The Walkabouts were an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

rock band formed in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

in 1984. The core members were vocalist Carla Torgerson and vocalist and songwriter Chris Eckman. Although the rest of the line-up changed occasionally, for most of the time the other members were Michael Wells, Glenn Slater and Terri Moeller. The band drew inspiration from

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fo ...

and

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

, particularly

Townes Van Zandt John Townes Van Zandt (March 7, 1944 – January 1, 1997) was an American singer-songwriter.

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Fur ...

and Johnny Cash, but also from other types of artists and musical styles such as Scott Walker,

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...

, French

chanson A (, , french: chanson française, link=no, ; ) is generally any lyric-driven French song, though it most often refers to the secular polyphonic French songs of late medieval and Renaissance music. The genre had origins in the monophonic so ...

and Jacques Brel. Their sound was typically rich, with string arrangements and keyboards in addition to the standard rock instruments. The Walkabouts achieved commercial success and a strong fanbase in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

, where they had done promotion and extensive touring starting from the early 1990s. They occasionally even made it high on the

record chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include re ...

s in countries such as

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

and

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

History

Carla Torgerson and Chris Eckman met and began playing music together in 1983 while attending

Whitman College Whitman College is a private liberal arts college in Walla Walla, Washington. The school offers 53 majors and 33 minors in the liberal arts and sciences, and it has a student-to-faculty ratio of 9:1. Whitman was the first college in the Pacific ...

Walla Walla, Washington Walla Walla is a city in Walla Walla County, Washington, where it is the largest city and county seat. It had a population of 34,060 at the 2020 census, estimated to have decreased to 33,927 as of 2021. The population of the city and its two su ...

. 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 Walkabout is a rite of passage in Australian Aboriginal society, during which males undergo a journey during adolescence, typically ages 10 to 16, and live in the wilderness for a period as long as six months to make the spiritual and traditiona ...

''. They released their first EP, ''22 Disasters'', in early 1985. 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. 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). 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 ''New West Motel'' is the fifth studio album by alternative rock band The Walkabouts. It was released in 1993 on Sub Pop Records.The Walkaboutsat Discogs'' It is a double album, where all songs are credited to Chris Eckman or/and The Walkabouts ex ...

'' (1993), ''

Satisfied Mind ''Satisfied Mind'' is the sixth album by American rock band The Walkabouts, released in 1993 on Sub Pop.The Walkaboutsat Discogs'' It consists entirely of covers of roots music and compositions by modern singer-songwriters, including songs auth ...

'' (1993), and '' Setting the Woods on Fire'' (1994). Drummer Terri Moeller replaced Grant Eckman in 1992, when he left to care for his newborn son, Dakota Eckman.The Stopping-Off Place: Unofficial Site for the Walkabouts
''

'' was their first of several albums largely or wholly comprising songs originally written and recorded by an eclectic variety of other artists, including Nick Cave, Charlie Rich,

Johnny Rivers Johnny Rivers (born John Henry Ramistella; November 7, 1942) is an American musician. His repertoire includes pop, folk, blues, and old-time rock 'n' roll. Rivers charted during the 1960s and 1970s but remains best known for a string of hit sing ...

Patti Smith Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter and author who became an influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album ''Horses''. Called the "punk poet ...

Mary Margaret O'Hara Mary Margaret O'Hara is a Canadian singer-songwriter, actress and composer. She is best known for the album ''Miss America'', released in 1988. She released two albums and an EP under her own name, and remains active as a live performer, as a con ...

, and Gene Clark. Their 1996 collection of unreleased songs, ''Death Valley Days'', also included songs by

, Nick Drake and

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

, and in 2000 they issued ''Train Leaves at Eight'', which broadened the approach further by including songs by European artists including

Mikis Theodorakis Michail "Mikis" Theodorakis ( el, Μιχαήλ "Μίκης" Θεοδωράκης ; 29 July 1925 – 2 September 2021) was a Greek composer and lyricist credited with over 1,000 works. He scored for the films ''Zorba the Greek'' (1964), '' Z'' ...

Goran Bregović Goran Bregović (born 22 March 1950) is a recording artist from Bosnia and Herzegovina. He is one of the most internationally known modern musicians and composers of the Slavic-speaking countries in the Balkans, and is one of the few former Yug ...

, Jacques Brel and

Neu! Neu! (; German for "New!"; styled in block capitals) were a West German krautrock band formed in Düsseldorf in 1971 by Klaus Dinger and Michael Rother following their departure from Kraftwerk. The group's albums were produced by Conny Plan ...

. In 1995, the band signed with

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), Tom Newman. It ...

in Germany and released ''

Devil's Road ''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. ''Dev ...

