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Photo by Russ Harrington
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Photo by Daniel Meigs
On September 24, singer Rory Feek, of the late country music duo Joey + Rory, walked onstage the Grand Ole Opry alone for the first time. Since the death of his wife, Joey, in March, Feek had understandably spent some time out of the limelight, but this didn't slow him down from pursuing the project he and his wife and begun: to develop their friend Bradley Walker's music career.
That night, Feek introduced Walker to an audience of four thousand, who received a premiere performance of the title track of Walker's sophomore album, Call Me Old-Fashioned, released September 23 on Farmhouse Recordings. The appearance marked the next chapter of Walker's career, which continues to inspire those with disabilities that anything is possible through the power of love and music.
On December 15 at the Franklin Theatre, the singer will join fellow country music icons Lee Greenwood, Tim Nichols, and Billy Dean in helping raise money and awareness for the preschool that Feek's daughter, Indiana, attends, the special needs-catered High Hopesan institution Walker can connect with on a personal level.
Born and raised in Athens, Alabama, 38-year-old Walker was born with muscular dystrophy. From a young age, he was the state poster child for the disability, making several musical performances on prominent stages, including two televised songs on TNN Network's Nashville Now when he was 10 years old. His father worked at a Dunlop tire plant, his mother at a music store, and both made efforts at home to instill their son with a love for music.
'I got teased a lot growing up through school,” Walker says 'because everyone else was listening to rock and roll, and I was country when country wasn't cool. I've always been drawn to that.”
Two weeks after graduating high school, Walker went to work at the Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, where he still works, but he continued to write songs and sing in Nashville whenever he had the chance. In 2006, he released his debut album Highway of Dreamssonically grassier than Old-Fashioned, but lyrically just as wholesomeon Rounder Records. The album earned him the Male Vocalist of the Year Award from the International Bluegrass Music Association.
'Joey Martin sought me out through Myspace,” Walker recalls. 'I met her and Joey at a songwriters' night in late 2007, and I think we all knew we formed a friendship that was gonna last.”
Joey + Rory featured Walker's deep-toned harmonies on their albums, The Life of a Song and A Farmhouse Christmas, endorsing him along the way to audiences every chance they could. When Joey died, her husband pushed on and produced Walker's sophomore album. In tune with its title, the album is filled with stories and images of simple country living and faith-tinged messages alluding to God's presence and concern for everyday life.
About his own life, the talented singer-songwriter plans to fill it with more music every year: 'Country music is something I've always known will be a part of my entire life,” he says. 'It's the one thing I feel like I know best, and I love everything about it.”