Walter Trout (born March 6, 1951 in

Ocean City, New Jersey Ocean City is a city in Cape May County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is the principal city of the Ocean City metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses all of Cape May County and is part of the Philadelphia- Wilmington- Camden, P ...

, United States) is an American

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

guitarist, singer and songwriter.

Biography

Trout's career began on the Jersey coast scene of the late 1960s and early 1970s. He then decided to relocate to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

where he became a

sideman A sideman is a professional musician who is hired to perform live with a solo artist, or with a group in which they are not a regular band member. The term is usually used to describe musicians that play with jazz or rock artists, whether solo ...

for

John Lee Hooker John Lee Hooker (August 22, 1912 or 1917 – June 21, 2001) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. The son of a sharecropper, he rose to prominence performing an electric guitar-style adaptation of Delta blues. Hooker often ...

Percy Mayfield Percy Mayfield (August 12, 1920August 11, 1984) was an American Rhythm and blues singer with a smooth vocal style. He also was a songwriter, known for the songs " Please Send Me Someone to Love" and "Hit the Road Jack", the latter being a song ...

Big Mama Thornton Willie Mae Thornton (December 11, 1926 – July 25, 1984), better known as Big Mama Thornton, was an American singer and songwriter of the blues and R&B genres. She was the first to record Leiber and Stoller's " Hound Dog", in 1952, which becam ...

Joe Tex Yusuf Hazziez (born Joseph Arrington Jr.; August 8, 1935 – August 13, 1982), known professionally as Joe Tex, was an American singer and musician who gained success in the 1960s and 1970s with his brand of Southern soul, which mixed the style ...

, and many others. Between 1981 and 1984, he was the lead guitarist in

Canned Heat Canned Heat is an American band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1965. The group is noted for its efforts to promote interest in blues music and its original artists and rock music. It was founded by two blues enthusiasts Alan Wilson and Bob ...

. He toured with them extensively in the US, Europe, and Australia. From 1984 to 1989, he was the lead guitarist in

John Mayall's Bluesbreakers John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers are an English blues rock band led by singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist John Mayall. While never producing a hit of their own, the band has been influential as an incubator for British rock and blues ...

following in the footsteps of guitarists such as Peter Green and

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...

. Trout recorded and toured with the Bluesbreakers worldwide. The many successes on stage were accompanied by a self-destructive lifestyle offstage. Trout recalled in a 2018 interview with Blues Radio International that while playing with John Mayall, he was rescued from a complete descent into alcohol and substance abuse by a post-gig encounter with

Carlos Santana Carlos Humberto Santana Barragán (; born July 20, 1947) is an American guitarist who rose to fame in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band Santana, which pioneered a fusion of Rock and roll and Latin American jazz. Its sound featured ...

. Trout left the Bluesbreakers in 1989 and formed the 'Walter Trout Band' which developed a successful following in Europe, especially Scandinavia where he found himself playing to large festival crowds such as at the

Midtfyns Festival The Midtfyns Festival is a famous rock festival in Ringe, Denmark. It was closed before the 2004 festival started, due to declining ticket sales. In 2005 Henrik Malmkjær acquired the rights for the festival, planning to revive it in 2006. The p ...

and

Skanderborg Festival Smukfest (also known as the Skanderborg Festival) is an annual music festival, held during the second weekend of August in Denmark. Its location, in a beech forest in the vicinity of Skanderborg, has given rise to the slogan "Denmarks' Most Beautif ...

. ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' named Trout's first solo album, ''Life in the Jungle'', "the greatest album in the history of the blues-rock genre." Between 1990 and 1992, Trout's first two albums sold over 100,000 copies. In 1991, his song, "The Love That We Once Knew" climbed the charts in the Netherlands leading to a Top 10 radio hit. Performances at Park Pop and Pink Pop solidified his status there. When home between tours and until 2005, Trout hosted all-night jams with his celebrity friends in Huntington Beach. Such jams featured

Richie Hayward Richard "Richie" Hayward (February 6, 1946 – August 12, 2010) was an American drummer best known as a founding member and drummer in the band Little Feat. He performed with several bands and worked as a session player. Hayward also joined ...

(Little Feat),

Jesse Ed Davis Jesse Edwin Davis III (September 21, 1944 – June 22, 1988) was a Native American guitarist. He was well regarded as a session artist and solo performer, was a member of Taj Mahal's backing band and played with musicians such as Eric Clapton, J ...

Mick Taylor Michael Kevin Taylor (born 17 January 1949) is an English guitarist, best known as a former member of John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers (1967–1969) and the Rolling Stones (1969–1974). As a member of the Stones, h ...

John Mayall John Mayall, OBE (born 29 November 1933) is an English blues singer, musician and songwriter, whose musical career spans over sixty years. In the 1960s, he was the founder of John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, a band that has counted among it ...

