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The Walkabouts is an American rock band formed in Seattle in 1984. The core members are vocalist Carla Torgerson and vocalist and songwriter Chris Eckman. Although the rest of the line-up has changed occasionally, for most of the time the other members have been Michael Wells, Glenn Slater and Terri Moeller. The band draws inspiration from folk and country music, particularly Townes Van Zandt, Neil Young and Johnny Cash, but also from other types of artists and musical styles such as Scott Walker, Leonard Cohen, French chanson and Jacques Brel. Their sound is typically rich, with string arrangements and keyboards in addition to the standard rock instruments. In reviews the band's music is often described as melancholic or mellow, while Eckman's lyrics, concerning such themes as human relations, loneliness and restlessness, are often emphasized as poetic. The Walkabouts have achieved commercial success and a strong fanbase in Europe, where they have done promotion and extensive touring since early 1990s. They have occasionally even made it high on the record charts in countries such as Greece and Norway. == History == Carla Torgerson and Chris Eckman met and began playing music together in 1983 while attending Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington. In 1984 they moved to Seattle, and the band was born when they joined forces with Chris' two younger brothers, drummer Grant and bassist Curt. The Eckman brothers had been playing in various punk rock and pop groups during their college years, and Carla came from a folk and street singing background. The band took their name from Nicolas Roeg's cult film, ''Walkabout''. They released their first EP, ''22 Disasters'', in early 1985. Curt Eckman then left the band, to be replaced by Michael Wells. Their second EP, ''Linda Evans/Cyclone'', was released in 1987. The following year they released their first album, ''See Beautiful Rattlesnake Gardens'', on the PopLlama label, before being signed by Sub Pop as that label's first non-grunge band. Adding keyboard player and multi-instrumentalist Glenn Slater, they released three albums on Sub Pop over the next few years - ''Cataract'' (1989), ''Rag & Bone'' (1990), and ''Scavenger'' (1991). They also toured extensively, particularly in Europe. In 1992 they left Sub Pop Seattle, but remained with Sub Pop Europe who issued three more albums, ''New West Motel'' (1993), ''Satisfied Mind'' (1993), and ''Setting the Woods on Fire'' (1994). Drummer Terri Moeller replaced Grant Eckman in 1992, when he left to care for his newborn son, Dakota Eckman.〔(The Stopping-Off Place: Unofficial Site for the Walkabouts )〕 ''Satisfied Mind'' was their first of several albums largely or wholly comprising songs originally written and recorded by an eclectic variety of other artists, including Nick Cave, Charlie Rich, Johnny Rivers, Patti Smith, Mary Margaret O'Hara, and Gene Clark. Their 1996 collection of unreleased songs, ''Death Valley Days'', also included songs by Neil Young, Nick Drake and Bob Dylan, and in 2000 they issued ''Train Leaves At Eight'', which broadened the approach further by including songs by European artists including Mikis Theodorakis, Goran Bregović, Jacques Brel and Neu!.〔 In 1995 the band signed with Virgin Records in Germany and released ''Devil's Road'' (1996) - recorded in part with the Warsaw Philharmonic - and ''Nighttown'' (1997), leading to new levels of success in Europe. The video for ''The Light Will Stay On'', the lead single from ''Devil's Road'' was in heavy rotation on MTV Europe. Michael Wells left the band for several years in 1996, rejoining in 2003. In 1999 they moved to the German record label, Glitterhouse Records (the successor to Sub Pop Europe), and released ''Trail of Stars'' (1999), ''Train Leaves At Eight'' (2000), ''Ended Up A Stranger'' (2001), ''Slow Days With Nina'' (2003) - an EP tribute to Nina Simone - and ''Acetylene'' (2005). In 2010 guitarist Paul Austin joined the band to begin work on a long awaited new album titled ''Travels In The Dustland,'' scheduled for release in Europe on October 21, 2011, and in North America in early November. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Walkabouts」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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