Gig launches new line-up for TJ Walker Band

SussexWorld

Shoreham-based musician Tom Walker is looking forward to offering the debut headline gig from his new line-up TJ Walker Band at the Brunswick in Hove on July 25.

Transcript

00:00Good morning, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers. Lovely to

00:06speak to Tom Walker, who performs as TJ Walker from Shoreham. Now, no prizes for guessing

00:12what Tom does for a living, given that wonderful background. Tom, you've got the debut with

00:17the TJ Walker Band coming up at Ithove at Brunswick on July 25th, haven't you?

00:24Yes, that's right.

00:25And tell me the significance, the first gig with the new band. What's the significance

00:30of the new band?

00:32I mean, it's a new band in terms of us now being a four-piece band. We've been kind of

00:37playing together, not doing a headline gig like this, but there's the three of us. There's

00:43been myself, Mike Drinkwater on keys, who was also playing left-hand bass. So he's kind

00:47of doing two or three things at once. Ralph Millington on drums. But now we've added Beau

00:53Barnard on bass to make it a four-piece band. And this is kind of the first headline gig,

01:01I guess you could call it, that we're doing. I've hired the venue and I'm going to be promoting

01:05the gig myself.

01:06And as a musician, you've done lots of solo slots, because solo slots are easier, aren't

01:11they? They're more transportable, it's more practical. But as a musician, it's the band

01:16that you're really after, isn't it?

01:18I really enjoy playing with the band. I mean, I do do quite a lot of solo gigs and I've

01:25kind of refined my solo act. And I use a loop pedal very much like Ed Sheeran does, although

01:32he seems to play at slightly larger venues than me from doing it, but yeah, I'm working

01:40on it. You know, it's moving in the right direction, hopefully. But yeah, I'm basically...

01:47But the beauty of the band is it's what I really enjoy about music. It's the interaction

01:51with other musicians. You play off each other and it can make for a different night every

01:56time you play in it. You know, a unique experience on each show. And so that's what I really

02:01enjoy about music.

02:02And the last album was two years ago. You're hoping for the next album early next year.

02:06Just tell me about the kind of music you're saying. It's blues, Americana.

02:10Yeah, it's kind of... It's guitar based and it kind of... When you're writing, it's often

02:18you're influenced by what you're listening to at the time. So, you know, you go through

02:21different phases. There's a guitar here, a Van Halen guitar there, which I very much

02:28got back into Van Halen again recently. So there might be a slightly rockier edge, but

02:32it won't ever go heavy rock. But, you know, I have a lot of country influences, Americana

02:38influences and blues. It's the kind of stuff I grew up listening to. And it's just what

02:42comes out when I play and write, really.

02:44Fantastic. So it's July the 25th at the Brunswick in Hove. And where do people get tickets?

02:50From my website, actually. I've got all the links on the homepage of my website, which

02:54is www.imtjwalker.com.

02:55Fantastic. Really lovely to speak to you, Tom. Good luck with that.

03:00And you.

03:01Thank you.

03:02Thank you.

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