Garth Hudson Eric "Garth" Hudson (born August 2, 1937) is a Canadian multi-instrumentalist best known as the keyboardist and occasional saxophonist for rock group the Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. He was a ...

Billy Gibbons William Frederick Gibbons (born December 16, 1949) is an American musician who is the guitarist and lead singer of the rock band ZZ Top. He began his career in the band the Moving Sidewalks, which recorded a full-length album entitled, ''Flas ...

TM Stevens Thomas Michael "T. M." Stevens (born July 28, 1951) is an American bass guitarist from New York City. Stevens has worked with an array of rock, R&B, and pop acts as a session musician, and also leads his own groups and works as a solo performer ...

Teena Marie Mary Christine Brockert (March 5, 1956 – December 26, 2010), known professionally as Teena Marie, was an American singer-songwriter, musician, composer, arranger, and producer. She was known by her childhood nickname Tina before taking the sta ...

, and many more. In 1994, the official Walter Trout Fan Club for the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

was founded, followed in 1996 by the official International Fan Club which had members in 14 countries in Europe, America, Asia and Australia. In 1998, Trout released his self-titled US debut album and renamed his band 'Walter Trout and the Free Radicals' (later renamed 'Walter Trout and the Radicals' and currently simply 'Walter Trout'). Since, Trout has been recording prolifically and touring in North and Central America, Europe, Australia, and India. In 2002, he was featured on the

Bo Diddley Ellas McDaniel (born Ellas Otha Bates; December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, incl ...

tribute album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records coll ...

, ''Hey Bo Diddley – A Tribute!'', performing the song " Road Runner" and many more guest appearances on other

recordings A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, r ...

. In June 2013, while touring Germany, Trout got the first signs that he was suffering from

cirrhosis Cirrhosis, also known as liver cirrhosis or hepatic cirrhosis, and end-stage liver disease, is the impaired liver function caused by the formation of scar tissue known as fibrosis due to damage caused by liver disease. Damage causes tissue repai ...

of the

liver The liver is a major Organ (anatomy), organ only found in vertebrates which performs many essential biological functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the Protein biosynthesis, synthesis of proteins and biochemicals necessary for ...

. With his health deteriorating, he continued to tour until told he needed a liver transplant within 90 days. Supported by donations from fans, his wife raised the money needed for them to move out of state for lengthy stays in order to qualify for transplantation in various states. Trout recovered from his cirrhosis and subsequent liver transplant in a hospital bed for eight months, during which time he suffered from brain damage, which caused him to lose the ability to speak, play the guitar, and recognize his family. Due to being bedridden, he also lost the use of his legs during this time. He had to relearn how to speak and walk. Trout has also stated that he spent eight hours a day over the course of a year to relearn how to play the guitar. On May 26, 2014, Trout received the lifesaving operation. By 2015, Trout had recovered and was able to go on tour in Europe. His 2015 album, ''Battle Scars'', chronicled his battle with liver failure and the excruciating wait for a donated liver to become available. Also in 2014, a documentary hosted by Dutch rock journalist TJ Lammers about Trout's life was released to coincide with Trout's album, ''When the Blues Came Calling''. At the same time, a biography, ''Rescued From Reality'', co-written by British music journalist, Henry Yates, was released. In 2015, Trout had recovered and returned to performing at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. He was introduced onstage by his wife. In November 2015, Trout became a patron of

The British Liver Trust British Liver Trust is a charitable organisation in The United Kingdom which has a focus in the health of the liver. Based in the town of Winchester, the Trust is made up of over 20 employed members of staff who are supplemented by voluntary wo ...

to help raise awareness and much-needed funding for the cause. Trout, and his wife, Marie have helped raise awareness for Donate Life Nebraska and are also patrons of the Danish Liver Foundation, as well as Organdonation – Ja Tak. "I'm only still here because someone donated their liver" he said. In 2019, Trout's album, ''Survivor Blues'', debuted with two consecutive weeks on the Billboard Blues Chart at number one and stayed in the top ten for twelve weeks. ''Metal Zone'' magazine, reviewed his performance in London by naming Trout "the ultimate, supreme bluesman of the 20th and 21st centuries." In April 2022, Trout announced his latest studio album ''Ride'', alongside the lead single "Ghosts." Describing the title, Trout said, "... life is kind of a ride too, isn’t it? And I want to live mine to the fullest.” The album was released on 19 August 2022.

Awards

Blues Music Award The Blues Music Awards, formerly known as the W. C. Handy Awards (or "The Handys"), are awards presented by the Blues Foundation, a non-profit organization set up to foster blues heritage. The awards were originally named in honor of W. C. Handy, " ...

s * 2016 Song of the Year for Gonna Live Again * 2016 Rock Blues Album of the Year for Battle Scars (re-released in US in 2002) * 2018 Rock Blues Album of the Year for We’re All In This Together. * 2021 Song of the Year for All Out of Tears co-written with Teeny Tucker and Marie Trout SENA European Guitar Awards * Winner of the SENA European Guitar Award 2015

British Blues Awards The British Blues Awards were inaugurated in 2010. The prize was awarded in various categories, such as 'Male vocals', 'Female vocals', 'Guitarist', 'Bass player' and 'Keyboard player', 'Blues band', 'Young artist', 'Blues album', 'Blues festival' a ...

