Walker to sing the blues in Whitefish

Veteran blues man Phillip Walker plays at Flanagan's Central Station in Whitefish on March 4 at 9 p.m.

Walker has been on the road almost constantly since the mid 1950s. Guitar Player Magazine called Walker "one of the 10 best and most important blues guitarists living today."

Walker was born in Louisiana in 1937, the seventh of 12 children. His father was a farmer, his mother French Creole, and his grandmother a full-blooded Cherokee. At age 8 his family moved to Texas and when he wasn't working in the fields or helping herd cattle on horseback, he spent every minute learning how to play guitar. He constructed his first instrument from a cigar box, using the thinnest wire from his family's window screens for strings.

Walker had five musician uncles who would come by with their Cajun style of music they played in the clubs in the '20s and '30s. Walker borrowed from their zydeco roots and added a generous share of Texas blues to create his own sound.

Louisiana zydeco king Clifton Chenier gave Walker his first bona fide guitar when he was 16 and soon after Walker took to the road.

By 1955 he was a veteran sideman, and had played with such legends as Little Richard, Etta James and Fats Domino, touring across the United States. He formed his own group, the Blue Eagles Band, and toured with T-Bone Walker, Jr. Parker and other big names. Shortly after, he met and married talented songwriter Ina Beatrice Gilkey, known as Bea Bopp, who began composing songs for him. For several years the two worked the Los Angeles clubs as Phil and Bea Bopp. By 1977 Walker had become a well-respected international star.

Robert Cray describes Walker as one of the most powerful musical influences in his career. In the late '80s, Cray recorded one of Walker's songs as the title cut of his album, "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark," which went platinum.

Tickets for Walker's performance at Flanagan's are $10. Call 862-8888 for more information.