Biography
Despite facing considerable challenges, Bradley Walker has earned a devoted following along with admiration from fellow performers through his powerful, resonant vocal style, which suits traditional country, bluegrass, and gospel material equally well. What distinguishes the Athens, Alabama native from other emerging Nashville artists is both his considerable ability and his use of a wheelchair; born in 1978 with muscular dystrophy, he has never let the resulting inability to walk deter him from chasing his ambitions in everyday life or in music.
Raised by parents who nurtured a shared enthusiasm for song—his mother having previously worked at a local music store—Walker began performing at age three and absorbed a steady diet of classic country, bluegrass, and gospel growing up. He entered talent contests starting at seven, and at eleven he joined the Oak Ridge Boys for an appearance on the television program Nashville Now. The following year the group invited him to perform alongside them during their segment on Jerry Lewis’s annual Muscular Dystrophy Association telethon.
While music remained his central passion, Walker completed his schooling and secured employment as a materials analyst at the Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant, commuting each day in a custom-adapted van. In his spare time he kept performing, first with the Trinity Mountain Boys bluegrass band beginning in 1998 and then with the Georgia-based ensemble Lost Horizon from 2001 onward. In 2002 IIIrd Tyme Out brought him onstage at the Grand Ole Opry for their set, giving Walker his debut at the famed venue.
Rounder Records signed him to a recording contract in 2006, resulting in the release of his debut album Highway of Dreams. The project featured guest contributions from Vince Gill, Rhonda Vincent, Rob Ickes, Ron Block, and Larry Cordle. Although commercial sales stayed modest, the album received favorable critical notice, and in 2007 the International Bluegrass Music Association named Walker Male Vocalist of the Year.
He continued playing live whenever his schedule permitted and developed a close association with the husband-and-wife duo Joey + Rory, whose members were Rory Lee Feek and Joey Martin Feek. After Joey passed away from cancer in 2015, she had asked Walker to perform “Leave It There” at her funeral. Gospel music figure Bill Gaither was present and was moved by the depth and feeling in Walker’s delivery. Soon afterward Gaither Music Group welcomed him to its roster; the label issued the album Call Me Old-Fashioned along with a matching performance DVD in 2016, which entered the Billboard Top Country Albums chart at number nine. The following year Walker returned with Blessed: Hymns and Songs of Faith, produced by Ben Isaacs and featuring appearances by Vince Gill, Rhonda Vincent, and Ricky Skaggs.
Raised by parents who nurtured a shared enthusiasm for song—his mother having previously worked at a local music store—Walker began performing at age three and absorbed a steady diet of classic country, bluegrass, and gospel growing up. He entered talent contests starting at seven, and at eleven he joined the Oak Ridge Boys for an appearance on the television program Nashville Now. The following year the group invited him to perform alongside them during their segment on Jerry Lewis’s annual Muscular Dystrophy Association telethon.
While music remained his central passion, Walker completed his schooling and secured employment as a materials analyst at the Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant, commuting each day in a custom-adapted van. In his spare time he kept performing, first with the Trinity Mountain Boys bluegrass band beginning in 1998 and then with the Georgia-based ensemble Lost Horizon from 2001 onward. In 2002 IIIrd Tyme Out brought him onstage at the Grand Ole Opry for their set, giving Walker his debut at the famed venue.
Rounder Records signed him to a recording contract in 2006, resulting in the release of his debut album Highway of Dreams. The project featured guest contributions from Vince Gill, Rhonda Vincent, Rob Ickes, Ron Block, and Larry Cordle. Although commercial sales stayed modest, the album received favorable critical notice, and in 2007 the International Bluegrass Music Association named Walker Male Vocalist of the Year.
He continued playing live whenever his schedule permitted and developed a close association with the husband-and-wife duo Joey + Rory, whose members were Rory Lee Feek and Joey Martin Feek. After Joey passed away from cancer in 2015, she had asked Walker to perform “Leave It There” at her funeral. Gospel music figure Bill Gaither was present and was moved by the depth and feeling in Walker’s delivery. Soon afterward Gaither Music Group welcomed him to its roster; the label issued the album Call Me Old-Fashioned along with a matching performance DVD in 2016, which entered the Billboard Top Country Albums chart at number nine. The following year Walker returned with Blessed: Hymns and Songs of Faith, produced by Ben Isaacs and featuring appearances by Vince Gill, Rhonda Vincent, and Ricky Skaggs.
Albums
Singles
