PETER WALKER + Rob Saint John + Horsebreaker
Sat 14th March at the GRV, 37 Guthrie Street, EH1 1JG
Doors 7pm (10pm finish), £6 / £5 if reserved in advance (to reserve tickets
please email us: axis (at) mrw44 dot co dot uk)

"Peter Walker was actually a bigger influence on my acoustic playing than John
Fahey or Robbie Basho" - Ben Chasny, Six Organs of Admittance

Performing in both styles in the LA caves:
http://dublab.com/visionversion?id=1703

The original guitar legend from the Sixties is alive and well, and playing more
than ever. A stunning fusion of Indian raga and Spanish flamenco guitar from a
Greenwich Village master. This is a very special opportunity to see this
legendary and highly influential American guitarist who recorded two pivotal
folk raga albums for the Vanguard label in the late Sixties and now inspires a
new generation of artists like Jack Rose and Ben Chasny. This is the second
phase for a majestic guitar hero.

A glut of new releases and reissues is accompanying Peter's reappraisal. US
label Tompkins Square managed to track him down and put out the tribute album A
Raga For Peter Walker in 2006, containing four newly recorded cuts in his
signature raga style, as well as six additional pieces by admirers like Jack
Rose, James Blackshaw, Steffen Basho-Junghans and Thurston Moore. Then in May
2008 came his first full LP for over 40 years, Echo of My Soul, a set of
Spanish-inspired pieces reflecting Peter's passion for flamenco and its Indian
roots.

Now, this November, Birdman Records are set to re-release the classic 1967 album
Rainy Day Raga, with liner notes from Ben Chasny. Long out of print, this was
Peter Walker's debut album, a gentle fusion of Eastern and Western musical
traditions, and one of the earliest examples of the folk raga style. This will
be followed in mid-February 2009 with two full length releases on Birdman - a
new flamenco set entitled Spanish Guitar, and Songs And Ragas from the 60's,
culled from much-coveted, long lost tapes on which Peter even sings.

As comebacks go, Peter Walker's is a story to rival Vashti Bunyan's. Rising to
prominence in the Cambridge MA and Greenwich Village folk scenes of the Sixties,
he studied with Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan, befriended Karen Dalton and
Sandy Bull, travelled to Franco Spain to study flamenco and was Dr. Timothy
Leary's musical director, organizing music for the LSD advocate's
'celebrations'.

Following his 1967 debut, a second album, Poem to Karmela or Gypsies Are
Important (1969) found Walker going even deeper into Indian instrumentation,
playing sarod and sitar. During this time, Peter played or was associated with
such musicians as Lowell George, Fred Neil, Tim Hardin, and Joan Baez, among
many others.

Walker settled in upstate New York in the early Seventies and more or less
dropped out of the public eye - marrying, having three kids and taking a variety
of jobs to support his family. Yet he continued to stretch himself musically,
studying flamenco technique and theory with a series of teachers. Through
regular trips to Spain, he has recently been accepted into the flamenco's
exclusive musical elite. A natural entertainer and story-teller, he toured the
UK and Spain in April to a rapturous reception.

Reminders (more info to follow in the next 24 hours):
Mon 16th March at the GRV, 8pm: Stinking Lizaveta + End Of Level Boss + Vakunoht
+ Jackie Treehorn
Tue 17th March at Henry's, 8.30pm: Pneu + Shield Your Eyes + more tbc