The walkabouts
| The walkabouts | |
|---|---|
 The Walkabouts at the Orange Blossom Special Festival of their label Glitterhouse 2006: Glenn Slater, Paul Austin (back then as a guest bassist for Michael Wells, who was unable to attend, last permanent member of the band), Terri Moeller, Chris Eckman and Carla Torgerson |
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| General information | |
| Genre (s) | Folk rock , alternative country |
| founding | 1984 |
| resolution | 2015 |
| Website | www.thewalkabouts.com |
| Last occupation | |
| Chris Eckman | |
Vocals, guitar |
Carla Torgerson |
| Michael Wells | |
| Terri Moeller | |
| Glenn Slater | |
| Paul Austin | |
| former members | |
bass |
Curt Eckman (1984–1985) |
Drums |
Grant Eckman (1984-1991) |
| Bruce Wirth (1991-1994) | |
bass |
John "Baker" Saunders (1996-1999) |
bass |
Fred Chalenor (1999) |
bass |
Joe Skyward (2000-2001) |
Drums |
Brian Young (2000) |
The Walkabouts were an American folk rock band from Seattle . The band was formed in 1984 and disbanded in 2015. The name was borrowed from the film Walkabout .
The group released albums at regular intervals. Her best known hit is The Light Will Stay On from the album Devil's Road (1996). The album Satisfied Mind (1993) with cover versions of songs mostly by American songwriters is considered to be a style defining element of the Americana or Alternative Country genre . The band's records have been released by the German Glitterhouse label since 1999 . Since 2005, ran into the television commercials of Jack Wolfskin the song Devil in the details of the album Acetylene as background music.
Band history
The beginnings
Chris Eckman and Carla Torgerson met in 1983 while both were working in a fish factory in Alaska . Both were students at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington state . Chris and his younger brothers Grant and Curt had already played in various punk and pop bands, Carla had appeared as a street musician with folk songs. In 1984 they both moved to Seattle , Washington and formed the band The Walkabouts .
The band's name refers to a film by Nicolas Roeg called Walkabout from the year 1971 . Only Carla had seen the film at all, but the title was reminiscent of the band The Go-Betweens , which was very much appreciated by everyone. While this name occasionally brought with it minor difficulties, for example because it was announced as a "band from Australia", it has proven to be very appropriate over the years because "so many of our songs are about travel, distances and roads" (Chris Eckman). In 1985 a first EP was released on Necessity Records, 22 Disasters , in 1987 the single Linda Evans also on Necessity. Both recordings are very difficult to find, a fact that is rather welcomed by the band members today. In 1988 PopLlama released their first LP , See Beautiful Rattlesnake Gardens , which received very good reviews.
SubPop Records
For a brief moment in music history, Seattle was the center of the world: grunge music was the new thing that rocked the music industry, and Sub Pop Records with its acts Nirvana , Mudhoney and Soundgarden was the epicenter of this earthquake.
The Walkabouts were the only "non-grunge act" signed by SubPop at the time and were washed up by the grunge hype , even though their music was received more as folk rock . SubPop released the LP Cataract in 1989 , the EP Rag & Bone in 1990 and the LP Scavenger in 1991 .
Glitterhouse Records 1
In 1992, the Walkabouts separated by mutual agreement from SubPop Records in order to immediately sign with SubPop Europe , which were practically identical to Glitterhouse Records from Beverungen in Germany. There was New West Motel with rock songs in 1993 , and in the same year Satisfied Mind , an album with mostly acoustically recorded cover versions of songs by Anglo-American songwriters, including Nick Cave , Robert Forster from the Go-Betweens and the Carter Family . The album is considered a milestone in alternative country . In 1994 the again rocking, but also dark setting The Woods On Fire was released .
With these albums, the Walkabouts had established themselves as one of the most important independent bands, even if their success in radio and music television, at music festivals, in the annual top lists of music magazines and in sales figures was limited to Europe. Recordings of the successful 1994 tour were documented on the live record To Hell And Back , which was released in 1995. Death Valley Days , a compilation of rarities and B-sides , is a farewell gift to Glitterhouse.
Virgin Records
The separation in friendship from Glitterhouse and the change to the major label Virgin Records in 1994 were logical. Devil's Road was released there in 1996 , and with The Light Will Stay On it was a veritable radio hit. In 1997, Nighttown followed , which, like its predecessor, was recorded with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, among others . With the tour to Nighttown , the Walkabouts were able to fulfill a long-cherished wish. The budget of a major label made it possible to go on a concert tour with an eleven-piece "orchestra". The performance in Brussels in June 1997 was published on a 2000 mail order album (Glitterhouse).
These records and tours were triumphant for a former independent act, but probably too few for a new major act in a music industry that was unsettled by mergers and collapsing sales figures .
Glitterhouse Records 2
In 1999 the band returned to the old friends of Glitterhouse and since then they have mostly published their albums here. Trail Of Stars was released in 1999, and Train Leaves At Eight in 2000 , an album that could legitimately be called the "brother" of Satisfied Mind . Songs by continental European songwriters have now been covered , including Mikis Theodorakis , Françoiz Breut , Jacques Brel , Midnight Choir , Blumfeld and Neu! .
Drunken Soundtracks was released in 2001, again a compilation of rarities and B-sides . In the same year the studio album Ended Up A Stranger came out.
