The Micah Walk Band

Our favorite musician heads north for fame and fortune...

By Tom Irwin (March 1, 2007)

In 2006, readers of Illinois Times picked Micah Walk as the best musician in Springfield. Now the twentysomething singer/songwriter is moving to Chicago. Why in the world would he leave?
“Why? I don’t know,” Walk says. “Some people think it’s crazy, but crazy can be all right.”
With plans to “just hang out and play music as much as possible,” he made a good beginning by booking a weekly Wednesday-night show at Lilly’s (2515 N. Lincoln, 773-525-2422), in the Wicker Park area of Chicago. He starts March 7, the day after his going-away-party date in Springfield.
Last year Walk released Change, a full-length CD recorded by Mark Rubel at his Pogo Studio, in Champaign. The disk, a delightful romp of funk-folk tunes, features Walk’s exemplary songwriting, backed by talented musicians, including former members of Public Display of Funk, a recently disbanded group from the Bloomington area.
“Me and the guys have been working on a new album,” Walk says. “Our bass player studied recording at Millikin [University in Decatur] and has a home studio. We’re tentatively planning finishing by the end of the year.”
Walk likes the direction of the recording but, when it comes to describing the sound, gropes for a definition.
“The songs are — I don’t want to say country — it’s rock & roll but mellow, less funky,” he says. “You could compare it to Ryan Adams’ stuff.”
In the last year, Walk has stayed busy working at Samuel Music, playing his Tuesday-night gig at Marly’s Pub, and getting in some regional road trips. One venture in particular seems to have affected his decision to leave Springfield and take up residence in the Windy City.
“We were coming back from shows in Iowa and I’d been sleeping the whole way,” he says. “I woke up in Chicago and got out of the van and thought, ‘I want to live here.’ It just felt right.”
Just because a decision feels right to you doesn’t mean that everyone else will hop on board and ride the same train, though. Friends and fans are not wholeheartedly behind his choice, and he expresses some frustration about explaining over and over why he’s leaving town. Finally, he says, he came up with a good, honest answer that works for all occasions:
“Now I say it’s because my life is just beginning and I want to take advantage of it. I’m not ready to plant myself in one place for the rest of my life.”
Good luck, Micah. May the songs be with you.

The Micah Walk Band performs at Marly’s Pub (9 W. Old State Capitol Plaza, 217-522-2280, 9 pm-midnight Tuesday, March 6. Macie Smith and Walk open with an acoustic set at 8 pm. Micah’s mom is making mostaccioli, so get there early.


URL for this story: http://www.illinoistimes.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A6261
- Illinois Times

BEST MUSICIAN - Micah Walk

Micah Walk is on a roll. The engaging twentysomething Gillespie native progressed from talked-about solo sensation to Springfield’s best musician in only a few years’ time. During this productive period, he’s played weekly gigs at Mojo’s and Marly’s, formed the Micah Walk Band, recorded an all-original CD, and traveled the Midwest as a coffeehouse performer. What’s Walk’s secret? He’s just plain good. The original songs are listenable, both in lyric content and musicianship. He picks appealing cover songs and does them in his own style. His voice is pleasing, dynamic, and interesting. The music is heartfelt and danceable. Best of all, he is humble, modest, and an all-around nice guy. Our man about town, longtime Illinois Times columnist Tom Irwin, placed second as Best Musician.
Runner-up: Tom Irwin

- Illinois Times (9-21-06)

