Walkin' Cane

"Damn Fine Blues!" Original & classic delta blues featuring slide guitar and soulful vocals. A blues gumbo repertoire that can conjure up the ghosts of highway 61 & the delta blues experience. Austin "Walkin' Cane" is a blues singer, songwriter and slide guitarist that performs acoustic solo, duo & electric band sets. Walkin' Cane has traveled all over the world from New Orleans, Louisiana to Belfort, France and has acquired various blues/instrumentalist awards over the years. Austin walked for ten years with a cane due to an arterial venous malformation at birth. While performing on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, a homeless man called out "Hey Walkin' Cane got some spare change for a brother?!" Austin took the jibe as his nickname. In 1996, after years of battling the inevitable, his left leg was amputated below the knee. A year after the surgery, he returned to the music scene stronger & without need of a cane. In 2002, Austin & Karen Starks were married at Sun Studios in Memphis, Tennessee and began recording his 706 Union Ave. cd at the legendary studio immediately after the ceremony. "The thought of getting married & recording in the same room where many of my heroes took their first steps was incredible." Austin "Walkin' Cane" is proud to be sponsored by National Reso-Phonic Guitars, Dr. Z Amplifiers & Ernie Ball Strings.

"Walkin' Cane's" latest cd, "Murder of a Blues Singer", was inspired by an after hour diner conversation with blues legend Robert Jr. Lockwood. "The stories were flowing like the grease off our plates", subsequently the album is saturated in classic delta blues, as were the tales of Lockwood's stepfather, Robert Johnson. Mr. Lockwood had agreed to perform on the record, but fate had changed that path. The Walkin' Cane Band featuring Mike Barrick on bass, Michael Bay on guitar & Jim Wall on drums captured the perfect "live in the studio" feeling that Austin & co-writer Chris Allen had envisioned for these songs. The band is a "well oiled machine" & has been writing, recording & performing together since 1998. Special guests on "Murder of a Blues Singer" include Colin Dussault (Colin Dussault's Blues Project), Eric "Eroc" Sosinski (Michael Stanley, Wish You Were Here) and one of Cleveland's finest gospel groups, the Prayer Warriors.

NACA College Performances - 2008 - 2010
University of Cincinnati - Cincinnati, OH
Kellogg Community College - Battlecreek, MI
Aquinas College - Grand Rapids, MI
University of St Francis - Joliet, IL
Gateway Technical College - Racine, WI
Gateway Technical College - Kenosha, WI
Gateway Technical College - Elkhorn, WI
Lake Land College, Mattoon, IL
Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville, IL
Tompkins Cortland Community College - Dryden, NY
St Mary's College of MD - St. Mary's City, MD
Case Western Reserve University - Cleveland, OH
Western Carolina University - Cullowhee, NC
SUNY - Oneonta State College - Oneonta, NY
Normandale Community College - Bloomington, MN
North Dakota State University - Fargo, ND
Fox Valley Tech. College - Appleton, WI
University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh,WI
Coe College, Cedar Rapids, IA
Waynesburg University - Waynesburg, PA
Edison Community College - Piqua, OH
College of Lake County - Grayslake, IL
Florida State College - Jacksonville, FL St. Charles College - St. Louis, MO
University of Pittsburgh, Titusville, PA Bethany College - Bethany, WV

Music & Arts Showcases:
2010 - NACA National - Boston, MA
2009 - OAPN Conference - Sandusky, OH
2008 - NACA Northern Plains Showcase - Minneapolis/St. Paul MN
2008 - NACA Mid-Atlantic Showcase - E. Shroudsburg, PA
2007 - NACA Mid-American Showcase

Blues Festivals - 2009-2010

Blues On Broadbeach Festival - Austrailia Himalayan Blues Festival - Kathmandu, Nepal

FIMU Music Festival - Belfort, France Arkansas Blues & Heritage Festival - Helena, AR International Blues Challenege - Memphis, TN Columbus Traditional Music Festival - Columbus, OH Winterfolk Blues Festival - Dayton, OH Ohio City Blues & Brews Festival - Cleveland, OH

Fraze Pavillion Blues & BBQ Festival - Dayton, OH Cain Park - Evans Theatre - Cleveland, OH Delaware Arts Festival - Delaware, OH Oberlin Summerfest - Oberlin, OH Canal Winchester Blues Fest, Pickerinton, OH

Walkin' Cane Accolades:

2009 - Best Blues Band Winner & Best Guitarist Winner - Cleveland Scene Magazine

2009 - International Blues Challenge Solo/Duo Finalist - Top 6 - Memphis, TN

2009 - Dayton Blues Society Winner solo/duo competition

2009 & 2007 - International Blues Challenge (IBC's) in Memphis - acoustic, solo, delta, slide blues - sponsored by Blues, Jazz & Folk Music Society

2008 - XM/Sirius Radio - B.B. King's Bluesville's "Pick to Click." Murder of a Blues Singer cd

2008 - Sonicbids "Most Booked Band" w/ over 60,000 hits to Sonicbids EPK

2008 & 2003 - live performance on PBS television show "Applause"

2007 - best guitarist - cleveland free times magazine

2006 - National Reso-phonic Guitar CD Compilation - Walkin' Cane original "Love Grown Strong" included.

2006 - River City Blues Competition Winner - acoustic solo delta blues - Blues, Jazz & Folk Music Society

2005 - sponsorship with National Reso-Phonic Guitars

2004 - sponsorship with Dr. Z. Amplifiers

2002 - sponsorship with Ernie Ball Strings

2001 - best unsigned blues band - buddy guy's legends/guitar player magazine - chicago

2000 - best local instrumentalist winner - the best of cleveland - citysearch.com

Opened for or performed with:
Bobby "Blue" Bland, Buddy Guy, Gregg Allman, Johnny Winter, Hubert Sumlin, Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, John Mooney, Robert Jr. Lockwood, John Hammond Jr., Robert Randolph & The Family Band, Billy Branch, Jaimoe (Allman Bros.), Watermelon Slim, Henry Gray, John Primer, Rare Earth, Deep Purple, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Ted Nugent, BR549, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Arc Angels, Fruteland Jackson, Slick Ballinger & Blind Mississippi Morris, Eric Sardinas, Nappy Brown…

Discography:

The Mudbugs - Memphis or Bust - 2009
Ohio City Singers - Love & Hope - 2008
Austin "Walkin' Cane" - Murder Of A Blues Singer - 2008
Lonesome Stars - Motorbikes, Radios & Dancehalls - 2006
Walkin' Cane Band - The Underground - 2005
Austin "Walkin' Cane" - 706 Union Ave. - 2003
Walkin' Cane Band - Radio Cafe - 2001
Walkin' Cane Band - Help Yourself - 1997
The Skydogs - And Then… - 1994

Official Website: Austin Walkin' Kane