Payin' Dues - Wily Bo Walker

Wily Bo Walker never stops. He’s just released the third of a trilogy of albums released this year, part of a longterm plan to issue three albums a year for three years. He’s also at the helm of funk-blues band The Mescal Canyon Troubadours, and performs as a one-man blues show under the banner Some People Kill For Passion: Welcome To Voodooville.

Three albums a year for three years!

There’s method in my madness. I want to explore as many avenues of blues-infused music as I can and release albums sufficiently different, diverse and interesting while working within the genre.

Was there a brief behind new album Moon Over Indigo?

I wanted to capture cinematic stories told with passion and to work with wonderful blues players to try to create something that’s just a little bit different. I wanted to create this huge sound, much like the albums I grew up with in the early 70s, with horns, backing vocals, a full-on band.

You’re working with Danny Flam. How did you first meet?

We met online, chatting about how much we both loved live brass sections. I was chatting about the Muscle Shoals Horns and how cool they were and how I could hear my music driven by horns. He listened to my songs and music and could hear where I was wanting to take them. And that was that!

What are your first music memories?

Performing wise, my earliest memory is doing a church concert when I was about four and singing Sixteen Tons. I still include Sixteen Tons in my sets from time to time.

Cream played a big role in your musical evolution, didn’t they?

Cream said something to me, Jack Bruce especially, and I took up bass guitar to emulate him. Cream, of course, led me on to listen to anything connected to Clapton, and when the Derek And The Dominos album came out, I was blown away by Duane Allman’s work. And to this day, I’m still a huge fan of The Allman Brothers and all of their satellite bands.

Tell us about your one-man blues show: Welcome To Voodooville.

There is a trilogy of VoodooVille albums planned. The productions will be low-key, almost the opposite of the Moon Over Indigo sessions, and I’ll be working the songs, not only with my live band, but also taking the songs right back to guitar, stomp box and voice and gigging them.

Moon Over Indigo is out now via Mescal Canyon Records.