|
|
| Fast
Forward e-Newsletter |
Lonie
Walker
A glimpse at a Chicago music icon |
If it’s not enough that Lonie Walker has cultivated a musical
personality of the order of Bette Midler, she’s the ultimate
musician/businesswoman who redefines “owning the room.”
Walker literally owns the Underground Wonder Bar at 10 East
Walton in Chicago, and she’s been the mainstay act in the club
since she opened it in 1989.
Walker performs three nights a week, playing until 4 am with her Big
Bad Ass Company Band, cranking out blues, jazz, funk, rock and roll,
and anything else the group can work up. Over the years, Walker’s
music and personality have made the Wonder Bar a haven for
musicians and connoisseurs of unbridled live music from all over the
world.
Playing so often and garnering a strong fan base has its perks in
terms of the take at the door and hand-to-hand record sales, but Walker’s
success isn’t necessarily measured by units sold.
“Staying visible in a great room, meeting musicians and a whole
lot of celebrities who want to sit in and play, that’s one of
the greatest perks of having my own club,” Walker beams. “Most
importantly, I am able to keep world-class musicians Joe Thomas, Herb
Walker, James Perkins, Luiz Ewerling, and Kevin Patrick working steady.
I’ve had the opportunity to work with the finest musicians in
the world, right here, in my own home. I love Chicago!”
Walker’s career as a performer began at the age of 18, when
she started playing at a Chicago piano bar named Ratso’s. Ten
years later, after the birth of her first two children, Walker was
performing steadily and looking to open her own club.
“There wasn’t a room in all of Chicago that was right
for me, that’s why I wanted to open my own club,” Walker
muses. “I needed somewhere I could really stretch the limits
of who I was and who I was becoming. I have gone through so many changes
in fifteen years! A lot of that is due to the fact that I can’t
get fired.
“I also vowed that if I ever did open my own club, it would
be a 4 o’clock license and that we would play until 4 a.m. Nothing
was more frustrating to me than to deadhead to my favorite 4 o’clock
live music bar and they would shut down the music at 2:30 a.m.! Musicians
need to be fed, too, particularly after working at some gig or venue
that doesn’t feed your soul.”
Walker is, indeed, the Wonder Bar’s heart and soul,
and everything that emanates from the room has her distinctive stamp
embedded upon it. From her rollicking piano playing and whisky-rasped
vocals to the bawdy antics at the bar, Walker is a woman who is inseparable
from the music she makes.
Walker has found time to crank out five full-length records, despite
her demanding live schedule, though only one, Change Is Good, is a
full-blown studio effort. The songs on the album vary in style, and
some date back to 1985, and that is exactly what Walker brings to
the table: A life of experience and a breadth of genres encapsulated
in her own, sparkling personality.
“I originally felt that all of the tunes on Change Is Good were
of such differing musical styles that they wouldn’t make sense
on one CD,” admits Walker. “It was really Fran Allen Leake
(who produced the album) who encouraged me to put all of them on one
album. She just kept telling me, ‘This is Lonie. All of them
are you. It doesn’t matter that they don’t fit into one
category. This is the Lonie we all know and love.’”
All That I’ve Got (I Gave to Music); Live In Paris;
Isadora, I Love You; and the newly-released Live
In Berlin mark live shows captured on tape. It seems natural
enough, given that her live performances are what have earned her
fans and her reputation for being a great act to watch and sit in
with.“The first recording in Paris happened all on it’s
own,” Walker explains. “French fans from the Underground
Wonder Bar booked me to play a one-night party and, voila! the
tape was rolling. I had German fans before I ever toured there. That
started with my baby brother Bert, who lives near Frankfort, turning
people on to my music and it went on from there. After being turned
down by several American independent distributors, I went to Midem
in Cannes and connected with my present Berlin distributor, Be1Two
(formerly UnitedOne). They hooked me up for my first recording and
tour in 2002. I love the German audiences. I just finished a European
Tour in Germany and Austria with my 3rd son, Elliot Taggart, on bass.
We played 10 cities in 10 days. It was fantastic!”
Walker admits her schedule at the Wonder Bar puts a strain
on her energy and voice, making it difficult to spread out and play
outside gigs and festivals. Perhaps playing more varied shows would
have broadened her career through exposure in larger venues and a
heightened profile for media coverage.
These are all speculative and unnecessary theories, though, as Walker
has nailed her niche in the Wonder Bar in a way most artists
can only dream about. She has also cut dairy entirely from her diet,
which she says has helped preserve her voice and has made it possible
to play different clubs and festivals this year, giving her the best
of both worlds.
Even without a wider gigging radius, Walker’s music has attracted
a wide audience, and one that has crossed the Atlantic Ocean into
Europe. And thanks to the Underground Wonder Bar, she has
become a cult legend on the Chicago music scene.
Check out Lonie Walker online at http://www.loniewalker.com.
Return
to the Fast Forward archives. |
|
|
Print this page
