WOMAD

The Walkabouts

From United States

Biography provided by artist management, April 2002:The Walkabouts have developed their vision of a touching, deeply humane music beyond any American superficiality. Music for and about the people. Music from their american tradition's context. Music that, in its early days, combined the affinity to life and power of observation of the hobos and balladeers, of the gospel and folk singers, of the ancient american songwriters with the raw power of British punk.When Chris Eckman and Carla Torgerson first met in 1983, they formed exactly these two antagonists: Eckman with his electric guitar, playing Buzzcocks songs, Torgerson on the acoustic with her folk influences. Throughout their band history, this contrast has always formed a huge part of the Walkabouts' uniqueness, although their range of musical expression has steadily grown over the years. The Walkabouts are now far from being the so-called 'folkrockers' of those early times."See Beautiful Rattlesnake Gardens" was enthusiastically received by the press despite its minor insufficiencies in sound. The band did not at all seem to fit into what was reigning their hometown Seattle's music scene at that time. Garage punk, metal and american provincialism had just born a bastard called "Grunge" that had chosen the small musician's label Sub Pop as its homebase. And all of a sudden, the Walkabouts were amongst it, being signed by Sub Pop as the first "non-grunge-band". Sub Pop addicts did not believe their ears.Between 1989 and 1991 the Walkabouts (featuring - among Chris Eckman and Carla Torgerson - Grant Eckman on drums, Michael Wells on bass and Glenn Slater on keyboards) released their albums "Cataract" and "Scavenger" as well as the EP "Rag And Bone" on Sub Pop ("Rag And Bone" and "Cataract" now being available on one long-playing CD). They toured extensively, e.g. with Camper Van Beethoven and the Verlaines before leaving Sub Pop in 1992 by mutual agreement - at least they left Sub Pop's Seattle headquarters because Sub Pop Europe (at that time practically identical with Glitterhouse Records) immediately took over and released the next Walkabouts' albums until their farewell for Virgin in 1994. "New West Motel" (1993), "Satisfied Mind" (1993), "Setting The Woods On Fire" (1994), the live mailorder release "To Hell And Back" (1994) as well as the band's farewell present to their label, a compilation titled "Death Valley Days - Lost Songs And Rarities, 1985 - 1995" took the Walkabouts to one of the European Independent market's top positions.Their songwriting skills, with stylistic features of their own from the right beginning, had developed step by step during those years. While "New West Motel" showed up with whirling guitar sounds and songs in e.g. Neil Young's tradition, "Satisfied Mind" of the same year uncovered the Walkabouts' other side: favourite cover versions, mainly performed with acoustic instruments and polished to shining jewels with the help of numerous musical friends. "Setting The Woods On Fire", however, already indicated the band's abilities for future achievements in pop music enterprises: dark, mournful ballads vary with intrusive uptempo songs, prescribing their development from indie-folk to melancholic urban pop music. The more the Walkabouts found themselves dealing with international items, the more their songs changed into urban hymns of twilight reflected by pavements wet with rain. Their melancholic sense of reality led the band into consistent seriousness and depth. "Devil's Road" as well as "Nighttown" touched with their chamber-musical character and their ingeniously arranged strings. The co-operation with Warsaw Philharmonics on "Devil's Road" made a great stir and the following live performances featuring this orchestra had something of a triumphal procession. "Nighttown" refined this newly developed tendency in their music to the point and thus prepared grounds for "Trail Of Stars", their return to Glitterhouse Records. “Train Leaves AtEight” followed, a collection of coverversions of European songs. Not unlike “Satisfied Mind”, it showed the Walkabouts’ ability to create something new and unique with other people’s songs, too.On “Ended Up A Stranger” the Walkabouts present themselves in a more reduced way than ever. At the same time they are more diverse than ever. A fascinating pursuit of consecutive development as "Ended Up A Stranger" lets the songs breathe deeper and more impressive. This album carries the band's expressive abilities in every single note and controls a piece of spartanic, air-giving piece of music in the best of meanings. As music's true art is omission you can breathtakingly well observe the Walkabouts precisely employing their means for the sake of the song. Everything is a little better, a little more surprising. Eckman's as well as Torgerson's voices sound more immediate than ever; Terri Moeller's drums accentuate in an almost jazzy way; Glenn Slater´s (with the bands since the beginning) electronic bits fit in harmonically. And new bassman Joe Skyward lets his rhythmic skills support the songs to a sensitive maximum. Everything shines forth in splendour, and there are nice little things to discover in some of those formerly unlighted corners.A brilliant sorting of those things did Phill Brown who recorded and co-produced the album. His talent for warm, roomy and yet light arrangements that carry their secrets in each note played and not played has been profoundly given evidence of on the last two Talk Talk albums ("Spirit Of Eden" and "Laughing Stock"), in his work with Mark Hollis, Kristin Hersh, and The Walkabouts’ own “Trail Of Stars”.“Ended Up A Stranger” is a milestone of a band's development, a band that has exemplarily shaped their way and their nature. 100% Walkabouts.Chris Eckman in his own words:"And though the sky is what I wish I saw, I'll settle for your memory"---More Heat Than LightThis album is not a concept album. While the last few recordings we have done, have revolved around a central searchlight, this one does not. It seems more like memory itself, layered and fragmented, sliding slowly from one sensation to another. It is an album made out of pieces of conversations half-remembered, towns forgiven and tears forgotten, blurry polaroid pictures of old friends, and soundtracks found waiting along a curve in the road.It is an eclectic collection of songs. That was purposeful. Many albums these days seem as though they are the same song rehashed over and over, the same micro-sound experiment, spit out into ten interchangeable pieces. Recent musical fashion has not been kind to eclecticism. In the past, that wasn't so much the case. Most of the albums we loved when were growing up, shot out in many different directions. You didn't always know what was coming next. In this respect, maybe "Ended Up A Stranger" is a bit nostalgic.Such an effect does not have to be haphazard. A collection of songs can be a zig zag, bending and turning, while remaining part of an unbroken line. Memories are like that also, distinct in their voices but still somehow chained to each other.We recorded the album in Seattle during April and May of this year. The basic sessions were co-produced by the band and Larry Crane, the splendid engineer who was responsible for recent recordings by the Go-Betweens, Sleater-Kinney and Quasi. After these first two weeks, we took the album back to our home studios for a month, where we did most of the overdubbing. In the end, our collaborator from "Trail Of Stars," Phill Brown, came to Seattle for the mix. Phill is a bit of a legend, and has been involved in projects with Roxy Music, Talk Talk (the late period), Led Zeppelin, Kristen Hersh, Midnight Choir and countless others.When we made this album, we tried to keep things moving. We didn't always worry about rounding things off. Even in the slow songs, we tried to keep sparks of energy. Spontaneity played a big role. Nothing arrived fully formed, and we spent a lot of time experimenting with textures and nuances, often finding ourselves at the end of blind alleys. But the rule was not to over think things. I guess we trusted we would eventually find our way back to something that we liked.We tried to bring each song to an individual conclusion, not worrying so much about uniformity and consistency of style. Style is strange. What starts out as a freedom, often ends up as a prison.Part of the album's reach, definitely comes from the fact that the songwriting effort was more spread out this time. In addition to the songs that I wrote, Glenn composed the two instrumental pieces ("Mary Edwards" and "Incidento") and Carla wrote the music for one song ("More Heat Than Light") and co-wrote the words for two songs ("More Heat Than Light" and "Lest We Forget").Terri Moeller, our longtime drummer, rejoined the band for this project. Joe Skyward, a veteran of the "Train Leaves At Eight" sessions, played bass. The combination felt like a good match of new energy and shared experience.Many other musicians contributed to this recording (including a string quartet and a brass section). Anne Marie Ruljancich played violin and sang. Kevin Suggs played pedal steel guitar. Mary Lorson (Saint Low, Madder Rose) played piano and sang. Brian Young (Posies, Fountains Of Wayne) played percussion. David Michael Curry and Paul Austin (Willard Grant Conspiracy) contributed viola and baritone guitar respectively. Matt Cameron, the drummer from Pearl Jam, played Moog synthesizer. Glenn's 11 year-old daughter Fern even played keyboards on her father's instrumental, "Incidento." I think this alone says something about the spirit of the sessions.Possibly I should comment on the title of the album. "Ended Up A Stranger" could refer to the loss of heart and home, and the confusion that memory lays upon us. A day may come, when you no longer recognize the dream that is yourself. But there is also another possible meaning to the title. Not all loss is tragic. In terms of The Walkabouts music, after so many years of being a band, we have indeed become strangers to many of the musical places and ideas we started with.That is fine. It was an adventure and privilege to make this album, and we are intrigued by the new place we find ourselves.---Chris Eckman, Ljubljana, August 2001The Walkabouts are:Glenn Slater: analog synthesizers, piano, organ, string arrangementsCarla Torgerson: vocals, guitars, tapesChris Eckman: vocals, guitars, keyboards, samplesTerri Moeller: drums, percussionJoe Skyward: bass guitar"Ended Up A Stranger" was produced by The Walkabouts with Larry Crane and Phill BrownMore info at: http://www.thewalkabouts.com/ and www.glitterhouse.com