Gerry Casey Interviews Austin Walking Cane

September 19, 2026

HOME PAGE

Making a Scene Presents Gerry Casey’s Interview with Austin Walking Cane

Austin Walkin’ Cane plays what he proudly calls “Damn Fine Blues” — a gritty, soulful mix of original songs and classic Delta blues built around slide guitar, raw vocals, and the deep pull of American roots music. Whether performing solo, as a duo, or with a full electric band, Cane brings the spirit of Highway 61 to the stage with a sound that feels lived-in rather than recreated.

A singer, songwriter, and slide guitarist with decades on the road, Austin Walkin’ Cane has carried his music far beyond the Mississippi Delta. His touring history includes performances across Australia, Nepal, Colombia, France, Germany, England, Wales, and throughout the United States, from New Orleans to Juneau, Alaska. For much of that journey, all he needed was a guitar, a suitcase, and enough road ahead to keep moving.

The name “Walkin’ Cane” came from a chapter of his life that eventually became part of his identity as an artist. Born with an arteriovenous malformation, Cane walked with the aid of a cane for ten years. While performing on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, a homeless man called out, “Hey, Walkin’ Cane, got some spare change for a brother?” The nickname stuck. In 1996, after years of dealing with the condition, Cane underwent a below-the-knee amputation of his left leg. A year later, he returned to performing stronger and no longer needing the cane that had given him his name.

That resilience runs straight through his music.

His 2008 album Murder of a Blues Singer grew out of a late-night diner conversation with blues legend Robert Jr. Lockwood. As Cane remembers it, “The stories were flowing like the grease off our plates.” Those stories, many of them connected to Lockwood’s stepfather Robert Johnson and the world of early Delta blues, helped inspire an album steeped in the history, mystery, and atmosphere of the blues tradition.

Lockwood had agreed to perform on the record, but fate intervened before that could happen. Even so, Cane and co-writer Chris Allen carried that spirit into the sessions, capturing the kind of live-in-the-studio energy they had envisioned from the beginning. The album features special guests including Colin Dussault, Eroc Sosinski, and Cleveland gospel group the Prayer Warriors. In 2023, Murder of a Blues Singer was re-released by Germany’s Hoboville Records, giving the album a renewed life and introducing the project to a new generation of listeners.

In 2011, Cane followed with A World of Blues, an acoustic album recorded live at the Brothers Lounge. Built around original songs written by Cane and Chris Allen, the record captures the feel of a musician who had spent years living on the road. Excerpts from Cane’s international travels are woven into the project, connecting the live Cleveland performance with a larger story of movement, discovery, and blues played far from home.

His 2014 album One Heart Walkin’ took that journey even deeper into roots territory. Recorded over two days at the historic G.A.R. Hall in Peninsula, Ohio, the album was shaped by the atmosphere of a building dating back to 1850. The former schoolhouse and Civil War veterans’ gathering place became more than a recording room; it became part of the record’s character.

Listening to One Heart Walkin’ feels like boarding an old train and following the blues south. The music carries the listener from Chicago through the Mississippi Delta, with stops in Memphis, Clarksdale, Bentonia, and finally New Orleans. The songs were co-written with longtime collaborator and childhood friend Chris Allen and brought to life with the help of producer and bassist Don Dixon, harmonica player Dave Morrison, Allen on acoustic guitar, drummer Freddie Perez-Stable, and members of the Revolution Brass Band, who added the unmistakable flavor of New Orleans to the sessions.

Across his catalog, Cane’s music is rooted in tradition without sounding trapped by it. His slide guitar work, storytelling, and weathered vocals reflect a deep respect for Delta blues, while his own experiences give the songs a personal voice. The result is a blues gumbo full of road stories, ghosts, grooves, gospel feeling, and the kind of honesty that can only come from having lived through a few things.

Austin Walkin’ Cane has built a career around perseverance, travel, and a deep commitment to the blues. From Bourbon Street to Europe, from live club recordings to historic halls, his music carries the sound of a life spent moving forward.

Damn fine blues, indeed.