In 2002 Innerstate Records released Watermarks , a "best-of" compilation for the US market. This label also sells most of the other albums in the United States. In 2003 Shingle Street Records released Slow Days With Nina , an EP with five cover versions of Nina Simone songs. In the same year, Glitterhouse released Shimmers , again a "best-of" compilation , which only partially overlaps with Watermarks , this time for the European market.
In August 2005 a new album was released on Glitterhouse Records, Acetylene . In reviews, the sound and the textual content are described as "rocky and angry". The song "Devil In The Details" serves the outdoor outfitter Jack Wolfskin as music for the commercials , which have been broadcast since 2005 and currently (2010) at prime time on German television. The album reached number 87 in the German album charts in the first week and entered the Greek charts at number 13 .
The band regularly self- publishes bootlegs . In addition, she tolerates the recording of her concerts and the redistribution of the recordings, as long as there are no commercial interests involved. Numerous concert recordings are therefore circulating among the fans of the Walkabouts.
For the band's 25th anniversary in 2009, Glitterhouse Records released a tribute album entitled Got No Chains with interpretations of 16 Walkabouts songs. Participants included Chris Cacavas , Hugo Race , Willard Grant Conspiracy , The Bambi Molesters , Jon Langford , Chris Brokaw , The Minus 5 , Steve Wynn & Linda Pitmon, Savoy Grand and Locas in Love . The second CD of the album contains the respective original songs in a remastered version.
On October 22, 2011, the last studio album entitled Travels In The Dustland was released. In 2015 the band broke up.
Collaborations and side projects
Chris & Carla
The singers and guitarists Chris Eckman and Carla Torgerson, who used to be a couple in private, also appear as a duo ("Chris & Carla"). The live recording of Shelter For An Evening was released in 1993, the studio album Life Full Of Holes in 1995 and the live album Nights Between Stations . In 1997, the soundtrack for the film Where The Air Is Cool And Dark was recorded together with Pete Gerrald . In 1998 the studio album Swinger 500 was released .
Chris & Carla's current album, Fly High Brave Dreamers , was released on January 27, 2007. A tour took them to Europe in February and March 2007, with around ten concerts on the program in Germany.
Solo albums
Chris Eckman released the album A Janela in 2000 , which was inspired by Portuguese Fado music. The Black Field was released in 2004, the soundtrack Novi Svet for Slovenian television in 2005 , and The Last Side of the Mountain in 2008 with poems by the Slovenian poet Dane Zajc set to music .
Carla Torgerson has also released a solo album , in 2004 Saint Stranger was released .
Side projects
Drummer Terri Moeller and her husband Paul Austin (formerly Willard Grant Conspiracy ) form the core of The Transmissionary Six , who have been releasing albums since 2002. In 2009 the band broke up after a farewell concert in Seattle. Terri Moeller started her solo project Terri Tarantula in 2009 . In 2012 the band announced that they would resume their work together as The Transmissionary Six and announced concerts and more albums.
Glenn Slater also plays in Wellwater Conspiracy , Michael Wells in Pluto Dog .
In 2001 Chris Eckman released the electronica album "The Damage Suite" together with Al DeLoner from Midnight Choir under the project name "Höst ". An album in the Krautrock style was released in 2002 under the name “i” , recorded by Chris Eckman, Carla Torgerson and Glenn Slater, together with Chris' brothers Curt and Grant, both founding members of the Walkabouts.
Together with Hugo Race and Chris Brokaw , Chris Eckman founded the band Dirt Music in 2007 . The debut album of the same name was released on Glitterhouse in late 2007 . The second album "BKO" was recorded in Mali with local musicians and was released in April 2010.
Networking
Many well-known musicians contributed as guests to the recordings of the Walkabouts, for example Peter Buck from REM , Natalie Merchant from 10,000 Maniacs , Mark Lanegan and Brian Eno .
Chris Eckman works successfully as a producer for bands such as Shilf , Midnight Choir , Willard Grant Conspiracy or the Croatian surf band Bambi Molesters , but has also played for the last three bands himself. With the Bambi Molesters , Eckman also forms the independent band The Strange , which released the album Nights of Forgotten Films in 2004.
Carla Torgerson sang the female voice on the Tindersticks radio hit Traveling Light .
Opening act
The Walkabouts tour regularly, especially in Europe. Again and again they take bands with them as opening act, which manage to expand their fan base considerably. Mention should be made: Hip Young Things , Midnight Choir , Willard Grant Conspiracy , The Transmissionary Six , The Hitchin 'Post.
Discography
Chart successes
Studio albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
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| 1996 | Devil's Road |
DE53 (10 weeks) DE |
First published: February 1996
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| 1997 | Nighttown |
DE75 (3 weeks) DE |
First published: May 1997
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| 1999 | Trail of Stars |
DE61 (2 weeks) DE |
First published: August 1999
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| 2005 | Acetylenes |
DE87 (1 week) DE |
First published: August 2005
|
Singles
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
|
DE
|
|||
| 1996 | The Light Will Stay On Devil’s Road |
DE73 (10 weeks) DE |
First published: February 1996
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more publishments
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The Walkabouts albums
The Walkabouts tribute album
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The Walkabouts Singles
Chris & Carla
Chris Eckman Solo
Carla Torgerson Solo
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Web links
- Official website (English)
- The Walkabouts at Glitterhouse
- The Walkabouts at Allmusic (English)