MUSIC

McGonigel's Mucky Duck presents Seth Walker. 

"The first time I heard Seth Walker at a small club in Nashville I was impressed like I haven't been impressed in 30 years, with performance, presence, and great songs." - Delbert McClinton

It would seem to those previously unfamiliar with Seth Walker that he emerged practically overnight as one of the fastest rising stars in blues and roots music. Prior to his recent move to Nashville, the 37-year old singer and guitarist hung his hat in Austin for 15 years and has been fine-tuning his songwriting and soulful croon since his late teens.

"Austin has the country's best live-music scene — a lot more venues and a lot more people who come out and support it," Seth explains. "It's its own little world with its own life support system, and it allowed me to learn my craft. That laid-back, show-up-at-the-gig-two-minutes-before-the-show approach is part of Austin's charm. But the Nashville work ethic is something that inspires me. The level of musicianship is very high, because if you don't get it together there's a guy next door who's going to take your gig. This is my career, and here I can treat it like that."

Growing up on a commune in rural North Carolina, the son of classically trained musicians, Seth played cello before discovering the guitar. His introduction to the blues came via his Uncle Landon Walker who was both a musician and disc jockey. Before long Seth was looking to artists like T-Bone Walker, Snooks Eaglin, and B.B. King as a wellspring of endless inspiration. He released five albums between 1997 and 2007; his eponymously titled recording debut for Hyena Records broke into the Top 20 of the Americana charts and received praise from No Depression and Blues Revue, among others.