Hopewell

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Hopewell is Walt Wilkins' fifth record, a collection of songs about real love, real heartbreak, real miles and real life. It is threaded around the theme of moving on to the next chapter of life.

"Hopewell was a small town in the next county over from where I live," Wilkins said. "I figure the name 'hopewell' was significant to those folks in that they had traveled from the east to set up new lives in the Texas hill country, and they, like all of us, hope for the best for themselves and their following generations. I relate to the name of the town because my little family and I moved back home this year from the old east with the same hopes and intentions."

A near constant presence on the Texas Music Chart since its inception as a songwriter, producer, singer, guitar player and artist, Wilkins spent a solid decade in the Nashville Country Music business trenches, writing songs he wanted to be recorded by artists he admired. There are indeed some noteworthy cuts: Seven Hillsides, by Ricky Skaggs, on a record that won a bluegrass-gospel Grammy.

"I didn't even know there was a genre called 'bluegrass gospel," Wilkins laughs, "but I loved his recording of the song, and my grandmother would have loved the connection to a gospel Grammy." Ty Herndon, during his heyday, made Big Hopes the title of his third album for Sony, and there have been roughly a dozen other songs on major-label records. But it was Pat Green's recordings of several songs that made Wilkins' name known in Texas. "God Bless Pat," Walt says. "I never want to take Pat's influence on my life for granted. He was a very early champion of my writing, and I have generally liked his versions of my songs more than my own. And I know I have him to thank for getting some folks out to hear me play, and buying my records. I remain a fan of Pat's songs, voice, and personality. And his killer band - their recording of Ruby's Two Sad Daughters is really beautiful."

Wilkins' work has been likened to the greatest and most timeless of the Texas/American troubadours: Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt, and Kevin Welch among others. But it's the John Steinbeck comparison that means the most. "It was in a review of Fire, Honey & Angels, in Country Standard Time. That's a remark to keep close." Wilkins says. "I have written poetry since I was in grade school, and songs for over twenty years now. It means an awful lot to be mentioned in the same sentence as someone with as much gravity as Steinbeck. I do try to take my given work in the world seriously, and try not to shy away from the heavy subjects in life: commitment, faith, death."

1. Going Up To Fort Worth
2. Standing By The Rambler
3. The Angels' Share
4. Some Days A Dollar
5. Eighteen Days of Rain
6. Up and On My Way
7. Blanco River Meditation #2
8. Above These Wheels
9. Absolut Crazy
10. Walk Through This World With Me
11. Down The Track