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Walter Ehresman

Walter Ehresman Bio:  Called "the quintessential Austin DIY artist" by famed local disc jockey Charlie Martin, Walter Ehresman was an eccentric presence in the Austin music scene from the '80s until his 2015 move to San Miguel de Allende in Central Mexico. A prolific songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer and recording artist...Ehresman is a restless musical spirit, always looking for something new, expressed with fearlessly honest, socially-conscious lyrics. July 11 of 2022 (his 60th birthday) saw the release of Walter's 20th solo album of original material, "My Back Pages, Revisited (With No Blonde)."   To mark the occasion, this album is made up of new versions of some of Ehresman's old songs, spanning a 27 year period and going all the way back to the ‘80s. All of these new versions were recorded during the COVID pandemic, over many hours alone in the home studio.  April Fool’s Day of 2021 marked the release of his "Songs From the Crux" album.  “These songs are my visceral reaction to the rough times in the world over the last year," he tells us, ".....from the global pandemic to the GOP's criminally negligent response to it, from the US presidential election to Trump's Big Lie in the aftermath, from the Dems taking the Senate in such an unlikely fashion to the yahoo riot/coup attempt on Jan. 6." The album unfolds like a dark travelogue through a roadmap of power structures betraying the people they are sworn to protect, and of half a country's populace gone mad. There are moments of humor and light, but the overall tone is one of unflinching scrutiny aimed directly at some people and events that history will not forgive. There is a jazzy, melancholy feel to much of this album, but some tracks are clearly intended to be rabble-rousing wake-up calls. The styles vary from Steely Dan-esque jazz-rock to folk and rock protest anthems, from Bob Marley-style reggae to Rundgren-like synth work, from razor-sharp, powerful spoken word material reminiscent of Gil-Scott Heron (with a touch of Norwegian trumpeter Nils Petter Molvær and electric-period Miles) to introspective acoustic material harkening back to mid-period Joni Mitchell, from Leonard Cohen-esque contemplation of mortality to a composition which sounds plucked from The Great American Songbook of the 1930s. Songs From Crux is the work of a mature artist, reacting in the moment to a year of world-shaking events, but doing so in a way that captures more universal themes that keep the album from being stuck in a certain time.

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Take Five With Walter Ehresman

Read "Take Five With Walter Ehresman" reviewed by Walter Ehresman


Meet Walter Ehresman: Called “The quintessential Austin DIY artist" by famed disc jockey Charlie Martin (host of KOOP radio's Around the Town Sounds), Walter Ehresman has been a consistent, eccentric presence in the Austin music scene since the mid-'80s. A prolific songwriter and recording artist, he is equally at home presenting a delicate acoustic ballad in an intimate club as he is busting out screaming lead guitar with a full rock band in front of festival crowds. However, ...

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"...the album plays like a freeform station not held down to conservative programming restrictions. Ehresman is interested in creating...vocal and instrumental songs of substance. The jazz number 'Echo Down The Years' is a beautifully performed piece....he sounds best when belting out the heartbreak numbers...[In 'Flood the Empty Quarter'] you can taste the bitterness and regret within his delivery...Equally poignant is 'May The Tone Be With You, Jon,' dedicated to the memory of a close friend and music gear repairman in Austin. (He) handles the mandolin, bouzouki, and mandola with...utmost professionalism and tenderness, making the song the most touching moment on the album

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Pat Metheny
guitar
Johnny Winter
guitar, electric
Steely Dan
band / ensemble / orchestra
Steve Howe
guitar, electric

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Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Well.....Let's Look...

Snipe Bog Records.
2010

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Well......Let's Look...

Snipe Bog Records
0

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Echo Down the Years

From: Well......Let's Look at Your...
By Walter Ehresman

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