Chris Walz has done his share of performing. He played young Woody in the stage production of Woody Guthrie’s American Song. From the late ’90s to 2001, Walz toured and recorded with banjo player Greg Cahill’s Special Consensus bluegrass band. And for 10 years he took the role of guitarist Fred Hellerman in Weavermania, a tribute to Pete Seeger’s Weavers, formed by Michael Smith.
But for almost 30 years, he has been an instructor at Chicago’s Old Town School of Folk Music, teaching all levels in fingerstyle, blues, bottleneck slide, flatpicking, and Scruggs-style banjo.
His new collection of traditional folk songs, All I Got And Gone, dips into repertoires from Blind Willie McTell and Mississippi John Hurt, and recalls greats like Doc Watson and Dave Van Ronk. At 62, it’s a mature solo debut in the best sense of the term.
Did you take guitar lessons?
I tried to work things out on my own, based on what I was hearing. The library in a nearby town called Liverpool had a huge record section. I would take out records with pictures of guitars on the cover, and I wound up discovering people like Woody Guthrie. The songs on Dust Bowl Ballads were great, and they were only three chords.
By the time I came to Chicago, I’d been playing almost 10 years. I was on the L train, heading downtown to look for a job, and through the railing I saw a big sign for Old Town School of Folk Music. In high school, none of my friends were into the stuff I liked. All of a sudden there was this place; you walk through the door and say “Libba Cotten” or “Leadbelly” and everybody knows who you’re talking about.
In 1996, the education director, Michael Miles, called and said there was an overflow of registration for Guitar 1 – complete beginners. I started that night, and I never looked back. What Michael showed me was how to reach people, how to make them comfortable, how to be patient. The first night of Guitar 1, I tell them, “Music is made of three things – melody, harmony, and rhythm. This class is 80 minutes long, and before we’re done, you’re going to have three chords, and we’re going to play a song.” It’s always Bob Dylan’s “Buckets Of Rain,” with D, G, and A7. Demystify it, so it’s not remote and scary and impossible.
Who was the first folk artist you saw live?
In 1992, I saw Dave Van Ronk in Minneapolis. I’d been trying to play his arrangements, but they weren’t sounding right. I could see the chord shapes he was using, as opposed to the ones I was using, and the light bulb went off in my head. I got to meet him after the show and shake hands, and this baseball mitt of a hand just swallowed up my little fist.
Tony Rice did a couple of workshops at the school, and afterward he let me play the “Clarence” guitar (the 1935 Martin D-28 that previously belonged to Clarence White). The record that made me aware of him was Church Street Blues, just him and guitar. He said he’d never do another record like that, without a band, which shocked me; it’s so great.
When Doc Watson played there, he did part of a set, just him – one guitar, one voice, doing the old songs. I thought every guitar teacher and player should witness this; it’s exactly how it’s done. Perfection.
In terms of players who always maintained an instructional angle, Stefan Grossman comes to mind.
Grossman was putting out tablature books way early. There was a radio show called “Folk Festival, U.S.A.,” two hours of live performance and interviews hosted by Steve Rathe. It was genius the way Grossman and John Renbourn did their duet shows; they started out together, then a set by Stefan, a set by John, and closing together again. The greatest template ever.
What are your main guitars?
At some point, I found myself bumping into adjacent strings on my Tony Rice Signature Model, so I had Darren Webb at Santa Cruz Guitars build a wider neck for it, to the specs of a 000 I have. My resophonic is a newer National Duolian. On the album, I’m using a 2004 Martin Norman Blake model for the fingerpicking, and for flatpicking I use a 2006 D-28 Authentic 1937.
I wanted to be really familiar with all the material, like every song was an old friend. Which meant spending time with the songs, playing them a lot, changing them, and seeing how they were going to settle. And I wanted to do it in an old-school way. I told (producer) John Abbey, who runs Kingsize Sound Labs in Chicago, that I wanted to do complete takes. Those Doc and Van Ronk and John Hurt records all have a rough edge of imperfection. I hope there’s an immediacy for the listener. – Dan Forte
This article originally appeared in VG’s May 2025 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