'' (1996) - recorded in part with the

Warsaw Philharmonic The Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra ( pl, Orkiestra Filharmonii Narodowej w Warszawie) is a Polish orchestra based in Warsaw. Founded in 1901, it is one of Poland's oldest musical institutions. History The orchestra was conceived on ...

- and ''Nighttown'' (1997), leading to new levels of success in Europe. The video for "The Light Will Stay On", the lead single from ''Devil's Road'' was in heavy rotation on

MTV Europe MTV Global (formerly as MTV Europe) is the international version of the American TV channel MTV, a 24-hour music and entertainment TV channel that began broadcasting on August 1, 1987, as part of the worldwide MTV network. Initially, MTV serve ...

. 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 John Baker Saunders, Jr. (September 23, 1954 – January 15, 1999) was an American musician, known as a founding member and bassist for the American grunge rock supergroup Mad Season, as well as a member of The Walkabouts. Biography Saun ...

Fred Chalenor Fred Chalenor (December 29, 1955 – June 23, 2018) was an American bassist, most recognized for his work in the bands Caveman Shoestore, Tone Dogs, and Face Ditch. He also collaborated on numerous occasions with composer and keyboardist Wayne ...

and Joe Skyward. In 1999, they moved to the German record label,

Glitterhouse Records Glitterhouse Records is a German independent record label and mail order company based in Beverungen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It was founded in the mid-1980s. From the late 1980s until the mid-1990s it was the European branch of the American la ...

(the successor to Sub Pop Europe), and released ''Trail of Stars'' (1999), ''Train Leaves at Eight'' (2000), ''Ended Up a Stranger'' (2001), ''Slow Days with Nina'' (2003) - an EP tribute to

Nina Simone Eunice Kathleen Waymon (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), known professionally as Nina Simone (), was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blu ...

- 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 ''Uncut'' is a monthly magazine based in London. It is available across the English-speaking world, and focuses on music, but also includes film and books sections. A DVD magazine under the ''Uncut'' brand was published quarterly from 2005 to 2006 ...

'', and in a subsequent Facebook post, that The Walkabouts had disbanded. 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. Carla Torgerson has worked with

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

musician Akis Boyatzis and his band Sigmatropic on their album ''16

Haiku is a type of short form poetry originally from Japan. Traditional Japanese haiku consist of three phrases that contain a ''kireji'', or "cutting word", 17 '' on'' (phonetic units similar to syllables) in a 5, 7, 5 pattern, and a ''kigo'', or s ...

& 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 Midnight Choir was a Norwegian alternative rock/alt-country band active from 1992 to 2004. Biography The members of Midnight Choir were Al DeLoner (Atle Bystrøm 'Olsen'), Paal Flaata, and Ron 'Bystrøm' Olsen. (Atle and Ron are brothers) The ...

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 Willard Grant Conspiracy (WGC) was an alt-country band based originally in Boston, Massachusetts and later near Palmdale, California, U.S.. The band operated as a collective, with vocalist and songwriter Robert Fisher the only permanent member ...

on the albums '' Regard the End'' (2003) and '' Let It Roll'', as well as with

The Bambi Molesters The Bambi Molesters were a surf rock band from Sisak, Croatia, founded in 1995. They performed regularly in Croatia and all over Europe, often opening for the US rock band R.E.M. They released five studio albums from 1997 until 2013. In collabor ...

. Eckman is also a member of the trio Dirtmusic along with

Chris Brokaw Chris Brokaw (born August 1, 1964) is an American musician, best known for his work with the bands Come and Codeine. Life and career While studying at Oberlin College, Brokaw met many people who became figures on the American indie rock scene ...

and

Hugo Race Hugo Justin Race (born 23 May 1963) is an Australian rock musician and record producer who had been based in Europe from 1989 to 2011. He was a member of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (1983–85), and The Wreckery (1984–89) with Nick Barker ...

and he has worked with the band Tamikrest from

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mal ...

. These two acts toured Europe as a double bill in the spring of 2010. Eckman has worked with

Tosca ''Tosca'' is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900. The work, based on Victorien Sardou's 1887 French-language drama ...

on projects including the song "John Lee Huber", and with

Rupert Huber Rupert W.M. Huber (born 1967 in Mödling, Austria) is an Austrian composer and musician. In 1994, Huber founded ''Huber Musik'' to publish his own music, and in the same year, founded Tosca with Richard Dorfmeister. Huber's 2006 release of ''Fu ...

of Tosca] on the album ''L/O/N/G''. Terri Moeller has formed The Beltanes with Eric Alton, formerly of

X-15 The North American X-15 is a hypersonic rocket-powered aircraft. It was operated by the United States Air Force and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration as part of the X-plane series of experimental aircraft. The X-15 set spee ...

