‘A quilt of music’
Ryley Walker calls new album ‘completely different and unexpected’
It’s starting to get a little cooler in Chicago.
Ryley Walker finds himself relaxing at home and eating sandwiches.
This is the usual situation for the musician before he heads off on tour.
“I enjoy taking some time to myself before getting on the road,” he says in a recent phone interview. “I never thought I would be able to do this for a living.”
Walker is touring in support of his fourth studio album, “Deafman Glance.”
The album took a few years to make and was put together like a jigsaw puzzle.
Walker worked with producer LeRoy Bach and recorded a large portion of the album at Minbal Studios in Chicago.
A few sessions took place at USA Studios and in Bach’s kitchen.
The album was mixed by Cooper Crain.
“I was able to make this quilt of music through a different process,” he says. “I went into this album trusting the unknown. I had never done an album like this before.”
Walker says his 2016 album, “Golden Sings That Have Been Sung,” was a cool album, but he was still figuring out what he was good at.
“So this record is a little bit more grown-up,” he says. “Ol’ Ryley’s just workin’ on bein’ a better Ryley. I think, more than anything, the thing to take away from this record is that I appreciate what improv and jamming and that outlook on music has done for me, but I wanted rigid structure for these songs. I don’t want to expand upon them live. There’s a looseness to some of the songs, I guess, but I didn’t want to rely on just hanging out on one note. It’s so straightforward that I can see a lot of people really not liking it, to be honest. But I’m so happy — I’m happy that it’s completely different and unexpected.”
Walker will make a stop in Santa Fe on Monday, Sept. 17.
He is planning on performing the majority of the new album.
“I’m certainly sick of playing the old stuff,” he says. “I’m going to rearrange the old material and give it new life.”
As Walker settles into his life as a full-time musician, he feels at home on the road and onstage.
“I never wanted to have a job,” he says. “I’ve been fired from every job I’ve had. I’m not meant for the workforce. I like to float around and travel. I feel very lucky and count my blessings that music gives me enough to survive.”