The Micah Walk Band debuts its new CD on Friday at Marly’s.
By Tom Irwin

Recently I was going through a pile of bar-napkin notes and crumpled business cards, looking for any important lost messages, and I found a note from Jim Wavering, owner/operator of Marly’s Pub. It was from sometime in spring of 2004, I think (yes, I know that’s a long time to keep a bar-napkin note) and went something like “This Micah Walk is really good. He’s one of the best I’ve ever heard in my bar. You should check him out.”
I popped in the accompanying CD — and I agreed with Jim: The guy was good. Walk had that indescribable something-or-other certain artists have that makes you stop, look, and listen. Last fall, after years of mostly solo acoustic performances, Walk began working with members of the Bloomington-based band Public Display of Funk. This spring they recorded a full-length CD of Walk’s original music at Mark Rubel’s Pogo Studios in Champaign. The resulting disk, titled Change, has a funky feel and great grooves that emphasize the lyrics, supporting and carrying them. In a full circle and fitting fashion, the Micah Walk Band debuts the new CD 10 p.m.-2 a.m. Friday, July 21, at Marly’s Pub (9 W. Old State Capitol Plaza, 217-522-2280).


URL for this story: http://www.illinoistimes.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A5547
- Illinois Times (7-20-06)

Artist: The Micah Walk Band
CD: Change
Home: Springfield, Illinois
Style: Acoustic Rock

Quote: "Tracing their roots back, you'll find each member of this band has been in love with music for a long time"

By Catherine L. Tully
Date: Saturday, January 06, 2007 @ 08:24:03 EST

This debut album by The Micah Walk Band is truly outstanding. Walk's voice and the band's superb and interesting musicianship are the hallmarks that make this CD great. Tracing their roots back, you'll find each member of this band has been in love with music for a long time. Walk and drummer Darin Holthaus met while working in a music store, and the rest is history.

Rock is the backbone of this CD, providing a current that runs solidly throughout, but you can also hear a funk influence and some pure, simple acoustic work, as well as hard-hitting, progressive sounds. Nothing too "out there," but enough to really keep it interesting.

Walk's lyrics don't read nearly as well as they come across when he sings them. His voice adds a dimension to the thoughts that show they come from his heart, not his head. While some rock bands, especially newly formed ones, can put out a debut album that is a good listen but sounds like it was recorded in a coffee house, this effort is polished without being overly processed. You wouldn't be surprised to hear this on the radio, and you certainly wouldn't think it was a debut album. These guys sound like they have been playing together for a long time.

The best part about this CD is that it is so easy to listen to, from start to finish. There isn't one out-of-place or poorly-placed song. From the upbeat, catchy first track, "Lucky," to the quiet, beautiful midpoint of the album, "Red," to the final track, "Ordinary Things," it's a great ride all the way.

Micah Walk was voted Best Musician in the Illinois Times' "Best of Springfield 2006," and I have no doubt that 2007 will bring some great things for this new band. They're solid, interesting and very enjoyable.


This article comes from Indie-Music.com
http://www.indie-music.com

The URL for this story is:
http://www.indie-music.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=5536
- Indie-Music.com

"The polished, slightly melancholy sound of "Bright Side Fantasy" begins with the enchanting, well-crafted ballad "Goodbye Austin", which is enough to make anyone stop and listen. But the tightly rhythmic pop rock of "Come On Mary" is something sure to get stuck in your head and make you come back to listen again and again. Seriously. It's a catchy, highly melodic tune and it still rocks your ass; it wouldn't sound out of place on Wilco's "Summerteeth". Walk's vocals are really great: strong and clear, yet with a hint of the grit that makes Ryan Adams' voice so alluring. However, the band is quite good in their own right. Every song has tightly crafted accents and nuances that draw you in and keep you interested. The lead guitar work is especially intriguing, like on the solo for "Above Water", or the subtle lead part of "Late Nights". To cap it all off, this album was self-produced, which is really cool, because the album sounds amazing and totally professional. The Micah Walk Band's songs have a way of weaving themselves into your subconscious, so you'll find yourself singing them days later and not even realize how they got there. This is a wonderful album from a band that's destined for greatness."

- Peter @ CDBaby.com -
(2008) - CDBaby.com

One consistent truth in the music business: In spite of the heartfelt aspiration and keen ambition felt by the people who trudge it, the path to making music for a living is littered with lost dreams, dashed hopes, and unfulfilled desires. Micah Walk, a singer/songwriter and leader of the Micah Walk Band, is quite aware of this, so much so that his latest record is titled Bright Side Fantasy in recognition of the desire to bridge the gap between hope and reality.

