The Walkaways

As Van Morrison famously said, "making great music takes time -- neither hurried nor hasty, but rather tasteful and provocative." His advice was well-heeded by The Walkaways.

The sessions for what would later become "Fifty Left to Burn" commenced in the spring of 2006 when Broken Tailight's Todd Daniel linked up with Junk Nugget's Fabio Gutierrez. A unique brand of alt-country percolated, then materialized, as Daniel's penchant for cerebral roots rock songwriting meshed cleverly with Gutierrez's polyrhythmic bass acumen. Glued together by the biting and versatile "pop and go" percussion of Down Holly's John Cunningham, and soon thereafter the coveted multi-instrumental eclecticism of pianist and slide/mandolin wizard Mark Bower, a band was born, with a CD well into gestation.

Sowing their aural oats in the backstreet pubs of Northern Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C., The Walkaways spent a year testing their growing repertoire of original compositions on the local music gentry before entering the studio in the summer of 2007. With the integral assistance of engineer Kevin Rucker and Telecaster ace Craig Bradley, one year later, on July 25, 2008, the CD was pressed, sealed, and delivered live to a packed house of devotees at Iota Club and Cafe in Arlington, Virginia.

Since that night The Walkaways have been buoyed by a steadily growing and loyal fan base, regularly selling out their hometown venues. Interviews and accolades in all of the major Washington, D.C. press outlets -- The Washington Post, Washington City Paper, Washingtonian Magazine, and OnTap Magazine -- have helped to propel the ensemble to the forefront of the local alt-country scene.