Country blues duo back from the road

By Alex Browne, Arts Reporter
The Peace Arch News
September 20, 2000

Below: Rock Island House Concert in Northern Ontario

You only have to listen to Steve Elliott & Lucie Walker once to realize that they’re the real thing. The combination of Elliott’s rocking guitar and rough-edged passionate vocals and Walker’s pure-toned yet wonderfully warm voice and her sensitive way with a lyric has a genuineness about it that puts more carefully contrived country acts to shame. These are real people who sing about real people, and they’re adding to friends won locally with performances at the Roadhouse Eatery with appearances across Canada and a CD, Straight Up (produced by local musician and ace drummer, John Cody), that expands on their live appeal without losing any of its essence.

At Right: Steve on the beach in Bereseford, N.B.

Just back from a road tour all the way to the Maritimes and back the couple describe themselves as "blown away" and humbled by the favourable reaction they received wherever they played.
"From the first gig to the last, it just got better and better," Walker said.
A case in point: a chance encounter with a woman in Fredericton put them in touch with a CTV cameraman in Ottawa, who helped them win a spot on a midday news show with an entertainment segment. But that involved getting from Halifax, where they had just been, to Ottawa in the space of one day.
"We took turns driving all night," Walker said.

They had a blast on the trip and have returned with a wealth of road stories, including having to buy a truck from a guy named Elvis after their original vehicle blew a head gasket.
"It looked like we were in a sauna with all this steam coming out of the back of the truck," Walker said.
"It was embarrassing – we wished we didn’t have our website all over the truck."

Elvis with our new van in Ottawa, Ontario

At Right: With Country Star Terri Clark, in Edmonton, Alberta

Another highlight was a gig at the prestigious Sidetrack Café in Edmonton.
"I didn’t think I’d got the gig," Elliott said. "I’d thought a café – how big a deal could that be. I phoned and got the manager, but he was doubtful– he said they had 500 seats. But he tentatively booked us for it and said he’d listen to our CD. "I called him the next day and he’d heard it and was completely different, said he was sorry for being standoffish before, but he usually had to listen to so much crap. He said ‘You wouldn’t want to put the gig off a week and open for Terri Clark?’"
Unbeknownst to them, established country star Clark was hosting the Country Music Awards in Edmonton.
"We didn’t even know that it was going on and we scored the big one," Walker said.

And they scored well with the audience, too – and made some good connections with Clark’s management. It was all part of a sense they had during the trip of "being looked after," she said. Incredibly, for those who admire the natural harmony of their talents, it’s barely a year since Walker started singing with Elliott, although they’ve been a couple for seven years.
"He spent six of those years wishing I would sing," said Walker, who admits that while she had singing experience in the past she had always shrunk from performing in public. "I’d say go ahead and do your thing if you want to do it, but he wanted me there with him. Now I’m starting to get that there’s something there, but he saw it all along."

The Karma Local Arts House, Calgary, Alberta

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