Don Walker
Photograph: David Henderson

Up Late
Friday 4 September 2009

Tickets are $20 and are available through qtix or phone 136 246 (booking fees apply).

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Don Walker (8.30pm)

Don Walker was born in Ayr, North Queensland, in 1951.

As a member of and main songwriter for Cold Chisel between 1973 and 1983 he wrote "Saturday Night", "Cheap Wine", "Standing on the Outside", "Four Walls", "Khe Sahn" along with many others, and co-wrote "Flame Trees".  He also wrote and produced the soundtrack for the Scott Hicks movie "Freedom" in 1981, featuring most of Cold Chisel and then unknown INXS singer Michael Hutchence.

In 1989, after a break from music spent traveling, he released "Unlimited Address", a set of songs under the band name Catfish, recorded with producer/guitar player Peter Walker and harmonica player David Blight.  As a touring band Catfish also included guitar player Charlie Owen, whom he had met through Louis Tillet.

In 1991 the second Catfish album, "Ruby", was released, recorded with James Brown's rhythm section of drummer Tony Cook and guitar player Ron Laster.  The songs were more Australian in content.  Slim Dusty had a hit with his version of "Charleville", which he then invited Don to re-record as a duet.

In 1993 the Tex, Don and Charlie album, "Sad But True" was released in Australia and Europe.  A collaboration with Tex Perkins and Charlie Owen, "Sad But True" showed the first results of the songwriting Walker had been doing in Nashville the previous two years.  Tex, Don and Charlie toured, recording and releasing the live album "Monday Morning Coming Down".

In 1994 Don Walker recorded his first solo album "We're All Gunna Die" over four days at Electric Avenue Studios in Sydney, with a touring band featuring David Blight and Red Rivers on guitar.  Released in 1995, it was reviewed as "a masterpiece" and "possibly the best Australian album released in years".

That same year Origin Records re-released the Freedom soundtrack.

In 1998 Cold Chisel released their first studio album for fifteen years entitled "The Last Wave of Summer", which entered the national charts in the top spot, and followed it up with a 22 date national tour.

Over the years Don has occasionally written songs for other people.  In 2000 he wrote the title song for Slim Dusty’s hundredth album "Looking Forward, Looking Back".  He has also written songs for Jeff Lang, Mick Harvey, Troy Cassar-Daley, Jimmy Little, Jimmy Barnes, Ian Moss, Anne Kirkpatric and many others.

In 2005 Don, Tex Perkins and Charlie Owen recorded and released the widely acclaimed “All Is Forgiven”, their first album together for twelve years, and completed a sold- out tour to showcase that album.  In 2006 “All Is Forgiven” was nominated for the inaugural Australian Music Prize.

In 2006 Don’s second solo album, “Cutting Back”, was released by Warners, and he has been touring live with the Suave Fucks, featuring Red Rivers on guitar.

An account of some of Don’s travels in Iran was published in “Best Australian Essays 2007”.

Don’s first book, “Shots”, was released by Melbourne publisher Black Inc. in March 2009.