Hard Luck Café
TOBY WALKER
Wednesday, June 21st at 7:00 PM | An Open Mic Precedes the Concert
Members $20 | Public $25
Internationally and nationally acclaimed Toby Walker has been hailed as an
award-winning, roots music fingerstyle guitar virtuoso and songwriter who has
toured the US, the United Kingdom, Canada and Europe. Blending the styles of
blues, ragtime, country, bluegrass, old-time jazz and rock, Walker has
developed his own style and as such received numerous awards, including being
the 1st-place recipient of the International Blues Challenge Award in Memphis
and the NY Music Award for best instrumental CD. Walker has also been inducted
into the NY Blues Hall of Fame.
Walker is a nationally recognized guitar instructor, having
taught at Jorma Kaukonen’s Fur Peace Ranch, Woody Mann’s Guitar Seminars, The
Swanannoa Gathering, The New Jersey Big Guitar Camp and the Guitar Intensive in
Maine. Walker also has eight instructional DVD’s on Happy Traum’s Homespun
Music Instruction and has produced hundreds of instructional videos
for his own website.
Toby’s passion for blues, rags, folk, and other
traditional American music drove him to leave an apartment crammed full of
recordings, books and instruments for the Mississippi Delta, Virginia and the Carolinas, where
he tracked down some of the more obscure — but immensely talented — music
makers of an earlier era. He learned directly from Eugene Powell, James “Son” Thomas, Etta Baker, and R.L Burnside, among others.
“If he doesn’t get them with his phenomenal guitar
playing or catchy songs, he gets them with his wonderful stories. True entertainers
have an engaging spirit that puts a smile on your face. Arlo Guthrie has
it. David Bromberg has it. And so does Toby. “
– John Platt – WFUV
“Flat out… you have to hear this great musician… I’m
blown away.”
– Jorma Kaukonen of Hot Tuna and the
Jefferson Airplane
“A fingerpicking guitar virtuoso.”
– Happy Traum
