Walt – Lead Vocals, Harmonies, Keys, and Rhythm Guitar
I have been singing as long as I can remember! My mom used to get so angry when I would clean my room with the stereo as loud as it would go with a crazy variety of music. You name it, I listened to it. Christian, rock, pop. Rush one song, and Charlie Daniels the next. There may have even been a Barry Manilow song or two in there, but my brain has suppressed any recollection of that! I remember realizing that she finally stopped hounding me about the volume. She later admitted it was a small price to pay as long as I cleaned my room! One day in my teen years, I was in a max decibel cleaning rage! I was air guitaring and simultaneously hitting every drum beat on the edge of my water bed while belting out Scorpians lyrics at the top of my lungs. My door flung open, scaring the tar out of me! I rapidly made a move for the volume knob, 11 to 0 in less than half a second! She stared at me and said, “One day you’ll be the lead singer in a band”, turned, and closed the door behind her as she left the room. Maybe parents can be right………..from time to time!
I never took formal voice training, something I regret these days. Who needed it when at 13 you had the range of Bradley Delp! Even after “the change”, I maintained my ability to cleanly hit those high notes in Boston’s “Smokin”. Friends would actually ASK me to sing in the car, which I can assure would never happen now!
College found me in my first basement band while simultaneously teaching myself how to play guitar. Yep, self-taught. Not the right way, but an adequate way for a rhythm guitarist. (Of course, deep inside I know that’s why I’m a rhythm guitarist! Take lessons kids. The shreaders get ALL the chicks!) We were playing all the hits of the 80’s, but were happy just jamming in the basement of Manzanita Hall at ASU. I didn’t see a stage until 1999 when I started a band called Standing K-9. Founded with a great bunch of guys, it was a hell of a way to hit the bar scene! With Standing K-9 also came my first studio experience recording “The End of Innocence”. The title was introspective for most of us in the band, and indeed we saw recording was an eye opening experience. Hearing the playback of your own voice for the first time is worse than nails on a chalk board, but it holds a great lesson! To this day, my son can’t understand why I listen to “my own music” when I drive. Hearing my mistakes drives my desire to be better, emulate other singers’ style, expand my abilities, and understand and respect my limits!
A work relocation was the demise of Standing K-9. Like most musicians, performance was now in my blood and there was no way to get rid of it! Several bands followed, and I always had a knack of surrounding myself with musicians that were much better than I. To this day – and with this band, nothing has changed!
Enter “Counter Fit”. Two years of work, searches, and auditions with my best friend and drummer Steve (aka “FREDDY”). I have again succeeded at fooling them all and convincing them to let me front their incredible abilities. Megan. Casper. Ric. Freddy. They are all amazingly talented musicians! I’m absolutely floored when I mix down our recorded tracks. I usually listen – headphones on and a smile on my face – with just a single thought. ‘We made this’! Sure we are a cover band, but YouTube has shown me that there is an element of talent here that might not be the best, but it sure ain’t bad! With that said, I hope you’ll think so too!
That’s my story! I loo forward to seeing you at a show soon!