life on the road, homelessness, war, peace, life, death, protest, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Tom Petty, Neil Young, The Traveling Wilburys, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Hank Williams, Paul Butterfield, Jack Kerouac, George Orwell, Bruce Springsteen, Woody Guthrie
American singer/songwriter Orion Walsh was born and raised in Lincoln, Nebraska. After the death of his father in 1996 he picked up his first acoustic guitar. Desperate for a release, he began to learn to play, sing, and write songs at the early age of 15. After graduating high school, Orion left his home town to head out west to California. He signed to an indie label shortly after, releasing a full length record with his previous band Slow Coming Day and touring the United States for several years. After the band broke up he was faced with a decision, to give up music or continue on. Not willing to give up his dreams, Orion began writing songs without a band. This led him in a more folk direction with his music. Living out of his van for several months at a time, he began writing songs for his first solo album. Many of these songs address issues of homelessness, war, recession, mental illness, imprisonment, life, and death. After recording his debut full length album "Tornado Lullabies" with producer Aaron Edwards he returned home to Nebraska where the album was mastered in Omaha by Doug Van Sloun (Bright Eyes, Cursive, M. Ward). Independently releasing the album himself in 2008, Orion hit the road shortly after, completing two solo tours of the midwest and west coast. Continuing to release his music independently, Walsh recorded a new EP entitled "Freedom Lost or Freedom Found" in Seattle, Washington in early 2009, with a release date set for this August and more touring to follow.
NEW EP COMING SOON!
Track Listing:
1. Freedom Lost or Freedom Found
2. Starkweather
3. Football Town
4. Run for the Hills
5. Journey to the Sea
Buy my album "Tornado Lullabies" for only $2.50 + shipping!
"Tornado Lullabies" on iTunes:
Track listing:
1. Legend of Young Billy
2. Throwing In The Towel
3. The Last American Boy
4. Starting Over on a Western Shore
5. Melt With the Snow
6. Transient Blues
7. Tornado Lullaby
8. When Will They Come for Us
9. The War He Couldn't Win
10. Look Around
Reviews:
"When the deep, heartfelt, expressive lyrics are combined with the perfectly suited instrumentation, the end result is a masterwork of new American folk music. The depth and expression that exude from all of "Tornado Lullabies" have quickly made the album one of my favorite recordings of 2008"
-The Daily Nebraskan
"A truly independent musician who doesn’t have to rely on the handouts of a donor to produce the music he wants to create, freely at will. If you’re looking for a clean break from all the crappy generic music out there, please take a minute out of your day and give Orion Walsh a listen, you won’t regret it. Easily one of the best releases of 2008 in my opinion. This will definitely make my year end “Best of” list. Orion has fine tuned the Americana/folk sound of his elders and made his own beautiful piece of work."
-Indie Vision Music
"Tornado Lullabies juxtaposes peace on chaos, or perhaps it's the other way around. Either way, it's music that dances on the edge between madness and genius and laughs at both. An outstanding listen."
-Wildy's World
"There must be something in the water in Nebraska that it keeps producing powerful folk singers. At this point, I think it’s safe to say almost any indie music lover hears Nebraska and thinks of Conor Oberst, but I think it is time that a new artist’s name becomes synonymous with the state...Orion Walsh."
-Popwreckoning
"Walsh sits firmly in the storytelling singer/songwriter mode on this, his debut album. With rootsy rocking songs such as the album opener “Legend of Young Billy” he rocks and roots like a young Steve Earle and it’s on the more up tempo numbers here that he hits home."
-Americana UK
"Nebraska's Orion Walsh is a fantastic musician in an old country tradition. He seamlessly blends his music between Ryan Adams' paeans to lost love and Johnny Cash-style train's-a-coming-in rambling-man odes. There's a restlessness to his music and a power in his voice, a constant need to keep moving and changing the scenery, which leads to Walsh's status as a musical Zelig, keeping his audiences guessing."
-Jeff Echert, The Inlander
"Transient Blues" Live from a parking lot
"Starkweather" Live in Long Beach, California
Orion Walsh (NEW SONGS UP!)'s Friend Space (Top 24)
Hooray Hooray Hooray! Starkweather!!!!!!!!!!!! I've been WAITING!!! :) Love them all...but I'm partial...and a bit biased. :) See you around soon, hopefully!
Orion, Thank you for the add and the friendship. It is a pleasure to meet you. Looking forward to hearing your new CD. You have accomplished so much in so few years!!! Wishing you great success. Hope you have a great weekend and a fabulous musical summer.
well, would love to come to the show, but I have to work on Thursday and Friday too so unfortunately that won't work out. Do call when you come through however, I need to get your new album. Even if you have a small amount of time passing through you have to at least say hello. It's been years. you should try to set up a show in this area on your way back. Hope your show at Cstone goes great. I am so glad that you are still pursuing your dreams. God, I miss Cornerstone. The bands I loved there though were a dying breed. Please take note of anything that sounds great that you think I would like. Everything seemed to get so "pop-y" for a while and I was losing hope. lol
Hey! That's cool you're going back to your roots and playing cornerstone :) When is that anyway? I need to go. I think it would be refreshing to get back there. Get my perspective. Anyway... when will you be through the area? We can def. catch up and have our usual music talks. let me know
awesome art, music and spirit. very cool. hope you are able to stop by sometime, stay a while and listen i'm offering free inspiration when you come to my page!
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