I lead worship at the Vineyard Christian Fellowship of Tulare in Tulare, California. I have also led worship at other churches in the region over the past several years. I am very blessed by the opportunity to help guide people in the direction of praising God. Though it is a tremendous responsibility, it is also immensely rewarding. Now that I have begun writing my own music by which to lead others into God’s presence, I have seen more fruit and have felt even more fulfilled in the answering of the Lord’s call on my life than I ever have before in my 10+ years of worship-leading.

I recently signed a contract with Tate Music Group out of Mustang, Oklahoma; a branch of Tate Publishing, Inc. Though they fit into the category of a “major label”, they do not fit the normal stereotypes of a big company that runs the lives of its artists. I am very pleased with their contract, which essentially serves just to help bands and artists better sell albums. Many big labels tend to instruct artists in everything, from how long they will tour to what style of music their next album will be done in. Tate is rather hands-off in comparison. Though they ask for an initial artist investment fee of just under $2,000, which would normally be a “red flag”, there are no hidden clauses in their contract and no other money is ever required of an artist or band who signs with them. Once an album has sold 2,500 copies, the artist investment is returned in full and the contract is fulfilled, although the artist and the company can choose to continue to work together to book shows, do radio or TV interviews, etc.

Steve J Walker is a talented Christian singer/songwriter from Tulare, California. Steve has been playing music since the age of nine, when he took up the saxophone. Steve has been a part of various worship bands since the age of fourteen, beginning as a saxophone player on the church praise team.
In 1999, as part of the praise band at the Vineyard Christian Fellowship of Tulare, a sudden change on the church’s worship team left the band without a back-up worship leader or any keyboard players. At that point in time, Steve had never sung in a band and had never even played the piano, but he decided to take on the challenge of learning to do both. As with any new skill, it was a struggle at first, but he put his mind to it, teaching himself by practicing playing the piano while singing six hours a day, and within eight weeks, he was actually leading worship from the keyboard! Four years after learning the keys, Steve he was the leader of a different worship team who had another keyboard player besides himself who was quite gifted on the keys; however, the band had no rhythm or lead guitar players, so he decided to see if he could learn to fill both roles. After four weeks of hard work, he was leading worship while playing rhythm and lead guitar. Steve has now been a part of- and led- worship bands for over nine years.
After learning to play the piano, Steve began practicing songwriting, a huge passion of his. He has now written in the vicinity of 250 songs to date (and growing) and has performed around one-hundred of those tunes live. He has recorded a worship album titled So Sweet comprised of contemporary worship music made up entirely of songs which he wrote.
As a saxophone player, Steve has performed in multiple ensembles as well as with renowned worship leaders such as Terry and Randy Butler, Cindy Rethmeier, and Eddie Espinosa. He has also toured through parts of Europe with “Springtime,” an evangelical group that is an off-shoot of the Celebrant Singers. He has also played keyboards, rhythm and lead guitar (at times, he has even played the bass guitar) with various bands over the past several years. Steve’s passion for music is second only to his love of God and people.

I own over 800 CD’s and I have been influenced by a huge variety of sources, from the pop-blues styling of John Mayer to the commercial pop-rock of European chart-toppers Poets of the Fall and from the smooth-jazz pioneer Russ Freeman and The Rippingtons to the heavy prog-metal masters Dream Theater. Other influences include Christian rockers Petra, White Heart, Stryper, and Whitecross, and worship leaders like Nigel Briggs, Brian Doerksen, Andy Park, and Brenton Brown. I adore the dark, moody scores of Danny Elfman, but I also find euphoric peace in the smooth trumpet playing of Chris Botti. My guitar playing has most often been compared with one of my all-time favorite guitarists, folk-rocker Mark Knopfler, and my saxophone work has been likened to Gato Barbieri, Greg Vail, and Kenny G, who I also claim as influences.

Shaver Lake in the Sierra mountain range in California. I love to hook a big ol' trout here and there!

As far as guitars go, I play a B.C. Rich Mockingbird, a John Mayer customized Fender Stratocaster, and a Hamer with '57 Gibson humbuckers installed. I have a Soldano half-stack with amazing fat, warm Sovtek tubes for studio work and large-venue gigs and a more easily moveable Fender Hot Rod Deluxe combo amp for smaller shows. I have forsaken a collection of pedals for the diverse, easily-transportable, and user-friendly Boss GT-8 processor. My keyboards are a Roland RD 700 and a Korg Triton Le. I play Selmer custom pro alto and soprano saxophones.