Make Like A Shovel: Guitarist Extraordinaire Ryley Walker

Words by: Donovan Farley

For this installment of Make Like A Shovel, I’m excited to highlight guitarist extraordinaire Ryley Walker, whose psychedelic folk rock harkens back to 1970s British folk and the album cycles from 1968 – 1972 by both Van Morrison and Grateful Dead. Walker and his band of Chicago scene vets, who could seemingly jam for hours entertainingly but still obviously value song craft, are exactly the kind of act I wanted to highlight with this column – one that blurs the arbitrary genre lines in music and prevents people from finding new and inspiring music. It’s music that sounds like it would be best experienced during the earth’s waking hours: at dawn, in a field of wildflowers, after being up all night.

Like many virtuosic musicians, Ryley Walker is a guitar player simply because it’s genuinely at the very core of his existence. From the time the now 25-year-old Walker picked up a guitar at age 12, he seemingly has rarely been without one, still consistently practicing and honing his craft. The Rockford, Illinois native was even fired from a Jimmy John’s for his penchant for practicing in the walk-in freezer during his shifts. As Walker evolved, so did his playing: after moving to Chicago in 2007 he cut his teeth performing with various noise bands before settling on the distinctive finger-style playing and jammy space folk he employs today.

After seeing music trend toward synth-filled bedroom projects in the mid-2000s, there has been a revitalization of the folk rock scene in recent years, led by breathtaking guitar players like Walker, Steve Gunn, Daniel Bachman and William Tyler – as well as acts like Hiss Golden Messenger, the subject of the last edition of Make Like A Shovel. Like many of his counterparts in this scene, Walker’s music drips with the freewheeling mysticism of Van Morrison circa 1970, with several nods to the roots- influenced music the Grateful Dead was making at the time. Walker described the burgeoning scene in a recent interview with Noisey:

“We’re getting back to boogie jams now, ‘I’m outside, we’re all crazy, let’s dance around a fire and we’re in the woods’ kind of music… It’s just, we’re all guitar fans, and I think people are drawn to it again because of the last 10 years it’s been a freak out with the bedroom synth stuff. I don’t want to shit on any music like that because I love it. But it’s kind of refreshing.”

“Boogie jams” is certainly an apt description when listening to Walker’s wonderful album Primrose Green, which makes its intentions very clear on the eponymous opening track with the lyrics, “Primrose Green kept me up all night / Primrose Green keeps me hi-i-i-gh” (Primrose Green is a drink made of whiskey and morning glory seeds whose effects supposedly mirror those of absinthe). The gorgeous tinkering around Walker on that song and throughout the record comes at the hands of an absolutely top notch backing band, and one that is the perfect foil for Walker’s inventive playing. The band on the record and subsequent tour featured players from Chicago’s various music scenes, continuing that city’s long held tradition of genre bending cross- pollination. Walker’s usual co-conspirators Brian Sulpizio (guitar) and Ben Boye (piano/harmonium) are joined by a list of Chitown musicians whose accomplishments and projects are too wide ranging to list here, but it only takes one listen to Primrose Green to know that the room was bursting with talent during the loose and jam-filled recording session, which impressively took place in one day.

Although Walker’s music is peppered with obvious influences which he leans heavily on, his mix of these sounds is so intriguing it never feels borrowed or stale. Backed by his impressive band, Walker’s lacquered finger tips (he has been going to salons for years to have his fingertips treated) and soulful vocals keep things interesting, whether it’s roots music hoedowns (“On The Banks Of The Old Kishwaukee”), slow-bleed, electric psychedelic rock (“Sweet Satisfaction”), or jazz and strings filled freakouts (“Love Can Be Cruel”), Walker & Co. keep things riveting throughout. At just 25 and with his first big record and tour occurring this year, it’s clear that Ryley Walker has a bright future ahead of him. It will be intriguing to see where he takes both his rare talent and his wonderful ear for inventiveness. All in all he’s certainly an act worth digging.