Walker County brings their Henry County sound & style to Hancock County Fair

Walker County brings their Henry County sound & style to Hancock County Fair

 By: Kevin Vickery 

It was Friday, June 28th when I made my way to the Hancock County Fairgrounds to see my friends, Walker County perform at the Hancock County Fair in Greenfield, IN. The evening temperatures were as good as you could hope for to see a country music powerhouse like this family band performing for a semi-local, home town crowd.

The Walker family who hail originally from Sulphur Springs have called Nashville, TN their home for the last ten years so it’s always a good time to catch up and see them perform when they’re back in the local area. 

A friend of mine recently told me that he had, “known me since before I was born” and that’s exactly how I feel about lead vocalist/guitarist, Ivy Dean Potter and harmony vocalist/drummer, Sophie Dawn Walker. 

I’ve known their Mother, Janis (Manis) Walker and Father/lead guitarist, Billy Walker since we were all kids at Shenandoah Middle School. By the time their daughters came along and had started playing music, I had moved back to Henry County from Nashville, TN. 

 I remember the first time I met Ivy Dean, I was sitting in a barber chair at Janis’ salon in Sulphur Springs getting what was left of my hair cut. Ivy, who was at the time a Shenandoah Middle Schooler herself came in to get her hair styled by her Mom after she was done with me. That day, we talked a lot about country music, Nashville, and playing gigs. I knew then that with her parent’s guidance, and particularly her Dad’s assistance, along with their collective Faith that she would give it her all to make a name for herself in the music business.

As time went on and with younger sister, Sophie Dawn coming into her own as a musician as well, they began playing every local event imaginable. Not a weekend went by that they weren’t performing at a fair, church fundraiser, private event, or community building somewhere in the local area. They even played a few times alongside my band for an annual hog roast at Mechanicsburg Masons Lodge. 

When they would sit in with us we would do classic sing-a-longs like, Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues” and Bluegrass-Gospel standards like “Will the Circle be Unbroken” but my fondest memory of those gigs is a time when we were all together on stage and young, country singer, Ivy Dean Walker randomly belted out the intro to Lady Gaga’s, “Bad Romance” to an unsuspecting crowd of homemade pie eating Lodge members and guests. We all kicked in and fumbled our way through it enough to back her up and make it seem country enough for the occasion. It was priceless.

It wasn’t long after that when Billy and the girls started making weekend trips down to Nashville, TN to perform as street musicians on lower Broadway. That’s when they developed not only their sound but also a taste for Music City and knew that they needed to be there full time to pursue their dreams successfully.  Thats just what they did.

In 2014 they were still teenagers when they signed a major label record deal with Warner Music Nashville and began working with well established song writers, artists, and producers in the country music business.  They garnered national attention when Kelly Clarkson fell in love with their sound and brought them onto her TV show. They’ve also shared the stage with country music legends like Loretta Lynn, Willie Nelson and Martina McBride and even performed the National Anthem at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

After a few years working with their record label, Walker County began to feel the frustration that many artists in their position go through.  They were writing songs that they loved and were from their own hearts and experiences but the label didn’t show interest in the material and therefore wouldn’t support it. The duo was eager to please the record company but felt like they were being pushed into different directions than what they wanted as artists.

They eventually dissolved their relationship with Warner Music and are now free to write, record, and release the music that they believe best represents their own sound and style. Their newest self released album, “Painted Ponies” accomplishes exactly that and as Ivy explained from stage, “It features songs about breaking free, which is just what we needed to do”.

The show at Hancock County Fairgrounds opened with acoustic group, Revealed featuring Craig Moore and Tom Baumgardner. The duo was strong on vocal harmony and featured a nice mix of original songs and 90’s era covers to get the crowd ready for headliners, Walker County.

The crowd of Walker County fans, friends, and family was primed when the band that also features bassist and Fort Wayne, IN native, Jesse Hardiek took the stage and opened the show with, “What You Don’t Get”, followed by “20%” both from the new “Painted Ponies album. Their show also included some of their earlier material like fan favorites, “Between Boyfriends”, “Bits & Pieces”, and “The Hamptons”.  The sisters take time to give a shout out to their Mom with Merle Haggard’s, “Mamma Tried” and Angaleena Presley’s, “Mamma, I Tried” played back to back. 

The band also includes a couple of cool cover songs in their set like “What’s Up?” by Four Non Blondes and Heart’s, “Alone”, which gives me chills every time I hear them perform it. 

However, nothing brings out the goosebumps more than when Sophie steps out from behind the drums to sing acoustic duets with Ivy. There’s we special about “sister-harmony” where two voices, bound by blood join together to create a unified sound and these two ladies do it perfectly.  In this format, the duo delivered angelic sounding versions of, “Handwritten”, a tear jerking song about a love letter between Grandparents and, “Mirror, Mirror”, which explains the pressure a woman feels to look a certain way, the importance of self love for who’s in the mirror with or without make up and not determining your worth based on what another person thinks.

By following Walker County on Facebook I regularly see  candid video clips of the sisters performing as an acoustic duo and I’m always excited to see what they’ve turned out next.  I spoke with them about the importance of social media and how necessary it is for success with artists today.  Ivy said, “ Social media is a big part of what we do. It’s a way we can connect with fans as well as grow our fan base. We have people who will come out to our shows and let us know how they found our music on tik tok, and that is such a neat thing!”

I was also able to ask their Father, Billy about what it’s been like to spend nearly the last two decades playing music with his daughters and watching them turn into legitimate, successful artists and he said, “Playing music with my girls has been an incredible gift.  I don’t think I really ever grasped how awesome our experiences would be as a family.  I am blessed as a Father to be able to be there for my girls for whatever they may need.  Playing music is a wonderful thing but it’s a small part of the big picture when it comes to putting on a show or just life in general, and I enjoy just being there for them.”

On what’s next for Walker County, Sophie added, “We are super excited to see what’s to come for us. Our whole career, we have felt like the Lord has lead us through the correct doors and paths, and we trust He will continue to do so.  Whether that is writing more music, or recording, we are excited to see what’s to come!”

I agree and will always be excited to see what’s coming next from Walker County.

For more information about Walker County, to purchase their merchandise, or see their tour schedule, find them on all social media outlets or visit their official website at walkercountymusic.com

To keep up with other events at the Hancock County Fairgrounds visit Hancock fairgrounds.com

Henry County resident and Ball State alum, Kevin Vickery, is bassist and lead vocalist for The Cousin Brothers. He spent several years working in Nashville for some of the biggest names in Country Music before taking over the reins at his family business. If you have a story idea or an event that you think Kevin should cover, contact him at kevin.makesomenoise@yahoo.com