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Butch Walker
Raised in Cartersville, GA, Bradley Glenn Walker III launched his public career with the band SouthGang, which traveled to Los Angeles in 1988 and inked a contract with Virgin Records. The pop-metal group released two albums before splitting up, and Walker soon resurfaced with Marvelous 3. The band enjoyed moderate popularity as the '90s wound to a close, but Walker soon grew frustrated with the band's label, Elektra Records, and Marvelous 3 splintered soon after.
He then spent a year producing albums for such groups as Injected and SR- 71 (whose most popular single, "Right Now," was co-written by Walker). This production work increased his reputation within the industry, and he quickly signed a solo contract with Arista. Left of Self Centered marked his solo debut in 2002; it also took a page from Marvelous 3's book by embodying the singer's nonconformist attitude and playful rock & roll swagger. Unfortunately, neither that album nor its excellent follow-up, 2004's Letters, caught on with the public.
Walker increasingly turned to production work, and he spent the following two years helming records for such big-name artists as Avril Lavigne Under My Skin, Pink I'm Not Dead, and Tommy Lee Tommyland: The Ride, as well as emerging pop stars like Lindsay Lohan A Little More Personal /Raw. The album spun stories of drugged-out starlets, struggling wannabes, late-night adventures, and wild parties in L.A.; it was also Walker's most fully realized album to date. Ever the multi-tasker, he returned to the production booth for several additional projects -- most notably Katy Perry's One of the Boys, which became a smash success during the summer of 2008 -- before returning to his solo career that fall with the release of Sycamore Meadows.
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Butch Walker Finds Musical Inspiration in the Ashes of Home
Source:
Michael Ricci
His album, Sycamore Meadows, out next week, is named after the street where the house stood; the video for Ships in a Bottle shows Mr. Walker roaming among the ashes.
Butch Walker spent years as a struggling musician before finding success as a singer-songwriter and producer of acts like Avril Lavigne and Katy Perry. Suddenly flush, he moved into a 5,000-square-foot house in Malibu, nearly two years ago, and was planning to buy it, but last November a wildfire destroyed ...
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Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson