Joe Louis Walker’s heralded artistry has kept him at the forefront of the blues ever since his remarkable debut album, Cold is the Night, was released in 1986. A San Francisco native, born on Christmas Day of 1949, Walker was grounded in gospel, blues and soul and came of age in ‘flower power’ era of psychedelic rock. His contemporary vision of the blues reflected all those influences, and he kept an open, progressive approach while maintaining profound respect for the deepest roots of the blues. Walker began playing blues and rock with local bands as a teenager but, troubled by the problems he saw musicians having with drugs and alcohol, he opted out and played gospel music for the next decade.
Finally, feeling that blues would allow him a better creative outlet, he started doing blues gigs again in 1985 and ended up doing five albums with Hightone Records, followed by several on Verve and other labels, including the 1997 Great Guitars CD which featured Walker swapping licks with the likes of B.B. King, Otis Rush and Buddy Guy. He also guested on King’s Blues Summit and on albums by James Cotton, Shemekia Copeland, Branford Marsalis and Robert Lockwood. In an impressive array of settings–whether fronting his own Bosstalkers band, playing solo traditional blues, recording with the Muscle Shoals session crew, or adding a multi-ethnic flavor to his shows when he lived in Europe for a while–his work drew accolades from critics and enthusiasts. His 2012 album Hellfire, an amped-up rock-oriented outing on Alligator, hit both Billboard‘s blues and Heatseekers charts. Walker has earned more than four dozen nominations in the Blues Music Awards (formerly W.C. Handy Blues Awards).