Friday night, October 19th at 6:30 PM there is a free local concert
featuring Alex Walker. The concert takes
place in Hydesville, which may be perceived as an out of the way venue, yet
this sanctuary draws hundreds on a weekly basis from Fortuna, a short six miles
away. Humboldt County’s cultural
dimensions have been gifted another rich layer with the introduction of Alex
Walker into the region’s art scene.
Alex’s appeal is drawn not only from his musical expertise, touring days
with the band Five O’Clock People, obvious talent and multi-quilted history of varied
vocal and instrumental experience. Alex
connects with the audience with a casual warmth and quick wit that it makes the
concert goer feel like you are welcomed into a harmonious conversation in an
overly large turn of the century living room. He’s talented and he is real.
Of Alex’s approach, reviewer David Martin compared Walker’s
former band, the Five O’Clock People’s style, to Caedmon’s Call and Jars of
Clay. Citing the use of “acoustic
instruments and writing deep, soul searching lyrics” Martin expresses this
regarding the song “Same Old Line.” “The
mandolin and accordion…give this song the feel of being in a medieval fantasy
world, which I guess is quite fitting, given how we pretend we're living
happily everafter because we're afraid people won't love the truly messed up,
hurting person inside.” Alex’s songs
address “broken and troubled relationships with an almost brutal honesty, while
(other) songs… tackle matters of faith and redemption in stark, confessional
terms. Alex feels there's room for both
kinds of tracks on their album. "There's something legitimate about not
every song being a composite of all you are, all that you hope for, all you
dream of being. It's OK to write songs that precede as a series of snapshots
and maybe by the end of an album or even a body of work, you're getting the
whole picture of who this person is."
Alex’s appeal is multi-generational. He is as much at home performing to his
thirty-something generation as he is leading a group of energetic children or
conducting a sing along for seniors at Hydesville Church where Alex is the
worship director.
The concert on October 19th is to raise awareness
for something called Celebrate Recovery.
Appropriate since Alex’s songs speak of honesty, struggle and faith,
Celebrate Recovery is about dealing with life’s hurts, habits and hang ups from
a spiritual perspective. Everyone struggles with
something. Celebrate Recovery is an
honest place where confidentiality is highly valued and where one can be real
about addressing the things in life that trip us up. Hope is for real.” This concert is an opportunity for the public
to check out Celebrate Recovery. The
concert is at the Hydesville Community Church located at the corner of Highway
36 and Rohnerville Road in Hydesville.
For more information contact the church at 768-3767.
