photo by Zac Woodside
The last Nebraska saw of folk musician Orion Walsh was in Lincoln at the four-day local music festival Lincoln Exposed last February. Since his performance at Duffy’s Tavern, he’s been keeping busy on the road with a two-month countrywide tour called For the Love of Music. The tour features Walsh along with Sacramento natives Musical Charis and ZuhG. Hear Nebraska caught up with Walsh to talk about the success of his tour along with his concert at South by Southwest.
The tour kicked off in Sacramento, Calif., on Feb. 18 and will come to an end for Walsh in his hometown of Lincoln on April 20 at Duffy’s Tavern. The tour is in support of his new album First By Water Then By Fire.
“All of the shows have been really good,” Walsh says. “We started in Sacramento, and all the hometown shows were really good, and all the California shows as well. We were in Arizona and headed to Texas where we were at South by Southwest.”
photo by Shannon Claire
Walsh played a showcase on March 14 at Carousel Lounge for SXSW. The venue was kind of off the beaten path in Austin down on the main strip Walsh says. The next day, Walsh played a street show with Lincoln natives, Bolzen Beer Band.
“We played on 6th and Congress Street,” Walsh says. “They would play a couple songs then I would play a couple songs. We went back and forth and people seemed to really enjoy that.”
Walsh also spent some time at the Nebraska music meet up at The Library Bar in Austin where journalists, musicians, promoters, family and friends met to talk shop and share their experiences.
“It was really cool actually,” Walsh says. “We took a photo and just talked and shared experiences about what shows we’ve seen."
photo by Shannon Claire
The For the Love of Music tour ends for Walsh when he reaches Nebraska in April, but Musical Charis and Zuhg will continue on for about another 12 dates before reaching Sacramento. Walsh has two CD release shows planned for his new album. The first one will be on April 19 at Barley Street Tavern in Omaha. The second one will be on April 20 at Duffy’s Tavern in Lincoln. He will be giving out copies of First By Water Then By Fire for donations.
Walsh hopes by the end of the tour he will have successfully disseminated his music for people to hear, but not for any financial reasons.
“All these guys have a little bit different style of music” Walsh says. “They have a similar message to some of my songs. We’re not here doing it for money, it’s just more for music and bringing joy to people’s lives through music.”
Krystal Sidzyik is an intern at Hear Nebraska. She hopes one day experience Orion Walsh as well as the Bolzen Beer Band live. Reach her at krystals@hearnebraska.org.