SHAND

Shand Walton: Biography of an Outsider
Shand Walton’s music sounds like a collaboration between Holden Caulfield and John Fahey. For more than fifteen years, Shand has persisted in writing music and playing various instruments for anyone curious enough to listen. His one-man show might be reminiscent of a minstrel in a desert cantina, or a busker in a European cobblestoned alley.
His rig consists of a kick drum, a six-string, hollow-body electric guitar, a diatonic actuator (designed, constructed and patented by Shand), and an authentic hi-hat operated by his impeccable left foot. Michael Molenda, editor of Guitar Player magazine, awarded Shand Walton the “Bravery on the Edge of Crazy” award in January of 2007. He described Shand’s music as “raw” and encouraged readers to “dare a listen, and be transported back to the juke joint days.”
His first solo album, released in 2003 on the Toil & Trouble Records label, is called Ghost Town Favorites. Publicrealm.com declared that this instrumental album could be the soundtrack to "an oddball half-indie, half-mainstream film like Punch-Drunk Love or About Schmidt.” In 2008, the entire Ghost Town Favorites album was featured in Whitney Milam’s documentary, “A Glorious Opportunity: The French Legation in Texas.”
Fifteen Songs in Popular Keys, released in 2005, is Shand's second album on the Toil & Trouble Records label. This project features Shand’s vocals, in addition to his original compositions. From this album, his version of “I Wanna Buy Me a Car” was included on the Daniel Johnston website.
His third album, recorded in 2007 at Pearlygates Studios, is titled On the Bend and is the first album in which he plays completely solo. David Nemeth described him as a “one-man wrecking crew of a band, [who] growls and bangs out his songs forcing you to listen.” The songs on the album range from folk to blues to rock, but they are all equally played and sung with intense energy.
True to the original street form that traces back to the 13th century, Shand Walton has the impulse to play it all. One-man bands are inherently solitary creatures, but what binds them together is their long history of being inventive and defiant of technique, instrumentation and genre. Some may say he is an experimental folk, and some may say he is garage rock. No matter the label, he stands on his own.