Ian Walsh

Ian Walsh is a new stand-out singer/songwriter in the the alternative rock genre. Similar in vocal stylings to Tonic frontman, Emerson Hart, mixed with Goo Goo Dolls Johnny Rzeznick, Ian's got the chops and the melodic sense to do great things. The songs are strictly by-the-numbers alternative rock, but some great guitar work makes itself evident in "Supposed to Be" and the excellent ballad "Goodbye" is well written and performed with gusto. The other standout song is another ballad "Familiar Place" with some interesting melodic turns in the chorus. This song really shows great potential. I look forward to more songs with a harder edge from Ian. This is a perfect example of real talent that goes unheard and those clowns on American Idol don't deserve all that PR exposure. Ian Walsh does. - Powerpopaholic.com (10/25/07) by Aaron Kupferberg

The second that I heard the first notes of Ian Walsh's major label debut called Please Remember, I knew that I was going to love this album.

The cd is made up of 10 very strong melodic, piano based pop rock tracks. It's one thing for the music to be there and be great, but a lot of times I find cd's where the lyrics and / or the vocals aren't up to par. But on this album, every piece of the puzzle fits together perfectly and this album should be an absolute smash as soon as it comes out.

Most of the tracks are upbeat songs dealing with relationships, or so it seems. There's a few more ballad piano driven tracks. But the album flows together perfectly.

I truthfully tried to find something negative to say about this album, and really the only thing that I could come up with is that it ends within 40 minutes of pressing play for the first time.

I know that I can't wait to hear more from this young college student. And I'm sure that we'll be hearing from Ian for a long time to come!

There is a sampler of these songs available now on ITunes or on Ian's site... Please check him out and support this amazing young artist! His full length national album is set to drop July 8th. - www.musicequalslife.com (5/19/08)

Like Jack Johnson before him, 19-year-old Ian Walsh is a good-looking surfer-turned-songwriter with his eyes trained on mainstream success. He may hail from Hockessin, Del., and tend toward moody full-band rock, but his glossy new album, Please Remember, sticks strictly to the commercial-radio playbook, with much emphasis on ringing hooks and dramatic song structures. Walsh's world-weary emoting is high in the mix, as are universal lyrics about love and loss. He's shooting for the most accessible songs possible, and the likely single, "Unhappy Ending," pushes all the right buttons. Skillfully striking a balance between pouting and empowering, Walsh's songs are big, crunchy and rimmed with melancholy, finding fist-pumping choruses amid everyday disappointment.
- Doug Wallen - The Philadelphia Inquirer (7/4/08)

Meet Ian Walsh, a 19 year old Berklee College of Music student. An avid surfer, Ian got his start in a local blues band before he moved on to a metal phase and then finally joined the indie music scene. He has beautiful eyes and dark hair you just want to run your fingers through. And as if all that isn’t enough, he also plays bass, guitar, piano and sings. Sound like a dream? Listen to his new album and you’ll really fall in love.

There are three things on the checklist of a perfect album: lyrics, music and emotion. And let me tell you, Ian’s debut album has them all checked off. A mixture of pop rock and piano ballads, Please Remember was inspired by a rough break-up he went through.

Anyone who has loved and lost will easily relate to this genuine and heartfelt album. Between rock songs like “Unhappy Endin” and soft ballads like “Familiar Place,” Ian truly shows a range of talent you rarely come across.

Playing everything from bass to guitar to piano, and of course singing on his album, Ian Walsh is sure to be one of the next big indie musicians. Out July 8, Please Remember will be available on itunes and at local entertainment music stores. Wanna learn more about the artist or sample some of his tunes? Visit ian-walsh.com

By: Lauren Linhard - Girls Life Magazine (7/7/08)

"With a new EP, teenage singer/songwriter Ian Walsh avoids ‘American emo’"

The first thing one notices about Hockessin singer-songwriter Ian Walsh’s songs is their maturity—especially coming from an 18-year-old. The recent graduate of The Tatnall School in Greenville says this approach was deliberate and a response to radio’s current rock landscape.

“I didn’t want to sound like American rock,” Walsh says. “Most of this new emo music sounds high school-esque. I wanted to go in and make a sound that’s beyond high school.”

If Walsh, who named the Beatles as a musical influence, was looking to avoid Panic! At the Disco comparisons, then mission accomplished. His recently-released EP, Please Remember, features five songs that recall mid-’90s no-frills guitar rock and piano-driven ballads. The record’s opener, “Supposed to Be,” is a prime example of the former: Walsh sounds (and looks) like a teenage Pete Yorn, singing the chorus, “The night is falling as I am for you / And you, yeah, you, keep on following through / I won’t know what to do” over a wall of guitars.

The young singer sounds comfortable, both vocally and musically, leading a solo project. This isn’t surprising, since Walsh has gained confidence as the bassist of the blues band Johnny Duke and the Aces—an established Delaware act in its own right. Walsh says his songs came to him organically after his other gig took a break.

“I started writing songs that were a lot less blues-y and made it my own thing,” he says. “I just wanted to express myself in my own way.”

Walsh’s way includes occasionally putting down the six-string in favor of a piano. Please Remember’s closer, “Goodbye,” will be featured on the soundtrack for the upcoming 20th Century Fox film Moondance Alexander. It’s a good fit— “Goodbye” sounds straight from the silver screen, with its longing lyrics and sweeping yet simply stated crescendos.