* 2013 Overseas Artist of the Year * 2014 Overseas Artist of the Year * 2015 Overseas Artist of the Year Blues Blast Music Awards * 2016 Blues Rock Album. * 2017 Live Blues Album. * 2018 Blues Rock Album and Male Blues Artist of the Year.

Polls

*Planet Rock: Greatest Blues Artists of All Time: #5 *Arrow Classic Rock: #1 Best Blues Song in 2012, 2013, 2015, and 2016. *BBC Listener's Poll: #5 (tied with Brian May) Best Guitarist 1993

TV shows

*VH1 Europe: Under the Bridge *German National TV: Ohne Filter *PBS Special *Denmark: DR and TV2

Private life

In 1990, Trout met a 27-year-old advertising executive, Marie Brændgård during the recording of his second solo album, ''Prisoner of a Dream'', in Denmark. Although married at the time, he pursued her, and convinced her to leave Denmark and move to California. Trout filed for divorce. In 1991, they were married in Huntington Beach, California, where the couple still live with their three sons. They also maintain a residence in Denmark. Marie has managed Trout's career since 1993 and gained a PhD in Wisdom Studies in 2015. In February of 2017, her book ''The Blues-Why It Still Hurts So Good'' was released. Trout and Marie have co-written several songs together, and in 2021 their collaboration on the song ''All Out of Tears'', a three-way co-write with Teeny Tucker, won the "Song of the Year" Award at the Blues Awards in Memphis.

Discography

Walter Trout Band * 1989 ''Life in the Jungle'' (re-released in US in 2002) * 1990 ''Prisoner of a Dream'' * 1992 ''Transition'' * 1992 ''No More Fish Jokes'' (

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

) * 1994 ''Tellin' Stories'' * 1995 ''Breaking The Rules'' * 1996 ''Jimi Hendrix Music Festival (Janblues) * 1997 ''Positively Beale St.'' Walter Trout and the Free Radicals * 1998 ''Walter Trout'' (same tracks as ''Positively Beale St.'') * 1999 ''Livin' Every Day'' * 2000 ''Face The Music (Live on Tour)'' * 2000 ''Live Trout'' * 2001 ''Go The Distance''

featuring Walter Trout * 1985 ''Behind the Iron Curtain'' (live in Hungary), reissue: ** 2004 ''Steppin' Out'' * 1987 ''Chicago Line'', reissues: ** 1994 ''Uncle John's Nickel Guitar'' ** 1999 ''Blues Power'' (with bonus CD ''Life in the Jungle: Charly Blues Masterworks Vol. 4'') ** 2000 ''Blues Breaker'' (with 2 bonus tracks) * 1988 ''The Power of the Blues'' (live in Germany 1987), reissues: ** 1993 ''New Bluesbreakers: The Blues Collection Vol. 8'' ** 2003 ''Blues Forever'' (with bonus CD ''Life in the Jungle: Charly Blues Masterworks Vol. 4'') * 1993 ''Life in the Jungle: Charly Blues Masterworks Vol. 4'' * 2005 ''Rolling with the Blues'' (live 1972–1973, 1980 and 1982), reissue: ** 2006 ''The Private Collection'' Walter Trout and the Radicals * 2001 ''Go The Distance'' * 2003 ''Relentless'' * 2005 ''Deep Trout: The Early Years of Walter Trout'' * 2006 ''Full Circle'' (featuring guest artists) * 2007 ''Hardcore'' (self released recording of the 'Power Trio' playing live in Europe) Walter Trout * 2008 ''The Outsider'' * 2009 ''Unspoiled By Progress: 20 Years of Hardcore Blues'' (previously unreleased tracks and three new songs) * 2010 ''Common Ground'' * 2012 ''Blues For The Modern Daze'' * 2013 ''Luther's Blues'' * 2014 ''The Blues Came Callin'' * 2015 ''Battle Scars'' * 2016 ''Alive In Amsterdam'' * 2017 ''We're All In This Together'' * 2019 ''Survivor Blues'' * 2020 ''Ordinary Madness'' * 2022 ''Ride''

References

External links

Official website of Walter Trout and Official Global Fan Club
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trout, Walter 1951 births Living people American blues guitarists American male guitarists American blues singers Blues rock musicians Electric blues musicians Canned Heat members John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers members Singers from New Jersey People from Ocean City, New Jersey Guitarists from New Jersey 20th-century American guitarists Ruf Records artists Provogue Records artists