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Branson News |
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| • Branson History • Branson Profiles • Branson News ____ Branson News Index • All Aboard the Red Head Express • Fiddle Festival Returns to Downtown Branson • Hunting & Fishing In The Branson Area |
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Back in the old days, pioneering families pushed westward to find new opportunity.
Just last month, a modern pioneer family — from nearly as far west as you can get and still be in North America — is finding opportunity by pushing east to Branson, Missouri.
The Walker family, now known as the acoustic music band Red Head Express, started out from Palmer, Alaska, a small farming community not far from Anchorage.
We had grizzly bears in our yard sometimes," notes 17-year old LaRae, the band's banjo player.
Dedicated to learning all they can of bluegrass' traditional roots, the family began a musical journey.
Many of their audiences are surprised to learn they were introduced to bluegrass music less than two years ago.
Eighteen-year old Kendra's love for jazz often shows up in her vocal stylings. She is also a flourishing songwriter. Fourteen-year-old Alyssa yodels. Twelve-year old Meghan plays a mean bass fiddle.
The young boys, Sean, Ammon, and Joseph, chime in with harmonies and fiddle playing.
Apryll, mother of all seven children, clog dances and sings. It was her mother's dream to have a family band — a dream Apryll is happy to fulfill.
The Red Head Express has already racked up impresive accomplishments.
They've experienced a sucessful bluegrass festival tour in the Deep South and Appalachia.
And they've been received warmly by bluegrass luminaries such as Kathy Chiavola, Jim Connor, Mike Bub and Roland White.
Still the family remains deeply humble. "We're just students," notes Brett, the father. "And you can't call us a traditional bluegrass band," interjects Apryll, "because we're mostly women!"
"One of our goals is to understand bluegrass," continues Brett, "So we're still researching. We're going back to Nashville in our off time to study. And we want to spend time in the Ozark Mountains, down in Mountain Home and Mountain View, Arkansas, just learning from the locals who have been doing this for generations."
Brett and Apryll's intense drive to understand their musical heritage is evident in their daughters.
Just ask LaRae what separates mountain music from bluegrass:
"Number one difference is the banjo," she replies without hesitation. "Bluegrass is all three-fingered, driving banjo. When you hear it, it just hammers into your brain. Clawhammer style [in mountain music] is a little lighter. It's brushing your fingers across the strings instead of pulling. And it makes you want to get up and dance."
(continued above right)
Photos courtesy of Red Head Express.
It's hard to believe that before May, Branson was just a dot on the map to this pioneering musical family.
"We were pretty clueless about Branson, though we knew about the Duttons" admits Kendra.
Their first experience came in the form of Silver Dollar City. Accepted to compete in the City's single mic championship, an event which takes place each May, all seven family members flew to Missouri.
They did not win, but agree it was a great experience.
Shortly thereafter, the Red Head Express was accepted for regular shows at the Circle B Chuckwagon, a Branson favorite owned by the Horn family.
Still, the move to Branson hasn't been simple.
"I think there's a common misconception," says Brett. "One that says, 'Hey, we'll go to Branson and everybody will get rich.' We really were thinking it would be easy to get people to the theater right away. After our first shows in front of very small audiences, we sat down as a family and asked, 'What are we willing to do?'"
"That's one thing I really like about this," adds LaRae,"It was all a choice we did together. Mom and Dad didn't choose it. We kids didn't choose it. We decided together that we would push through this."
The Walker family, dedicated to supporting their fellow musicians, have quickly made friends in town. "We've made a lot of good friends," continues Apryll. "There are a lot of nice people in Branson and they are really willing to share. We've talked to the Hughes Brothers, Louis Darby, John Fullerton, Randy Plummer."
A recent performance on the Grand Country Radio Show only highlighted their popularity. Before an audience of around 350, the Red Head Express received ovation after ovation as they plunged through hard-driving instrumental licks and tight four-part harmonies.
"American roots music," muses Apryll. "It just seems to run through the veins of so many people.
"And calls people back home."
July 7, 2008