Hollywood will have to wait while Walsh and his Johnny Duke and the Aces bandmates attend college in Boston—Walsh will study at the Berklee College of Music—in the fall. Until then, he plans to find gigs this summer while prepping for his next release—another EP with six or seven new songs. While it may sound like a lot for an 18-year-old’s plate, Walsh says he has no plans to slow down his musical aspirations.

“I’m going for the gold,” he says. “I’m really trying to go all the way.” - Out & About Magazine (July 2007) by Wesley Case

As a frontman and tunesmith, Ian favors high energy rock. The lead track, "Supposed to Be" mixes elements of everything from the Strokes to Keane to Coldplay. Ian shreds on guitar as well as bass, and his voice soars like a youthful Bono." - Beachcomber (5/25/07) by Roger Hillis

"If you think of breakups, this was a hell on earth kind of break up," states 19-Year-old, Berklee College of Music student, Ian Walsh about the relationship that spawned the songs that made up his first EP, all five of which coincidently appear on his wonderful full length debut album "Please Remember." Walsh writes what he knows and knows what he writes. It is simple, who hasn't been through a breakup that changed their life and their outlook on how love is supposed to be? For the listeners, we are lucky that Ian decided to share with us how it made him feel not only in his words, but in the wonderfully crafted music that will fit amongst today's mainstream acts like Maroon 5 just as easily as it will against some of the Warped Tour artists like Academy Is. Walsh lends his musical talents to guitar, bass, and piano throughout the album and knows just when to crank it up a notch to drive home his lyrics as he displays on "Catch My Eye," but more importantly when to slow it down and use the piano as the prominent instrument as he displays on "Now or Never" and "Goodbye." Ian Walsh has created an album chalked full of emotion that anyone and everyone who has ever dared to play the game of love and lost will relate to with relative ease. - Guestlist Magazine (4/30/08)

With a fresh sound and skill way beyond his 19 years, Ian Walsh makes the case for catchy rock songs with real instrumentals! The Delaware native is poised to make his mark as the new singer/songwriter on the block. Oh, and he plays three different instruments on his new CD-can you say talent?? Check him out yourself on his new album Please Remember on Plus 5 Records and be sure to visit him at myspace.com/ianwalshmyspace! - PopStar! Magazine (October 2008)

The indie music scene is full of angst-ridden white boy singer songwriters. There’s Jack Johnson, James Blunt, Josh Ritter, and countless more that don’t happen to start with “J”. It’s to his credit then, that Ian Walsh somehow manages to rise above the pack with his full length debut cd, Please Remember. Each track seems to have been crafted for radio to embrace the 19 year old surfer-songwriter (Hmmmm what was I saying about Jack Johnson?), and deservingly so even if it appears like he is simply rehashing every breakup LP that was put out before. Disheartened lyrics? Check. Power pop guitars? Check. Dreamy model good looks? Check. Radio friendly? Check.

While the entire LP is like eavesdropping into Walsh’s confessional, the album closer “Apology” seems like the most honest and heartfelt track on the cd. When he says, “Please remember what we had while together. I knew you were better off without me, as long as you won’t forget our story.” You really feel like he means what he is saying, no easy feat in this era of slickly produced commercial LP’s.

An entire 10 track album devoted to one breakup is a bit much to swallow however, and it would have been nice to hear a bit more edge in Walsh’s songwriting. In fact, you can hear it start to come out in tracks like, “I Hope I’m Blind,” and album opener “Unhappy Ending.”

While heartbreak alterna-pop isn’t exactly brain surgery, when it’s done well, as it is in this case, it makes for a painful reminder of what it’s like to lose the first love of your life. You can almost hear the grade school girls swooning.

by Mike Sametz - Mishmash Magazine

The indie music scene is full of angst-ridden white boy singer songwriters. There’s Jack Johnson, James Blunt, Josh Ritter, and countless more that don’t happen to start with “J”. It’s to his credit then, that Ian Walsh somehow manages to rise above the pack with his full length debut cd, Please Remember. Each track seems to have been crafted for radio to embrace the 19 year old surfer-songwriter (Hmmmm what was I saying about Jack Johnson?), and deservingly so even if it appears like he is simply rehashing every breakup LP that was put out before. Disheartened lyrics? Check. Power pop guitars? Check. Dreamy model good looks? Check. Radio friendly? Check.

While the entire LP is like eavesdropping into Walsh’s confessional, the album closer “Apology” seems like the most honest and heartfelt track on the cd. When he says, “Please remember what we had while together. I knew you were better off without me, as long as you won’t forget our story.” You really feel like he means what he is saying, no easy feat in this era of slickly produced commercial LP’s.

An entire 10 track album devoted to one breakup is a bit much to swallow however, and it would have been nice to hear a bit more edge in Walsh’s songwriting. In fact, you can hear it start to come out in tracks like, “I Hope I’m Blind,” and album opener “Unhappy Ending.”

While heartbreak alterna-pop isn’t exactly brain surgery, when it’s done well, as it is in this case, it makes for a painful reminder of what it’s like to lose the first love of your life. You can almost hear the grade school girls swooning.

by Mike Sametz - Mishmash Magazine