Wailin' Al Walker Hits #1 With New Album BLUESMAN
The lead single 'Too Many Bills' has reached number one on the Roots Music Report Top 50 chart in both the US and internationally.
Vancouver bluesman Al 'Wailin'' Walker has spent nearly five decades proving that the blues is not a genre you retire from. His eighth self-produced album, 'Bluesman', has landed at #1 on the Roots Music Report Canada chart and #13 debut this month on the Canadian Big Blues Chart, powered by worldwide blues radio hosts, the latest chart-topper in a catalogue that stretches back to 1978, and a career built almost entirely on his own terms.
Walker wrote, produced, engineered and mixed 'Bluesman' himself, a role he has filled on every one of his eight albums, from his 1978 debut, 'Rock It Day and Night', with his band the Houserockers, through 'The Devil Made Me Play It', 'Buzzsaw Boogie', 'Crazy at Night', 'No Regrets', 'All Fired Up' and 'Blues Lightnin''. The last three releases have each reached #1 on the Roots Music Report charts in Canada, and 'Bluesman' has now added a number six placement on the US Roots Music Chart, with airplay on 57 stations worldwide.
The album's lead single, 'Too Many Bills,' has already reached number one on the Roots Music Report Top 50 chart in both the US and internationally, and drew praise from Blues Blast Magazine. Recorded with longtime collaborators Bruce O'Neill on bass, Marko Ibarra on drums, Darryl Havers on keyboards and Jerry Cook on saxophone, the track pairs a driving, high-energy groove with the raw grit Walker has built his reputation on.
Walker leads the Wailin' Walker Band out of Vancouver with bassist Bruce O'Neill, drummer Marko Ibarra, saxophonist Jerry Cook and keyboardist Dave Webb, all fixtures of the city's West Coast blues, jazz and roots scene. It is a lineup with deep roots of its own: Ibarra spent more than twenty years as Jerry Doucette's drummer, Cook earned a 2026 CBMA nomination for Best Sax Player on Walker's 'All Fired Up', and O'Neill has held down the Vancouver blues scene's low end since 1982.
Across 'Bluesman's' ten tracks, Walker moves between original songs and tributes to the artists who shaped him. 'It Takes Time' is a cover of his mentor Otis Rush, recorded, Walker says, to honour 'his iconic Chicago blues blueprint' and let 'his signature guitar work and emotional depth breathe.' 'Directly From My Heart' reworks Little Richard, and 'Blues Hour' brings in Hollywood Fats Band alumni Richard Innes and Larry Taylor.
Two tracks carry weight. 'Drink Muddy Water,' a cover of Eddie Miller, features the final recorded guitar performance of the late Jerry Doucette, with whom Walker played for twelve years. 'Never Getting Old,' the album's closing track, was co-written with the late Evan Johns, a friend and collaborator whose songwriting partnership with Walker stretched back years before his passing.
Walker's history in the blues runs deeper than his own catalogue. He has been personally mentored by Buddy Guy, Pee Wee Crayton and Otis Rush, and has shared stages with Johnny Winter, George Thorogood and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Buddy Guy has said simply, 'He plays the stuff like it's supposed to be played,' while Otis Rush praised his diction: 'His elocution is incredible! I can hear every word he sings from the back of the club!' Walker was also a member of the Jerry Doucette Band from 2006 to 2018, served as the house band at Vancouver's Commodore Ballroom for 78 shows, and has written songs recorded by Long John Baldry and Powder Blues.
The band celebrates the release of 'Bluesman' with an Album Release and Dance on Saturday, November 14.
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