WALLY LAWDER: NOT ENOUGH TIME
On this Big Blend Radio segment, Tucson, Arizona based singer-songwriter Wally Lawder discusses “Not Enough Time,” his sixth CD of original material, which is also his first ukulele-based CD.
All songs on “Not Enough Time” were written by Wally on and for ukulele; most on baritone uke and a few on tenor uke. Some are elegantly lean with just Wally’s playing and singing. On others he is accompanied by a small, excellent ensemble. Mellow in feel, upbeat in mood, and even a sad song or two sounds more wistful than sad. A unique and creative album!
Wally was born in Kansas and grew up in Connecticut. Music was always playing around the house, and between his parents and older siblings it was diverse! Rockabilly, classical, jazz, early folk, Broadway soundtracks, the British invasion, Johnny Cash. His first song was written as a preteen on the piano (in a self-taught, hunt-and-peck manner) based on the style of Thelonious Monk. His childhood instrument was the trumpet and he didn’t take up guitar until well into his teens. Songwriting in earnest began much later in life.
His eclectic life path has led him to work as a nonprofit catalyst, carpenter, alternative energy consultant/technician, holistic educator and rehabilitation specialist, not to mention a brief, but strangely memorable, stint as a waiter in an Australian themed Karaoke bar. All of these experiences and more have been inspiration for his muse. In the late 1990’s his songwriting began to flourish. “I really took a liking to performers like John Gorka, Ellis Paul, Patty Larkin, Susan Werner, Bruce Cockburn. “I could relate so much to their songwriting and was inspired to write my own.” Since that time he has been a prolific songwriter with 5 CDs of original music including the latest release, This Dangerous Life.
From Connecticut Wally moved to Princeton, NJ for a number of years until landing in New Mexico in 2003 He moved to Tucson, Arizona in 2012. He was the winner of the 2010 ACLU Southwest NM songwriting contest, a finalist in the 2009 Tucson Folk Festival Songwriting Contest and winner of the 2008 Gila River Songwriting Competition. Pulitzer Prize winning poet Stephen Dunn wrote: “Wally Lawder is both a romantic and a social critic, and his quiet lyricism heightened by his gifts as a guitarist gives me great pleasure.”
Wally performs solo, sometimes as a duo, and increasingly often is backed by several Tucson musicians. Keep up with him at www.WallyLawder.com.
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