03.21.2009
New CD Album: HAND PICKED by TOBY WALKER
Toby Walker, the blues guitarist anointed by the heavenly tribunal of
Robert Johnson, Blind Boy Fuller and Rev. Gary Davis to recreate the
ethos and the pathos, the gloom and the humor of 78-rpm recordings from
the 1920s, ‘30s and ‘40s, comes back to our collective consciousness
with his new album, Hand Picked. On the cover Young Toby is positioned
between a nickel-plated National Style 1 Tricone Reissue (shining like
the Mississippi Delta) and a red circa 1949 tractor, the former a
metaphor for the brilliance of his playing and singing, the latter --
John Deere – the contraction of which is an obvious pun on the word
“genre” (I knew you had caught that) since this
writer-singer-interpreter creates his own class of artistic endeavor.
Walker renders songs self-written and arranged as well as
conceptualized performances of pieces by Hank Williams, Skip James and
bassist Tom Griffith in a collection of songs that range from the
couldn’t-be-more-timely economic depression of “Hard Times Killing
Floor” to the boastful double entendre of “Your Buggy Don’t Ride Like
Mine.” Included in its 15 tracks are a couple of nifty instrumentals
and the wonderful secret weapon of having Jay Ungar, Molly Mason and
Martha Trachtenberg as able, artful contributors. Once again, Walker
wreaks wonderment with this wealth of wry, welcome work. Available at
$15 the copy.