The MainstayBlues series of concerts continues with a visit from bluesman Toby Walker to the Mainstay in Rock Hall, MD on Saturday August 16 at 8:00 pm. Admission is $15.
Toby Walker has appeared several times at the Mainstay, each time to a wildly enthusiastic audience. He is an accomplished fingerstyle guitar virtuoso adept at blues, rags and hot country picking. He coaxes amazing drive and lightning runs out of a guitar but the originality doesn’t end there. What sets him apart from other guitar wizards are his warm, amusing songs and stories about the blues musicians – the creators, the legacy keepers and eventually the mentors that he tracked down in his travels throughout the rural South at the beginning of his career. He has a knack for improvisation, is a skilled singer and songwriter who draws on traditional and contemporary influences and is a masterful storyteller with a wicked sense of humor.
Walker grew up on Long Island and his love of the blues sent him on a multi-year pilgrimage to the Mississippi Delta, Virginia and the Carolinas where he located some of the more obscure – but immensely talented – music makers of an earlier era. He spent time and swapped tunes with these masters, learning at the feet of Eugene Powell, James “Son” Thomas, Etta Baker, and R.L Burnside, among others.
The talent, passion, and soul of a Toby Walker performance reflects these travels. In performance, he shares stories of his travels and of the people that have inspired his music. He has audiences hanging on every word when they are not laughing out loud as he talks about his travels, the history of the blues and the people for whom the blues was a way of life.
The love Walker has for his craft pushes him to share that history and experience. In addition to appearing on major festival stages, he has performed in libraries and schools allowing others to share the sounds, sights, and emotions of his craft. His teaching credits include, among others, Jorma Kaukonen’s Fur Peace Ranch in Ohio. Kaukonen, of the bands Hot Tuna and the Jefferson Airplane says “Flat out… you have to hear this great musician… I’m blown away”
In 2006, Carnegie Hall acknowledged his rare talents and hired him to augment and teach in their “American Roots” program aimed at honor level middle school students. This one-of-a-kind series demonstrated the history of blues music and traditions, while teaching the history of African Americans as they migrated from the south into the north.
His mastery of the blues was recognized in Memphis when he was the 1st place recipient of the International Blues Challenge Award given out by the Blues Foundation in Memphis TN. In 2010, Walker won the NY Music Award for ‘Best Instrumental CD,’ sharing the honors with Mariah Carey, Rufus Wainwright and Judy Collins among many others.
He has released two instructional guitar DVD’s for Homespun Tapes, both of which have been getting rave reviews. A recent CD, “Shake Shake Mama,” features Piedmont, Delta, Texas, Ragtime and Chicago styles played on a variety of rare, vintage guitars.
Recently inducted in the NY Blues Hall of Fame, his most recent recording is last year’s “What You See is What You Get.” which been hailed as a shining success as a traditional blues recording.
The Mainstay (Home of Musical Magic) is the friendly informal storefront performing arts center on Rock Hall’s old time Main Street. For information and reservations call 410-639-9133. Information is also available at the Mainstay’s website https://www.mainstayrockhall.org.
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