The Walter Band

Walter Redinger: "I’m a visual artist but I was always into music. There was always a radio on or some damn thing.
My only musical training was 2 years of accordion when I was young. I played some of my father's European (German) folk music. The first bands that i really listened to were German polka bands and later I would see the similar relationship between a good polka band and a good rock band - it was in the sound. As time went on I became strongly involved in Blues and folk. My two favorite musicians have always been Lightnin' Hopkins and Bob Dylan.
I did not take to the guitar till I was in my first year of visual art college. I bought a cheep $35 guitar and became a certified shitty guitar player. I never had the pride or desire to be a really good guitar player. All I really needed to know were some simple chords to play a few songs - it was enough to keep me happy.
I had a friend who I spent some time with who played guitar better than I. He became my influence and I bought my first good guitar when I was 21 - it was a decent used Gibson acoustic for $120 - keep in mind this is years ago, early 1960’s.
After I quit art school to pursue a full time career as a visual artist (sculpture/drawing) , I built a large studio to create my art. It turned out that the studio had great acoustics - high ceilings. Friends would come over and want to use my studio space to play music. I would join in these musical festivities and found out that when I had a good lead guitar player beside me when I was singing it was an incredible sensation and I took to it.
During this time, somewhere in the early 1970’s, I started to write some songs with my half-assed guitar playing skills. Though my guitar playing wasn’t admirable, I found my niche as a singer where I could howl and yell at the moon. I was constantly up to my neck being a visual artist and the music was a good thing to have around. Music seemed to balance everything out.
I started trading guitars a lot more and in doing so I became a little closer to music and musicians. Years later I ran into a fellow by the name of Brodie Lodge who was a drummer for years in a band known as the ‘Corndogs’. I would get to know Brodie quite well over the years.
In the mid 1990’s I was coming back from an exhibition of mine in New York city at the Mitchell Algus gallery. There were five guys in the van on the ride home - Brodie was one of them. We had an acoustic guitar that we were passing around. Brodie was in the back seat and I was in the middle of the van. I sang one of my early songs that I had written, it was a country/folk song. Brodie, from the back seat asked, "Walter do you need some help with that song?”.
Not to long after that trip, I eventually would start a band with Brodie. Brodie, being a drummer for so long was making a switch to guitar and agreed to play with me on the condition that he play lead guitar in my project - that wasn’t a problem. I performed my first gig as 'The Walter Redinger Blues Band' at one of my art openings. It wound out being a hit and I stuck with it. Over the past 5 or more years that I've been working with the band there's been a number of members who have passed through.
Presently the band is made of four guys - myself, Walter Redinger on guitar/lead vocals, Brodie Lodge on lead guitar/backing vocals, my son - Jeff Redinger on bass guitar/backing vocals and Brodie's son - Durrie Lodge on drums. I have also shortened the name of the band to 'The Walter Band'. The reason for this is that the band plays more than the Blues. We play bits of Country, Folk, Funk, Rockabilly, Rock, and Experimental Sound."
- by Walter Redinger
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