Performer, poet, musician, visual artist: Wammo defies simple classification. He’s a singer/songwriter who can also express himself through paint on canvas, a record producer who is also a performance poet, an actor who is also at ease behind the camera, a crackerjack washboard player with comic timing to match. This multi-talented man is creative to his core.
Born in NYC but raised in the wilds of Texas, Wammo is an American original. The eldest son of Metropolitan Opera star William Walker, Wammo grew up as a musical omnivore who embraced influences ranging from Beethoven to the Beatles to Black Flag. He also began painting intense canvases drenched in contrast and color.
In 1984 he received his BFA in Radio/TV/Film from Texas Christian University and immediately went to work as a radio DJ and musician. First coming to national attention on the MTV and Lollapalooza tours in 1994, Wammo founded the first-ever Austin Poetry Slam, took second place in the National Poetry Slam in 1995 and cut his first solo album, Fat-Headed Stranger on the Mouth Almighty/Mercury label.
As cofounder of the Asylum Street Spankers, Wammo established himself as a creative force in America’s roots music revival leading into the 21st century. By 2010, Wammo had performed on nine Spankers albums (of which he produced two), two more solo albums, two full-length concert DVDs, and had appeared on stages and in music festivals across America, Europe and Japan, including Roskilde, Austin City Limits, and SXSW. His song Stick Magnetic Ribbons on Your SUV, a parody of Tie A Yellow Ribbon, has garnered over a million hits on YouTube.
Wammo made his professional film debut in Richard Linklater’s Slacker and was also featured in the documentary Slam Nation. In 2007, Wammo headlined the TerraNOVA SoloNOVA Festival in New York City with his one-man show, Road Dog. In 2008, he starred off-Broadway in What and Give Up Show Biz?, a variety show tracing the history of the Spankers.
Wammo lives in Austin, Texas with his wife and daughter.
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