The Walkabouts were an Americanrock band formed in Seattle, Washington in 1984. The core members were vocalist Carla Torgerson and vocalist and songwriter Chris Eckman. Although the rest of the lineup changed occasionally, for most of the time the other members were Michael Wells, Glenn Slater and Terri Moeller.[1]
The Walkabouts achieved commercial success and a strong fanbase in Europe, where they had done promotion and extensive touring starting from the early 1990s. They occasionally even made it high on the record charts in countries such as Greece and Norway.[citation needed]
History
Carla Torgerson and Chris Eckman met and began playing music together in 1983 while attending Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington. In 1984, they moved to Seattle, and the band was born when they joined forces with Chris' two younger brothers, drummer Grant and bassist Curt. The Eckman brothers had been playing in various punk rock and pop groups during their college years, and Carla came from a folk and street singing background. The band took their name from Nicolas Roeg's cult film, Walkabout.[2]
They released their first EP, 22 Disasters, in early 1985.[1] Curt Eckman then left the band, to be replaced by Michael Wells. Their second EP, Linda Evans/Cyclone, was released in 1987. The following year they released their first album, See Beautiful Rattlesnake Gardens, on the PopLlama label, before being signed by Sub Pop as that label's first non-grunge band.[1] Adding keyboard player and multi-instrumentalist Glenn Slater, they released three albums on Sub Pop over the next few years - Cataract (1989), Rag & Bone (1990), and Scavenger (1991).[1] They also toured extensively, particularly in Europe. In 1992 they left Sub Pop Seattle, but remained with Sub Pop Europe who issued three more albums, New West Motel (1993), Satisfied Mind (1993), and Setting the Woods on Fire (1994).[1] Drummer Terri Moeller replaced Grant Eckman in 1992, when he left to care for his newborn son, Dakota Eckman.[3]
In 1995, the band signed with Virgin Records in Germany and released Devil's Road (1996) - recorded in part with the Warsaw Philharmonic - and Nighttown (1997), leading to new levels of success in Europe.[1] The video for "The Light Will Stay On", the lead single from Devil's Road was in heavy rotation on MTV Europe.[citation needed] Starting in 1996, Michael Wells left the band for several years, rejoining in 2003. He was replaced in quick succession by bassists John Baker Saunders, Fred Chalenor and Joe Skyward. In 1999, they moved to the German record label, Glitterhouse Records (the successor to Sub Pop Europe), and released Trail of Stars (1999), Train Leaves at Eight (2000), Ended Up a Stranger (2001),[1]Slow Days with Nina (2003) - an EP tribute to Nina Simone - and Acetylene (2005). During that period of time, Terri Moeller took a break from the band in 2000, and was replaced by Brian Young until she returned in 2001.
In 2010, guitarist Paul Austin joined the band and work began on a new album entitled Travels in the Dustland, released the following year to strong reviews that also hailed the band's return to activity after a six year absence. During the subsequent European tour, the live album Berlin was recorded and released.
In 2015, Eckman confirmed in an interview with Uncut magazine, and in a subsequent Facebook post, that The Walkabouts had disbanded.[4] Eckman continues to write and record with a number of projects, as well as serve as label manager for the global sounds imprint Glitterbeat.
Side projects
Eckman and Torgerson have released albums as side projects under the name "Chris & Carla" and as solo artists.[1]
Carla Torgerson has worked with Greek musician Akis Boyatzis and his band Sigmatropic on their album 16 Haiku & Other Stories (2001). Later Torgerson released a solo album Saint Stranger (2004) with help of Akis Boyatzis.
Between 1996 and 2003, Chris Eckman worked with Norwegian band Midnight Choir and teamed with Al DeLoner of Midnight Choir in electronica-project called "Höst" for an album The Damage Suite (2001). Also Eckman has worked with Willard Grant Conspiracy on the albums Regard the End (2003) and Let It Roll, as well as with The Bambi Molesters. Eckman is also a member of the trio Dirtmusic along with Chris Brokaw and Hugo Race and he has worked with the band Tamikrest from Mali. These two acts toured Europe as a double bill in the spring of 2010. Eckman has worked with Tosca on projects including the song "John Lee Huber", and with Rupert Huber of Tosca] on the album L/O/N/G.
Terri Moeller has formed The Beltanes with Eric Alton, formerly of X-15, releasing one cassette EP, entitled Love Punks (1990), and The Transmissionary Six with Paul Austin, formerly of Willard Grant Conspiracy. She released a solo CD under the pseudonym Terri Tarantula in 2010.
Death Valley Days: Lost Songs and Rarities, 1985–1995 (1996 – Glitterhouse) – Rare or previously unreleased songs 1985–1995
Watermarks: Selected Songs, 1991 to 2002 (2002 – Innerstate) – An anthology featuring the best of the Walkabouts from their Sub Pop, Glitterhouse, and Virgin releases 1991-2002
Drunken Soundtracks: Lost Songs and Rarities, 1995–2001 (2002 – Glitterhouse) – Rare or previously unreleased songs 1995–2001, 2-CDs set
Shimmers (2003 – Glitterhouse) – An anthology featuring the best of the Walkabouts from their Sub Pop, Glitterhouse and Virgin releases 1993-2001
Got No Chains / The Songs of The Walkabouts (2009 – Glitterhouse) – Remastered versions of 15 Walkabouts songs + those same 15 songs performed by others - a tribute disc - 2-CDs set
DVDs
Life: The Movie Collected Films & Clips (2012 - Glitterhouse) - Contains "Live in Prague" video (same concert as in Prague bootleg), "Tracking The Walkabouts", a 40-minute "on-the-road" documentary, "Walkie Talkie", 40 minutes of interview footage and all 9 official video clips
Singles
Year of Release
Title
Comment
1987
"Linda Evans" / "Cyclone"
Necessity Records - produced by Bruce Calder, Tony Kroes & the Walkabouts
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Acetylene is a 2005 album by American rock band The Walkabouts. It features themes of anger and chaos.
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Scavenger is the fourth studio album by The Walkabouts released September 1, 1991, on Sub Pop Records. It received national exposure in the United States through NPR. The album is available in various forms from Amazon.com and as digital download from iTunes Store in the US and the United Kingdom among others.
New West Motel is the fifth studio album by alternative rock band The Walkabouts. It was released in 1993 on Sub Pop Records. It is a double album, where all songs are credited to Chris Eckman or/and The Walkabouts except for a cover of Texan cult musician Townes Van Zandt's "Snake Mountain Blues".
Satisfied Mind is the sixth album by American rock band The Walkabouts, released in 1993 on Sub Pop. It consists entirely of covers of roots music and compositions by modern singer-songwriters, including songs authored by the Carter Family, Gene Clark, Mary Margaret O'Hara, John Cale, Nick Cave, Patti Smith and Charlie Rich.
Setting The Woods On Fire is a studio album by The Walkabouts.
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Cataract is the second studio album by American alternative country band The Walkabouts released on March 1, 1989, through Sub Pop Records.
Rag & Bone is the third EP by American alternative country band The Walkabouts released on February 1, 1990, through Sub Pop Records.
Trail of Stars is the ninth studio album by American alternative country band The Walkabouts released on August 2, 1999 through Glitterhouse Records. It's their return album to Glitterhouse, formerly Sub Pop Europe, after a two album detour with major label Virgin.
Devil's Road is an album by the American band the Walkabouts, released in 1996. The first single was "The Light Will Stay On", which was a hit in many European countries; the album, by 2003, had sold around 85,000 copies on the continent. Devil's Road was regarded as an attempt at a more commercial album.
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