"It's the title of a song I wrote after I got back from a two-week tour and I didn't want to come home," Walk says. "For me it was about pursuing what really makes someone happy, doing what they love. That goes for anyone, not just me."

The song touches on the universal sentiment of hope, but the potent desire to succeed is personal for the nearly-27-year-old Walk. From his earliest longing to play guitar in high school to his relocation to Chicago, a little over a year ago, Walk has steadily pursued the goal of sustaining a living through artistic purpose. Beneath the unassuming personality and low-key demeanor is a determined and confident individual who takes things step by step, heading where his heart takes him. According to someone who knows Micah pretty well, this is normal behavior.

"When he started, I think he would just sit in a corner and sing. He didn't like to sing in front of anybody," says Dan Walk, Micah's father. He's a lifelong resident of Girard, a town of about 2,200 souls 30 miles south of Springfield on State Route 4. "I knew one day he would come out and start doing it."

After buying a starter guitar kit to satisfy a request from the 15-year-old wannabe musician, dear old Dad watched to see whether his youngest son would stick with "the music thing." No one else in the family ever showed any inclination toward playing music, but the patient father was willing to see how far it would go — whether the guitar would be a passing fancy for young Micah or a stronger draw. They started lessons with a teacher whose quaint songs and simple technique didn't appeal to the aspiring rocker. When Dad invited a musician friend named Ed Gradyover to teach Micah a few basic chords and old rock & roll numbers, the teenager jumped in with both feet.

"After that he always had a guitar in hand, strumming and playing, wherever he went," says the elder Walk. "While we were watching TV or doing anything, he was playing that guitar."

During his high-school years, influenced by the popular bands of the day — Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, and Soundgarden, plus the burgeoning Christian-rock scene — Walk teamed up with other local high-school musicians and played church youth-group rallies and various other gigs. He wrote a few songs then but now claims that "they weren't very good at all." After graduating from high school he enrolled at the University of Illinois at Springfield, taking general classes geared toward a major in communications and a few introductory music classes that expanded his ideas of melodic structure and harmonic theory. His musical tastes grew to include classic artists such as the Beatles and singer/songwriter types like Neil Young, Ryan Adams, Dave Matthews, and Damien Rice. Walk cites Rice as "a huge influence" but later found it necessary to distance himself from the Irish singer's startling intensity and powerful attraction to forge ahead with an original sound of his own. During this formative artistic stage Walk played out some, continued his UIS studies, and worked at Samuel's Music, always playing that guitar while fine-tuning his singing and songwriting skills.

"He would come home late from college and I would hear him in his room at 2 a.m., going over songs on a recording machine," his father says. "It was muffled, but I could hear him practicing."

It took some time before Dad ever heard his son sing in person.

"Ifollow him as much as I can," says the elder Walk, "but the first time I really heard him, he was playing up in Springfield at 11 West."

Walk moved to the capital city in 2003 and immersed himself in the local music scene, performing at local open mics. During one such open mic at Floyd's Thirst Parlor, Jim Wavering — owner/operator of Marly's Pub, a live-music club on the west side of the Old Capitol Plaza, and 11 West, a now-defunct bar that was located at the corner of Fifth and Adams streets — chanced upon a Walk performance. He immediately hired the singer/songwriter for a weekly gig at 11 West.

"I didn't realize how playing bars and clubs worked then. It was totally new to me," Walk says. "Now I know what it meant to be approached by him and offered the job. It doesn't always happen that way."

Walk performed most Tuesdays for nearly four years, first at 11 West, then at Mojo's, and finally Marly's Pub, cultivating a following along the way. He played cover songs he liked and originals from his growing list, usually going it alone on guitar and voice, with the exception of harmony vocals supplied by Macie Smith, a friend from the church days.

