Steve J Walker

Introducing a new singer/songwriter in the rapidly growing genre of contemporary Christian music whose writing style is as interesting as it is talented. Most of the music written by Steve J Walker is geared specifically for use in is a congregational worship setting. The styles of each tune are quite diverse, as are his vast array of different influences. Tracks like Be Our Lord and This is Your Land are heavy-hitting rock songs that are sure to appeal to listeners who are young at heart. And whereas tunes such as Jesus Messiah, Deep, Deep Water, and Write A Song will strike a chord with those who are more into adult contemporary pop-music such as John Mayers music, songs like The Way and Comforting King will appeal to fans of Latin-flavored jazz like Salvador and Los Lonely Boys. For you cats who love the music of the blues, Ive Got to Thank You is an outstanding congregational worship song in the vein of Stevie Ray Vaughan that is guaranteed to incite worshippers to want to shout loudly their praises to the Lord. For those who enjoy hard-hitting worship anthems, check out Serve and Alleluia. Last but not least, the song that has received the most attention is the sweet and intimate title track, So Sweet. Steves lyrics have a freshness and originality about them and they remain consistent with the truths of the Bible. The aim of the project is to steer its listeners in the direction of singing along and filling their mouths with heart-felt words of praise and adoration for Jesus as well as helping people to open their hearts to experience the boundless love and power of the Holy Spirit.

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 churchs 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. Steves passion for music is second only to his love of God and people.

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 Gods presence, I have seen more fruit and have felt even more fulfilled in the answering of the Lords call on my life than I ever have before in my 10+ years of worship-leading.

I own over 800 CDs 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.

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.