Bradley Walker (March 2007)

Bradley Walker had already performed on the Grand Ole Opry, appeared on national television & sung at some of America’s leading bluegrass festivals prior to the release of his debut album 'Highway of Dreams' on Rounder Records in 2006.

Bradley was hailed as 'simply one of the greatest young country singers alive'; he belongs to a tradition that includes such outstanding stylists as Vern Gosdin, Merle Haggard, Mel Street, Gene Watson, George Jones, Lefty Frizzell & Keith Whitley.

On 'Highway of Dreams', Bradley is backed by some of Nashville’s greatest acoustic players, under the direction of producer, singer, multi-instrumentalist & songwriter Carl Jackson.

Carl, who has worked with everyone from Emmylou Harris to Glen Campbell & whose resume includes recording sessions with Ricky Skaggs, Jim & Jesse, Garth Brooks & Vince Gill amongst others, reserves extra praise for Bradley Walker, who he considers to be 'a special person, as well as a talent'.

Rounder Records co-founder Ken Irwin also has high praise for Bradley; the fact that he drove alone from his hometown of Athens, Alabama to Nashville for the recording sessions is itself a wonder.

Bradley was born with Muscular Dystrophy & has been in a wheelchair his entire life.  He is, however, as fiercely independent as he is musically gifted.  He built his own home in Alabama, designing it for maximum mobility & comfort.  Bradley is also completely at ease in his customised van & has been working a day job ever since his high-school graduation, in addition to singing & traveling to festivals regularly.

Bradley's parents, Tom Walker & Sherl Putman, both loved music deeply.  The radio played constantly at home & they always had plenty of records around.  Tom sometimes sang & Sherl once worked in a record shop.  Bradley was born in 1978 & was singing not long afterward.  When he was three years old, Bradley's parents took him to a local Oak Ridge Boys concert.  Backstage, the tot sang 'Elvira' to the quartet, beginning a friendship that lasts to this day.

Trips to Nashville were common.  When he was ten years old, his family brought him to the Oak Ridge Boys’ fan club party.  This time, Bradley sang 'Elvira' with the quartet.  The group was so impressed that the following year (March 1989) he was invited to appear on the national cable show 'Nashville Now' with the Oaks.

Bradley started out playing dance halls not long after he graduated from high school in 1996.  It was around this time that he began to gain a deep love of bluegrass music.

Bradley & Ray Edwards formed the Trinity Mountain Boys with brothers Tim, Scotty & Kirk Terry, the nephews of fiddler Gordon Terry; the band debuted at a bluegrass festival staged in Pulaski, Tennessee in 1998.  Former Sawyer Brown member Bobby Randall spotted Bradley at a bluegrass festival & asked him to come to Nashville to sing song demos.  This was Bradley’s introduction to the recording studio.  In 1999, The Trinity Mountain Boys self-produced their album 'Breaking New Ground'.

The Atlanta-based bluegrass group Lost Horizon invited Bradley Walker to become its lead singer in 2001, so he began commuting to Georgia for rehearsals.  The group took second place at the SPBGMA convention in Nashville that year & then Lost Horizon was invited to Los Angeles to appear on the Jerry Lewis Telethon.

As a result, Bradley's circle of musical friends widened & he was soon sharing the stage with bands like IIIrd Tyme Out, Larry Cordle & Lonesome Standard Time, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver & The Lonesome River Band.

In 2002, the members of IIIrd Tyme Out invited him to appear with them at the Grand Ole Opry.  He sang the Jimmy Martin classic 'Drink Up & Go Home' & drew a standing ovation.  Bradley has since been on the Opry several more times as the guest of Alecia Nugent & stars such as Vince Gill & Mark Wills.

It was also in 2002 that Bradley went to work at the Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant in northern Alabama, where he took up the position of material analyst there, supporting warehouse inventory & purchasing.

Bradley was honoured in September 2005 when Bluegrass Unlimited magazine published a feature story, headlining him as 'The Next Great Voice of Bluegrass Music'.  The Nashville Scene once hailed him as 'the best singer in bluegrass today not yet signed to a record deal'.

Bradley Walker came to many listeners’ attention via 'When It Comes Down to Us', a duet with Alecia Nugent that appeared on her 2006 Rounder Records album 'A Little Girl…A Big Four Lane'.

Visit Bradley Walker's Official Website
Visit Bradley Walker's Official MySpace Website
Visit Alecia Nugent's Official Website