Story and photos by
By NANCY NELSON VINES
Contributing Writer
SSLqSSLqIt's great to be home," beams singer, musician, composer, artist and lawyer Amanda Walker. "I am honored when I think about how much time and effort so many people put into making this happen," referring to her recent near-capacity crowd performance at Dexter High School (DHS) auditorium.
Walker's return to her small-town roots was as exciting for local fans as it was for the performer. Family, friends, former teachers and strangers stood in line to greet the talented singer from New Orleans.
"It was wonderful to see the support and love that make my hometown still feel like home," Walker observes affectionately.
Walker graduated from Dexter High School in 1998. From there she moved to Cape Girardeau and attended Southeast Missouri State University, where she faced the same dilemma as most college freshmen.
"I started out majoring in finance because I had to choose a major," she explains. "Then I changed to art. Somewhere along the line my practical side kicked in and I asked myself what I was going to do with a degree in art, so I changed to art education. My minor is political science."
No music? No music.
"When I was small my mother taught piano, so I was playing that instrument at a very young age, and eventually learned the guitar, as well. I could read music before I could read the printed word; so even though I have always been musical, that was not my interest in school. I did try band one semester in middle school, but that just wasn't my thing. My activity in high school and college was tennis. I played a lot of tennis in college for the university. Class-wise, though, my favorite subject was art.
"I think my love of art originated with my elementary art teacher Mrs. Gibson. She was a neighbor and would let me play with her art supplies. When I arrived at high school Mrs. Sherfield was just such an inspiration. She gave challenging assignments that forced me to think outside my comfort zone, and made me want to explore different possibilities. I think that experience helped give me the confidence to make the tough decisions I had to face later."
From Southeast, Walker traveled south to Tulane University in New Orleans, where she enrolled in law school.
"I will tell you something about being at Tulane," she said. "I was with students from all over -- many of them from private and prep schools. I was just as prepared, maybe better in some areas, than those kids. I will forever be grateful for the education I received at DHS."
Walker was attending Tulane when Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005. Amid the devastation of Katrina, the university was forced to close for a semester.
"During that time I transferred to University of Missouri at Columbia, but was back in New Orleans for the next semester. In fact, I was the student chair of the Student Return Committee," Walker explains. "There were many problems facing the university as they struggled to regroup in the wake of Katrina; however, one of the most pressing was making sure that students who had transferred elsewhere, returned to the campus.
"Another huge obstacle," she observes, "was the housing problem. Dorms had been destroyed or badly damaged, and there was no place for students when they arrived for classes." The solution to that problem? "The university rented cruise ships from Carnival and docked them in the river. Students were shuttled back-and-forth to classes."
However, that was not the luxury one might imagine.
"Only four months after Katrina, the city was still in chaos," Walker observes. "Grocery, convenience and big-box stores were still closed, so getting food and toiletries for the students was a difficult task. There also were security challenges for those students."
After Katrina, Walker found it necessary to move to the French Quarter. That move, and the need for extra money to support herself, is what -- in a roundabout way -- resulted in her first paying music gig.
"I was tutoring to supplement my income, and one of my students, who was also a friend, received an excellent grade on something I had helped prep. To celebrate we went out to The Asian Cajun Bistro. He spied a piano in the corner and suggested I play something. After a few tunes, the owner offered me the opportunity to play and sing four evenings a week," she said.
Following graduation Walker worked in juvenile court for four and a half years, then had her own family law practice for a few years. During this period she began devoting a great deal of time to writing her own music and continued to play and sing in popular local spots around the city.
"I was becoming really immersed in my music, and less enthralled with the practice of law," she says wryly. "I was in a state of conflict. I had invested so much in law school and was having to work five to six days a week in my practice; however, I was also playing music five to six nights a week. It was too much.
"The turning point came when I arrived home in the wee hours of the morning after a late-night gig. I was exhausted and in such a state of confusion. In five hours I had to be at work, and work was not where I wanted to be. I walked down to the river to gather my thoughts and unwind. As I stood looking out over the water and skipping rocks, a song came to me, and in that song was my answer."
"The Good Fight" is the song that gave voice to the determination that Walker felt rise in her that night.
"Of course, I couldn't just walk away from my practice, but I had made up my mind to eventually leave that career and devote myself to writing and performing," she said.
She says it took about a year and a half to complete the transition, but now she is happier than she has ever been.
"I compose almost all my music. I do play some covers, but for the most part I am performing songs I have written," Walker says.
"Ideally, one day I will only be writing, and other people will be performing my compositions. Then, I can sit back and let the royalty checks roll in," she continues, laughing good-naturedly.
Speaking of royalty checks, she says she was pleasantly surprised when the royalty checks began to arrive following her musical appearance on NCIS: New Orleans.
"You know," she explains, "I will receive a check for that appearance every time that episode airs anywhere in the world, for as long as it keeps airing. Isn't that something?"
Walker says she primarily works alone, or with her band The Misfit Toys; however, when her friend and fellow musician and songwriter Lynn Drury wanted to seek out performance possibilities around Southern Illinois, she invited the Dexter native to join her.
"Even though Lynn is originally from Mississippi, she has quite a following over in that area of Illinois," Walker explained. "When we discussed the possibility of performing up here, I hoped we could arrange something in Dexter, but never imagined it would be as wonderful as it was."
With Walker on the piano and Drury playing guitar, the duo performed at DHS, as well as other venues during their four-day trip to the area.
"This fall I'm going to Cleveland, Ohio, to record with Jim Wirt, who has produced music for some pretty well-known musicians," Walker says, and then adds, "I must stop here, though, and give credit to my English teachers who gave me the foundation to write. They encouraged me to express myself through the written word, which has contributed to the success I am experiencing today. Mrs. Horton, Mrs. Dowdy, Mrs. Stuever, Mrs. Galloway, Mrs. Rimel, and Mrs. Vines, thank you."
In addition to her fondness for music, Walker is passionate about giving children opportunities to explore new horizons and encouraging them to reach out and try something different.
"When I was young, my mother was in a band. At about four or five I went on stage with her. I was encouraged to perform and praised for my efforts. I think it is so important for us to be positive and reassuring to children," she said.
Walker often invites children in the audience on stage with her when she is performing.
"I let them perform in whatever way they feel comfortable. Sometimes it's playing my guitar, or the piano, sometimes it's singing. There is a little girl in New Orleans whose father brings her to my shows about once a week. She likes to perform, and recently I had her come on stage and sing with my band. That was a lot of fun for all of us," Walker said.
When her lifelong friend Willa Fees invited Walker to read to her classroom of second graders, she was excited at the opportunity. Fees had selected a few random music-themed books from the Southwest Elementary library. The musician/reader was delighted to find that "Trombone Shorty" was among her options.
"I know Trombone Shorty and his family in New Orleans," Walker explained to the students when she chose that book. "I like this story because even though Trombone Shorty was a little boy, and his trombone was almost as big as he was, his family was proud of his musical ability, and encouraged him to keep playing."
Walker also read to Mrs. Boyer's class.
Reflecting on her visit to Dexter, Walker observed, "I love this town and I love coming back home. There is no high school angst for me, because I was very happy here and still have strong ties and dear friends.
"New Orleans is an exciting place to live. Something is always happening somewhere, and I have been there long enough that I now feel I belong. However, I am still a small-town girl at heart and have chosen to reside in the historic Algiers Point neighborhood of the city. I think I like that area so much because it reminds me a lot of Dexter. It has a small-town air and a friendly atmosphere. It feels like home," she said.