w.h. WALKER
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Download the "Duds!" LP mp3s here!
BAND MEMBERS:
DEVIN-CLARK (GUITAR/VOCALS)
ALAN TORRES (DRUMS)
KERBY KRINKLES (GUITAR/VOCALS)
COLIN JARRELL (BASS)
WITH A FLATFOOT FEEL: WELCOME HOME WALKER REVISED (by Kristin McKenzie)
Who would have thought that a group of southern boys, now living in Portland, Oregon, would uncover the future of doo-wop boogie pop, lassoing the soul of 1950 and the hooks of 1970 and dragging those years through the dregs of punk into 2010? Guitarist/vocalist Devin Clark couldn't have known, when he left the inland comfort of the Colorado Rockies to follow his dreams up the old Oregon Trail to the green valley of the Willamette, what hardship and adventure waited just up the interstate.
With the help of Texas transplant and drummer Alan Torres, Clark formed bubblegum pop outfit The Soda Pop Kids in 2004. When The Kids stopped playing in 2007, Torres and Clark stayed together, securely bonded by their love for Phil Spector's harmonies and the influential songwriting of Manhattan's 1960s Brill Building scene. On the docks, where the boys spent their free time, writing ballads around the whistles of the tugboats, they met John Husband of From Ashes Rise, a Portland-native bassist with a mechanic's hands and a soldier's heart. A connection was made, and with a name inspired by a Sam Cooke song and a spirit forged from elements of America's heartland and her three coasts, Welcome Home Walker was born.
With Clark's guitar and the gritty vocal energy of a guy twice his size, Torres' colorful percussion, and Husband's solid bass lines, the trio released their first single, Don't Let Me Go, on Portland's Gone Home Records in May 2008.
With their innovative yet familiar sound - influenced by band heroes Smokey Robinson, Berry Gordy, and the Rubinoos - but personalized and reimagined, the boys soon moved from the docks to local bars, billiards halls, and basements. They released a second single, this time on their own label, Boogie Creek Records. Those two songs, a fiery cover of legendary Venice Beach busker Ted Hawkins' "Watch Your Step" and the original soul-ballad The Untold Death of Grady Jones, showcased the true versatility of WHW's throwback sound. Clark added fellow music school dropout and guitar master Kerby Krinkles to the lineup and the band toured the west coast in support of their single through fall of 2009.
Their newest single, "SUDS!" will kick-off the 8-song collection of singles that the boys will be peddling up and down the United States in September. The tune features the newest addition to the band, Colin Jarrell of The Nice Boys on bass. This Fall, their third single, a split 7" with the Clorox Girls, a Portland band who recently relocated to L. A., comes out on Hovercraft Records in Portland and Taken By Surprise Records in Germany. Then, the boys are back in the studio to record their long-awaited full length album, to be released in the U. S. and Japan.
While they hope to tour Europe next
summer, they haven't forgotten their roots. You can still find
them sweating it out in basements, dancing with their fans at
local bars, and making old men smile at the local Grange. They
are the bad news that is booming through the south side of town.
And above all, Welcome Home Walker will make you wish they were
the boys you wen t to Summer camp with.
BOOKING: welcomehomewalker@gmail.com
PUBLICITY: kaytea@xopublicity.com