Who
He Is:
Todd Walker is a professional talent: Singer/Songwriter,
Television Personality, Master of Ceremonies, and former
Television/Movie Actor & Model. He is also an avid
acoustic guitar junkie who pays for his guitar habit
by selling new homes for a large regional builder (Dan
Ryan Builders, Inc.).
Todd currently performs original acoustic folk/pop
2-4 days a month in coffee house and small concert
venues in & around Frederick, MD, and also produces & hosts
a weekly television show for Adelphia/Comcast on restaurants
called ‘Dining Out’.
Although mainly a solo performer, Todd delights in
sharing the stage with other performers, occasionally
adding light percussion and background vocals, while
engaging the audience and other performers with his
in-between song banter.
He is also the father of two college-age sons (Ian & Corey),
boyfriend to Dorianna Kennedy and owner of seven surfboards
that he rarely gets to use, but wishes he could (daily).
Todd recently recorded two CD’s of original songs
( ‘Stories To Be Told’ and ‘Another
Way’ ) which will be released by Wispy Mop Records
in Spring 2007.
Guitars:
Todd
owns way too many guitars ! Although he continually
attempts to whittle down
the size of his collection, there are usually between
30-40 guitar cases scattered around in bedrooms and
hallways – way too many.
Two favorites are built by Morgantown, WV luthier Andrew
White (Andrew White Guitars). Todd currently owns a
Model C (Carpathian Spruce/Cocobolo) gem that has an
incredibly big sound, and a Model E (Figured Redwood/Mahagany)
that literally shimmers and causes goosebumps.
Both guitars are comfortable stage performers and exquisite
studio guitars.
Amplification:
Todd
uses K&K Sound Pure Western and Trinity
System acoustic pickups exclusively (www.kksound.com). Turned onto K&K
pickups by Gray Burchette (Burchette Guitars), Todd liked them so much
that he became a dealer/installer and has to date installed 50+ pickups
for professional guitarists and guitar homebodies.
For stage amplification, Todd uses the Bose Personal Amplification System.
For guitar effects he uses a TC Electronics Chorus/Flanger and runs his
guitars through both a K&K pre-amp and a Taylor K4. He plans to purchase
Taylor’s new splitter so he can run two feeds – one straight,
and the second to effects.
Strings and things:
There are so many great acoustic guitar strings on
the market, but Todd prefers Elixir Phosphor Bronze Nanoweb’s (medium gauge). Backup sets
are medium gauge Elixir Nanoweb (Bright Bronze) and Elixir Polyweb’s.
He occasionally uses DR Extra medium gauge colored strings for stage flash,
but finds that the DR coating adds some string noise and slightly deadens
the wound strings – they are cool looking though
Guitar Recommendation(s)
Todd recommends
buying and playing whatever guitar makes the player happy, although
he strongly suggests spending
extra
money to get better quality. The sound and playability offered
by premium guitar builders is worth the extra investment.
One such builder is Andrew White.., which is why Todd
owns two
Andrew White Guitars, and probably will own more of Andrew’s
creations in the future.
Contact
Info: twalker@danryanbuilders.com