, releasing one cassette EP, entitled ''Love Punks'' (1990), and

The Transmissionary Six The Transmissionary Six was actually the songwriting team of Terri Moeller and Paul Austin, the former a longtime drummer of The Walkabouts, the latter a founding member of the Willard Grant Conspiracy Willard Grant Conspiracy (WGC) was an alt-c ...

with Paul Austin, formerly of

. She released a solo CD under the pseudonym Terri Tarantula in 2010.

Band member history

Timeline

ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:18 PlotArea = left:110 bottom:90 top:0 right:20 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1984 till:04/01/2015 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy ScaleMinor = start:1984 increment:1 ScaleMajor = start:1984 increment:3 Legend = position:bottom orientation:horizontal Colors = id:voc value:red legend:Vocals id:g value:green legend:Guitar id:b value:blue legend:Bass id:dr value:orange legend:Drums id:key value:purple legend:Keyboards id:vio value:drabgreen legend:Violin id:studio value:black legend:Studio_Album LineData = at:15/01/1988 color:black layer:back at:24/09/1989 color:black layer:back at:13/09/1991 color:black layer:back at:15/01/1993 color:black layer:back at:24/06/1993 color:black layer:back at:13/01/1994 color:black layer:back at:15/01/1995 color:black layer:back at:24/01/1996 color:black layer:back at:13/01/1997 color:black layer:back at:15/08/1999 color:black layer:back at:24/07/2000 color:black layer:back at:13/07/2001 color:black layer:back at:24/01/2005 color:black layer:back at:13/09/2011 color:black layer:back BarData = bar:CEckman text:"Chris Eckman" bar:Torgerson text:"Carla Torgerson" bar:Wirth text:"Bruce Wirth" bar:Austin text:"Paul Austin" bar:CuEchman text:"Curt Eckman" bar:Wells text:"Michael Wells" bar:Saunders text:"John Baker Saunders" bar:Chalenor text:" Fred Chalenor" bar:Skyward text:"Joe Skyward" bar:GEckman text:"Grant Eckman" bar:Moeller text:"Terri Moeller" bar:Young text:"Brian Young" bar:Slater text:"Glenn Slater" PlotData = width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(11,-4) bar:CEckman from:start till:end color:g width:3 bar:CEckman from:start till:end color:voc bar:Torgerson from:start till:end color:g width:3 bar: Torgerson from:start till:end color:voc bar:Austin from:01/01/2011 till:end color:g bar:Slater from:01/01/1989 till:end color:key bar:Wirth from:01/03/1991 till:01/06/1994 color:vio width:3 bar:Wirth from:01/03/1991 till:01/06/1994 color:g bar:CuEchman from:start till:01/03/1985 color:b bar:Wells from:01/03/1985 till:01/06/1996 color:b bar:Wells from:01/01/2003 till:end color:b bar:Saunders from:01/06/1996 till:15/01/1999 color:b bar:Chalenor from:15/01/1999 till:31/12/1999 color:b bar:Skyward from:01/01/2000 till:31/12/2002 color:b bar:GEckman from:start till:01/03/1991 color:dr bar:Moeller from:01/03/1991 till:31/12/1999 color:dr bar:Moeller from:01/01/2001 till:end color:dr bar:Young from:01/01/2000 till:31/12/2000 color:dr

Discography

EPs

* ''22 Disasters'' (1985 - Necessity Records - produced by

Terry Date Terry Date (born January 31, 1956) is an American record producer and audio engineer specializing in rock genres, especially heavy metal. He is well known for his work with Metal Church, Dream Theater, Soundgarden, Overkill, Pantera, Dark Ang ...

& the Walkabouts) * ''

Rag & Bone Rag & Bone is an American fashion label helmed by Marcus Wainwright, originally from Britain. The brand is sold in more than 700 shops around the world, as well as in Rag & Bone retail stores. History Rag & Bone was founded in 2002 by Nathan B ...

'' (1990 - Sub Pop - produced by Tony Kroes, Ed Brooks & the Walkabouts) * ''Slow Days With Nina'' (2003 - Shingle Street Records) - tribute to

Studio albums

Compilations

* ''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

Official bootlegs

List of official bootlegs (sold at concerts) and mailorder only releases (released on the German label Glitterhouse Records).

References

External links

Unofficial "The Walkabouts" (and Chris & Carla) website

The Walkabouts collection
at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

's live music archive {{DEFAULTSORT:Walkabouts, The Musical groups established in 1984 Musical groups disestablished in 2015 1984 establishments in Washington (state) 2015 disestablishments in Washington (state) Musical groups from Seattle Alternative rock groups from Washington (state) PopLlama Records artists Sub Pop artists Glitterhouse Records artists