"I met Micah at the Abundant Life church in Auburn when he played with the Sunday-morning band," says Smith, a former Chatham resident. "I ran sound and he would come early to practice. I wasn't aware then of my music abilities. I owe that to Micah."

Originally another high-school friend, Tenika Beard, sang live with Smith and on Walk's first recording project. When Beard left the area to pursue other interests, Walk asked Smith to stay on and continue singing. She became a staple in Walk's solo live show, adding delicately balanced harmonies to his powerfully subtle tunes. Nowadays they sing together whenever they can — which isn't very often — but she recalls working together as "a natural fit" and Walk remembers the collaboration as "a really good time." She now lives in Springfield, employed by Blue Cross Blue Shield and taking piano lessons while working on "getting out and playing more."

Walk's live shows seem to evoke a common response that echoes Wavering's reaction on first hearing the restrained yet intriguing performer.

"I don't think he realizes there is something different about him," Smith says. "Other musicians try to make you like them, and he just does what he likes to do and people respond. I think humility is a big part of the reason."

Stolie, a talented one-name Chicago-based singer/songwriter, has hosted open mics throughout the city, experiencing more than her fair share of players and poseurs in the process. She saw a difference in her audiences' reactions when Walk took his turn on stage.

"People would actually stop talking and listen when Micah would sing," she says. "That's not always the case at open mics. It was surprising and encouraging."

This beguiling of the audience is certainly not the result of histrionics or stage antics. Walk is about as undemonstrative a performer as you'll find: His voice is closer to a whisper than to a scream, and his guitar playing generally entails gentle fingerpicking. What, then, is the root of his appeal? Everyone has a different opinion of what makes Walk interesting, but each of those opinions contains some reference to a mysterious something that draws the listener in and appeals to an unspecified emotion. Walk is just as lost as to why anyone cares to listen as the most rabid fan; in fact, he downplays it with his usual modesty that approaches reticence at times.

"I'm not sure why it happens or even that it does. I'm just happy someone wants to listen," he says, slowly choosing his words and obviously embarrassed by a question concerning his appeal. "I mostly just sing and write for myself."

Whatever the attraction, the acquired attention gave Walk a local fanbase and the confidence to pursue more recording projects while whetting his appetite to find a way to a make a living playing music. In other words, he went looking for a way to reach the bright-side fantasy before he even knew what it was.

During his Springfield stay, Walk played mostly in central Illinois, with a few forays to neighboring states; graduated with a communications degree from UIS; and continued to teach guitar and work part-time at Samuel's. In 2004 Walk recorded a five-song EP of originals and in 2005 finished his first full-length recording. Both were recorded locally with friends at home studios, and though the releases lacked high-dollar polish and production values, they showed Walk's growth as a singer and songwriter, presenting his material in a favorable light and garnering more fans and attention.

As he maintained the solo performance experience and played with a few area musicians, Walk searched for players to flesh out his tunes and bring the full-band recorded sound to a live audience. In early 2006 he hooked up with some Milliken University graduates, well schooled in music performance and theory, playing in a band called Public Display of Funk. John Cardoni was the guitarist and Darin Holthaus the drummer, and when Walk found them they were looking for something, too.The bandmates recruited bassist Dan Hartman, a former roommate from Cardoni's and Holthaus' college days, resulting in a combo that was cohesive and engaged, ready and willing to interpret Walk's backload of original songs.

"I first met Darin and we wanted to put the band together," Walk recalls. "We booked a gig at Mojo's only a month down the road to light a fire under us. It was our first gig and with only a few practices, but it worked."

Soon they were discussing recording-studio options, settling on Mark Rubel's Pogo Studio, in Champaign-Urbana, as the home for the first recording of the Micah Walk Band. Change, released in mid-2006, explores the funkier, rock side of the band, fleshing out the heartfelt songs with a jazz-fusion flair. The band flexed some musical muscle and Walk stretched beyond the typical singer/songwriter mode to create a forceful, band-driven, electric sound much different than his earlier acoustic outings.

