Blues guitar virtuoso Toby Walker brings his lightning guitar runs, his humorous stories and a photo slideshow, “How I Got the Blues” to The Mainstay in Rock Hall, MD on Saturday February 27 at 8:00 p.m. Admission is $20. For information and reservations call 410-639-9133. Information is also available at the Mainstay’s website https://www.mainstayrockhall.org.
Toby Walker is a fingerstyle guitar virtuoso, especially adept at blues, rags and hot country picking. He is also a skilled singer and songwriter whose contemporary songs draw inspiration from traditional music which he learned directly from traditional blues masters. He has appeared several times at the Mainstay, each time to a wildly enthusiastic audience dazzled by his guitar and mesmerized by his storytelling and his 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.
Walker has turned that journey into a multi-media show, “How I Got the Blues.” Through humorous stories and soul-stirring songs accompanied by a slideshow, he escorts you through the Deep South, where he learned songs and licks from the old time musicians who laid the foundation for the blues as we know it today.
You’ll meet Etta Baker, who at 80 years of age not only was still a master of fingerpicking guitar but had just finished shingling the roof of her house. And then there is 68-year-old James “Son” Thomas, who, despite a recent gunshot wound, was entertaining two girlfriends, both less than half his age. They are just two of the musicians who Walker tracked down, learned from, was inspired by and now brings to life in this show as he talks about he talks about his travels, the history of the blues and the people for whom the blues was a way of life.
Throughout the evening, Walker will use a variety of instruments, including a one string diddley bow, National Steel guitars, harmonicas and a cigar box guitar.
Also expect some tunes from Walker’s new recording “Mileage.” Just released, it features traditional blues, country, bluegrass, and swing music. There are some originals as well as tunes from Muddy Waters, Fats Waller, Buddy Guy, Lemon Jefferson, and the Mississippi Sheiks.
The love Walker has for the blues pushes him to share that history, experience and knowledge. In addition to appearing on major festival stages, concert halls, and coffeehouses throughout the U.S., England and Europe he has performed in libraries and schools and other educational settings. His multiple instructional videos with Homespun are amongst their top sellers and he is an instructor at Swannanoa’s Guitar Week and Jorma Kaukonen’s (Hot Tuna, Jefferson Airplane) Fur Peace Ranch.
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.
Walker’s mastery of the blues was recognized in Memphis when he was the first place recipient of the International Blues Challenge Award given out by the Blues Foundation in Memphis TN. In 2010, he won the NY Music Award for ‘Best Instrumental CD,’ sharing the honors with Mariah Carey, Rufus Wainwright and Judy Collins. He was inducted into the NY Blues Hall of Fame in 2014 and he received the 2015 Long Island Sound Award from the Long Island Music Hall of Fame.
The Mainstay (Home of Musical Magic) is the friendly informal storefront performing arts center on Rock Hall’s old time Main Street.
Write a Letter to the Editor on this Article
We encourage readers to offer their point of view on this article by submitting the following form. Editing is sometimes necessary and is done at the discretion of the editorial staff.