2008 MTF Founder's Feast

Clarksdale, Mississippi
October 17-18 2008

Walker began to explore music after his sister's boyfriend introduced him to Ike Turner. Walker has worked in the studio with several different musicians. He first started out as an engineer in the late 1950's but pursued farming, growing watermelon and cotton.Walker wouldn't return to a studio until the early 1990s, when he helped produce three compilation albums for Smokey Robinson & The Miracles and one for Marvin Gaye. Finally, in 1997, Walker released his first album, Promised Land, and followed it with two more records, 1998's Rompin' & Stompin' and 2001's Rock the Night. He is known in the blues music world due to his "rock 'n' roll showmanship" and "flamboyant Chuck Berry imitations." [2]

Robert Walker is a bluesman, he's a rocker, he sings country, he'll even throw in a bluegrass number just to see what happens. He dresses like Liberace, plays guitar like Chuck Berry, a major musical influence, and his flamboyant style has made him notorious. His stage performances are full of energy, he dances, prances, and revs up the audience. [3] Other artists who left their mark on him include Muddy Waters, Jimmy Reed and Little Walter. [4] Walker first developed his unique one-handed guitar style -- which he demonstrates a few minutes of at most of his shows -- while he was in Chicago, playing on Maxwell Street.

He's spent his time paying his dues. He played the clubs in Chicago, the jooks in Mississippi, and road houses up and down the "Blues Highway". Then he took his music to California and started all over again. He loved California so much that he finally moved there. He never forgets his roots though and every few months he packs up his retinue of friends, family, and musicians and makes the 2000 mile trip from California back to Mississippi. [3]

You always know when Robert Walker has arrived in town because it is guaranteed to be a traffic stopping entrance. Whether its an old grayhound bus he's revamped into a Walker mobile or a truck he's temporarily painted up to show who's on board it's guaranteed to be attention getting and as flamboyant as the man who drives her. [3]

Bilbo comes with a great Clarksdale blues band that also includes a couple extra vocalists. Bilbo mixes Muddy Waters with Chuck Berry with Sam Cooke... lots of Mississippi blues, some early rock, even sometimes a touch of early country... but it all comes out as juke joint blues... built for dancin' and having a great time!  (All this, plus a wig and a suit on a 71-year-old showman.) .... Roger Stole, Cat Head Delta Blues and Folk Art, Inc.  http://www.cathead.biz/ Roger books the entertainment for Ground Zero.

Listen to some Robert Walker music:

The MP3 below are music by Robert "Bilbo" Walker (Fedora Records, all rights reserved).  For promotional purposes only.

07 Why I Sing The Blues http://www.mctourer.com/rides/2008/FoundersFeast/07WhyISingTheBlues.mp3

12 Hold That Train, Conductor http://www.mctourer.com/rides/2008/FoundersFeast/12HoldThatTrainConductor.mp3

References:

1. http://www.answers.com/topic/robert-walker-blues-artist
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Walker_%28musician%29
3. http://deltaboogie.com/deltamusicians/walkerr/
4. http://www.bluesaccess.com/No_30/reviews/Walker.html