"We approached that record as more of a jam session and went through a variety of styles," Walk says. "The songs were longer and we were evolving, plus we were on the studio clock and couple of the songs didn't come out the way we wanted."

Local fans seemed to enjoy the record and the live concerts. They showed their appreciation by voting Walk Best Musician for 2006 (runner-up in 2007) and Best Singer for 2007 in the Illinois Times reader poll. In March 2007 Walk left Springfield and took up residence in Chicago, hoping to increase his chances of being heard and to develop new opportunities. With the expanded gig base of a large metropolitan area, he's played plenty of places, but a larger population also means more competition, which often translates into lower-paying shows. Walk held off getting a day job for as long as possible, but he now works part-time in sales for a dot-com cottage industry. The job provides flexible hours to accommodate his pursuit of the musical dream and a steady paycheck to cover the costs of living in the big city.

The band has made some adjustments, with members now living in various Illinois cities, but has stayed committed to the Micah Walk Band project. Although pleased with the majority of Change, the guys decided to record the next disk at their own pace, avoiding the time and money limitations of a professional working studio. Home studios are a common reality today, boasting high-quality equipment that would have been unimaginable not that many years ago. Armed with bass player Hartman's recording-engineer knowledge and studio gear, the band transformed Holthaus' home into a makeshift studio and proceeded to record whenever their schedules allowed, mostly on weekends, for nearly a year before completing the latest album.

"This is the best thing I've ever been a part of musically speaking," Walk says. "We found our voice as a band and I feel I found mine as a songwriter and that helped the overall band sound. This record is what we really are."

Others who have heard prerelease copies of the recording tend to agree, lauding the balance of acoustic and rock sounds as a fitting equilibrium between Walk's songwriting style and the band's instrumental approach. The official release for Bright Side Fantasy in Springfield is set for Friday, July 25, with a 7 p.m. all-ages show at Andiamo and a 10 p.m. adult show at Marly's Pub. The CD comes out in Chicago on Aug. 8 with a release party at the Cubby Bear, a longtime Wrigleyville bar, and is available online now through CD Baby and iTunes.

After the long recording process and buildup to the release comes the reality part of the business side: pushing the product to the public and gaining recognition in any way necessary to sell those CDs.

"It's kinda like being pregnant," Walk says. "You put all this time into making the record, then you have to shift gears. It was a lot of work, but it was worth it."

Walk sees the group "trying to work smarter than harder," supporting the new CD by playing out more, scoring radio airplay, keeping the Internet connections running, and generally raising public awareness for the band without disrupting the private lives of its members.

"When you're doing it yourself, you gotta get out there and do it," he says. "I like to do what I do and figure it out as I go along."

And that would be the way to Micah Walk's bright-side fantasy.

By Tom Irwin
(July 24, 2008) - Illinois Times

Illinois Time's annual "Best of Springfield" voted Micah Walk as the city's BEST SINGER. Here is why...

When Micah Walk came on the local music scene, early in the 21st century, there was a distinct buzz around town about the guy with the great voice, quiet demeanor, and powerful original songs. Remarkably enough the general buzz has continued over the last several years, proved by Walk’s continued popularity in the Best of Springfield voting, his undeniable knack for consistently drawing crowds at local nightclubs, and, most important, the way people talk about him around town. You can hear the respect in their voices when Walk’s name is mentioned. Even after relocating to Chicago last spring, he packs the house whenever he’s back in the capital city, which is at least every other month. Right now Walk and his band are preparing songs for a new recording, to be released sometime in early 2008, that will no doubt earn him yet another Best of Springfield award next year.

- Illinois Times

The Micah Walk Band, a local favorite hailing from Springfield, Illinois, recently released their second studio album, "Bright Side Fantasy." They showcased the second album with a CD release party at the Verve, located at 677 Wabash Ave, on July 24.

