Long Walk Home profile picture

Long Walk Home

About Me

Long Walk Home is a rock and roll quintet based in Philadelphia, PA. With the release of their latest album, 2009’s Heavy Sand, Long Walk Home has taken a huge leap forward in continuing a musical path that has been moving and evolving for over 7 years. With three LPs completed, and a long list of successful performances in the tri-state area, the band now looks to translate their local success to a national level.The roots of Long Walk Home can be traced back to 2000, when guitarist/singer Julian Booker and drummer Mark Rybaltowski began playing in the basements of their childhood homes in Hockessin, DE. They soon added guitarist/vocalist Pete Nellius and bassist Anthony Boxler to the band, and played their first show as Long Walk Home in spring 2002. After two early recordings, the foursome released their self-titled LP in 2006, and shortly thereafter welcomed guitarist Kevin Ryan to the band. Since then, Long Walk Home has blended southern rock, blues, pop, and improvisation to create an electrifying live show and generate an enthusiastic fanbase in the Philadelphia region.From headlining the Grape Street Pub on Halloween and New Year’s in 2007, to a residency at The North Star Bar in 2009, to the honor of being named “Delaware’s best alternative band” by Spark Magazine last spring, the band has gained considerable recognition in the area. Philadelphia Weekly’s Katherine Silkaitis describes Heavy Sand as “[encompassing] the many faces of rock music: simple, catchy harmonies interspersed with climactic bridges, memorable lyrics and guitar-and-drum driven melodies…every song is nuanced and modulating.” The album features for the first time keyboards by Nellius, as well as plentiful harmonies, and a raw but tight group of diverse songs. From the pop-tinged, well-harmonized “Friday Party” penned by Rybaltowski, to the southern jam-infused “April 22nd,” to Booker’s anthemic closing track “Anthracite Towns,” Heavy Sand has solidified Long Walk’s place in the cream of a blossoming music city’s crop.

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 01/05/2005
Band Website: www.longwalk.net
Band Members: guitar/vocals: Julian Booker guitar/vocals: Pete Nellius guitar/vocals: Kevin Ryan drums: Mark Rybaltowski bass: Anthony Boxler
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

10/10/09: Tommy Doyles; Cambridge, MA

Last night's show at Tommy Doyle's, our first ever in the Boston-area went really well. Thanks again to This Blue Heaven for having us. It was very fun to play in a new venue in a new town and I thoug...
Posted by on Sun, 11 Oct 2009 15:33:00 GMT

10/4/09: The Blockley Pourhouse, Philadelphia, PA

Our sets last night at the Blockley Pourhouse went very, very well. We had a great crowd on hand for the first set, in particular, and Chris Wafer did an absolutely superb job for us behind the soundb...
Posted by on Mon, 05 Oct 2009 11:15:00 GMT

Sullivan Hall, New York, NY: 10/3/09

The show tonight was a lot of fun, even though we were down a man due to Kevin feeling under the weather. Mark's car broke down on the way to NYC, but as usual, our manager, Chris Perella, surpassed t...
Posted by on Sat, 03 Oct 2009 23:43:00 GMT

p.s. LWH now on Twitter

One more thing, ya'll! You can now follow us on Twitter at Long_Walk_Home. We will post shows setlists and whatever else we can think of that does not exceed 140 characters. -Julian.
Posted by on Thu, 10 Sep 2009 09:01:00 GMT

9/9/09: Sullivan Hall, NYC

Yesterday's trip to New York went better than expected; the drive down 34th Street from the Lincoln Tunnel was tough, but the pizza just a couple blocks away from the venue sure was good, and plus, we...
Posted by on Thu, 10 Sep 2009 08:39:00 GMT

PW article + "Heavy Sand" available for stream

Posted below is the article that Katherine Silkaitis wrote about our new album, Heavy Sand, for Philly Weekly. Also, there is a link down there which will take you to PW's site where you can hear a po...
Posted by on Wed, 09 Sep 2009 08:17:00 GMT

North Star Release Show: 9/4/09

Things went really well at the North Star on Friday, thanks so much to everybody who came to the show and stuck it out through the delayed start. While the Release Show at the Flash was a really nice ...
Posted by on Mon, 07 Sep 2009 07:37:00 GMT

North Star 8/9/09

We had a lot of fun at the North Star last night, it feels a lot better playing the new tunes now that we know the record will be out in just a couple of weeks. All of the bands last night were awfull...
Posted by on Mon, 10 Aug 2009 11:28:00 GMT

Album finished, first single available for free download!

Hi folks!Our fourth album, Heavy Sand, is now finished! It will be released on August 22nd at the Kennett Flash in Kennett Square, PA and EVERYBODY who buys a ticket will be given a free copy of the a...
Posted by on Sun, 09 Aug 2009 12:29:00 GMT

Back in Business

Hello, all ye faithful. First off, I would like to say that we know that our updates on here have been less than frequent, and our communication skills have been less than stellar. However, I'm here t...
Posted by on Tue, 28 Jul 2009 16:22:00 GMT