Respected blues and roots music songwriter and performer Joe Louis Walker from the Hudson Valley of New York brought his diverse blues driven songs, incredible musicianship and warm performance skills to a packed house at Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs on Sunday, April 21.
Walker did two sets of his original contemporary blues, R&B and rock, infused with a hint of gospel, from “Run Me Down”, which he opened the show with, to “Too Drunk To Drive Drunk”, which he did as an encore and said emanated from when he and a friend were in a bar and the friend looked at someone and said “that guy’s too drunk to drive drunk”, delivering a truly energetic show throughout to a highly appreciative crowd.
He interspersed his performance with crowd-pleasing stories about what brought him to write some of the songs he performed and what they mean to him, such as “Don’t Walk Away” which he wrote for his wife, and “The Blues Comin’ On” which he wrote with Dion of Dion and the Belmonts.
At the end of his show Walker credited those he referred to as the creators of rock ‘n roll, of which he said there could not be a better mousetrap, and launched into a rock ‘n roll tribute performance that included an instrumental medley of measures from multiple chart topping rock songs that spanned decades and brought the crowd to its feet.
Weaving passages of musical tension and release into each song on his triple humbucking pickup electric guitar and with his melodic larger-than-life singing of his well-crafted lyrics, he delivered a performance that owned the room at Caffe Lena, giving the audience a clear understanding of what lies behind his being an inductee of the Blues Hall of Fame, his Grammy for Contemporary Blues for “Everyone Wants A Piece”, his multiple M. C. Handy awards, and his place as a featured performer at countless blues festivals.
Joe Louis Walker was backed up with stellar performances by Scott Milici on keys and backing vocals, Geoff Murfitt on electric bass and John Medeiros Jr on drums, all of whom also played on his Weight Of The World album.
The show was part of his 2024 tour covering locations as wide-spread as New York, California and Morocco, with performances at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival on April 26 and in the Netherlands at the Holland International Blues Festival. He will next appear in New York State at the Full Moon Resort in Big Indian on June 26th. The tour is also in support of his 2023 album “Weight Of The World” which was recorded in a studio outside of Woodstock, NY.
During the show Walker, who has played at Caffe Lena before, mentioned how much he felt honored to play in the same place that legends like Bob Dylan had, and after the show he said he truly enjoyed performing in this special place with such an appreciative audience.
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