Their first studio album, "Change," was released in 2006 and the band has been slowly implementing newer songs into their sets while recording the latest album. Compared to "Change," the band collectively considered "Bright Side Fantasy" to be a "better representation" of what they are trying to accomplish musically.

"(Change) was basically a collection of Micah's older songs that we learned to play together," said guitarist Jon Cardoni. "This album was more about us … a lot more honest."

But the album "Change" is nothing to bat an eye at and push to the side. With a variety of different sounds and some very good songs, such as the love confessional "In the Movies," the home-sick, traveling song "Paducah" and déjà-vu sounding "Lucky," "Change" is a great starter album for those of you wanting to hear what The Micah Walk Band has to offer; however, "BSF" shows what the Band is really capable of.

"We had a lot more time with this album," Micah Walk said over a chicken wrap dinner at Charlie's Bar and Grill, located on 1608 Crawford St. "We also set ourselves a deadline to make it work," he said.

Consisting of 15 songs, "Bright Side Fantasy" contains themes from loneliness, in "I don't mind," to a love affair in "Fire" and beginnings of a new relationship in "Come on Mary." The album as a whole shows the range in which the band is able to play. Each song transforms in style from the last; one minute it's a rocking jam with some bluesy, riffs and then the next it's a soft, melancholy ballad.

The Micah Walk Band's many different influences and sounds can be found throughout "Bright Side Fantasy." From musicians like Ryan Adams and bands like Dave Matthews Band and The Old '97s, there is a little bit of everything for everyone on this album.

Working as a four-piece set, The Micah Walk Band is a motley foursome of varying talent. Lead singer and the band's namesake, Micah Walk commands the microphone with a gentle and spirited voice while playing rhythm guitar perfectly.

To his right, Jon Cardoni spills his soul and mind onto the frets of his Fender guitar, ranging in style from funk, to blues to rock.

Dan Hartman on bass seems to be the most relaxed of the band. As he strums away on his rope-like strings, he smiles to the crowd and looks for changes in the music, sometimes lending backup vocals. Lastly, Darin Holthaus acts as the band's backbone, banging away at his drums. Providing the beat and pulse, Holthaus plays the part perfectly and would never be the pretentious drummer that breaks up the band, like with Genesis or Fleetwood Mac.

Picturing the future of the band is difficult. As Micah Walk said, "when I started playing with (the band), I never envisioned we would be where we are … I mean, (Darin and Dan) were in a funk band when I met them!" Walk later added, "I like where we are going," as the rest of the band smiled and noded in agreement.

Perhaps the best direction is the simplest one. So far that ideology has the band right where they want to be. From a simple name to simple (but not unintelligent or drab) lyrics and rhythms, the band stays grounded. All of the members work part-time jobs to tie up loose ends financially and are producing their albums independently. And while being independent from a label can be a harbinger for most bands, The Micah Walk Band chooses to relish in the freedom that opportunity gives them.

"When you are independent, you don't have people telling you what to do or what songs to write," Walk said. "Eventually, we would like to be on a label, but for now we'll enjoy (the freedom)."

As far as the music scene goes in Terre Haute, very few bands come through that pack a house or make the price of admission worthwhile.

However, if you get the chance, catch The Micah Walk Band next time they come around. Their live performances are as good as their albums, if not better. Playing almost all original songs, the band will sprinkle in a few covers that can get a crowd going.

From the Foo Fighters to Ryan Adams, and even some Peter Gabriel (yes, "In Your Eyes" is beautifully done), The Micah Walk Band connects with the crowd better than any other band around.

Currently, The Micah Walk Band is playing select shows in Illinois, between Springfield and Chicago for the tour and release of "Bright Side Fantasy." They are scheduled to be back in Terre Haute on Sept. 11 at the Verve.

By Trever Fehrenbach
(August 15, 2008)
- Indiana Statesman - Indiana State University