Van Walker — melbourne gigs, music & artist profile

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no melbourne dates announced right now.

who are they, then

There are 2 recording artists by the name of Van Walker: (1) Born and raised on the windswept prairies of North-West coast Tasmania, between lashings of hallucinogenic cheese and Magic Johnson, weened on William Blake and Ribald magazine, Van first heard the music of Bob Dylan around adolescence and began picking guitar and writing songs. Some hundreds of songs later and a hell-bent pick, he moved to Melbourne to form the rock’n’roll outfit The Swedish Magazines, and pick his unique hillbilly stuff on the side. Finally getting himself acquainted with the patience of a sozzled saint, an album of fifteen original songs was recorded - The Celestial Railroad (August 2008), and now, quicker than a rat up a drainpipe, another, The Last Record Store (August 2009), has been released.

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And just when you thought Van might take a bit of time off to relax and recharge, not even a whirlwind European tour could get in the way of the release of his third album, Greetings From Penguin Tasmania (December 2009). Not content with resting on his laurels, Van followed his first three records up with Love Fate (March 2010), and (making it a prolific five albums in exactly two years) Bush League Bard (August 2010). Van writes sterling songs varying from tales of paranoid spies and love-sick rabbits, to urban bandits and tram-hopping adventures. He is a young singer-songwriter of the old school, whose songs draw you into the heart of the matter, evoking a middle-ground between a gritty moral dernity and the mythical netherworld of the spirit. Van's all-star band features brother Cal Walker on guitar, mandolin, harmonica and backing vocals, Zane Lynd on bass, Chris Altmann on pedal steel, Greg Field, Jeb Cardwell, Johnno Wilson and Matt Green. (2) A 1950s blues artist most known for his song, "the Crawl".

artist background · via last.fm