Blake Walburg

I suppose the bio would be about me since I am the only guy on this "band page." Where to start? (this might be long) I started playing guitar with a buddy at church at about age 14 and it has been an 'addiction' ever since. I started writing my own music shortly after picking up the guitar as an instrument. In my college days my guitar served as stress relief, creative expression, an instrument to worship God, and something that brought people together. Many hours were spent in the dorm rooms jamming, singing, worshipping, and fellowshipping to the tune of the guitar. I managed to spread my 'addiction' to a number of friends, so it wasn't just my musical notes wafting around campus. I was also a member of the campus worship band for three years. College ended, but the guitar playing didn't. I cut my first album the summer after college (2001) -- a homemade instrumental guitar recording that I did on my computer. It is a collection of half original pieces and half traditional hymn arrangements. To this day, I reproduce, give away, and occasionally sell copies of it. One of the pieces from this album is posted on this page. Soon I got involved in playing at church (Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis) and there met some other musicians and songwriters. One guy in particular that I really clicked with is Brian Frazier. We did a lot of playing together, and ended up recording an album with the help of some other great friends from the church. Our band was called Conspiracy Among Friends and the album name Anthem (2004). We played only a few times publicly before some of the band members dispersed to various parts of the country. We produced a couple thousand copies of the album, many of which we gave away. Most of the proceeds from the copies that we did sell went toward Christian mission work in Zambia, a place I had visited in 2003. Currently the album is out of print, but it is available for download on Itunes. One of the pieces from this album is also posted on this page. In 2005, I returned to Zambia for a year of mission work there. The guitar came with me, of course, but it often took a back seat to the work at hand: reaching out to street children in the capitol city of Lusaka. I played weekly for our mission's team praise and worship times, learned lots of music and styles from the Zambians, and even did a bit of songwriting while there. This year, I returned from Zambia and have continued to be involved musically. I haven't had a chance to record anything recently, but I have been enjoying playing as an electric guitarist for a friend, Ebony Jefferson, a local artist here in Minneapolis. I have played on some of her recordings in the past and will likely do so in the future. The guitar isn't everything, of course. Simply a tool with many purposes, the greatest of which is to bring praise and glory and attention to Jesus Christ. I will continue to carry the guitar with me wherever I go, having devoted it and myself to Him who created both of us.