker’s brilliantly nuanced vocals are as natural, clear, sharp, and as effortlessly elegant as his guitar playing”
– All Music
“It’s a welcome thing that Seth Walker’s chosen to pitch his tent in Americana…Walker has a way with smooth and swinging phrasing and makes classically accessible up-front pleas”
– Nashville Scene