Hereford singer-songwriter Bo Walton attracts attention around the world (From Hereford Times)

Hereford singer-songwriter Bo Walton attracts attention around the world

11:49am Thursday 9th February 2012 in Music & Dance

TALENT is essential if you want to make it in the music industry, but a lucky break can prove incredibly useful as Hereford singer-songwriter Bo Walton is discovering.

Bo has just released Wild at Heart, his second single, the follow-up to 'S too Much, and it’s attracting a good deal of attention. Three months after the first single was released, and with the full support of his wife Elaine – “This is what you want to do, this is what you should do, so let’s give it a shot” – Bo has given up the day job and is now spending his time promoting the new single, putting the finishing touches to his first album and rehearsing with the band ahead of a tour in the summer.

Bo’s break came when he and his father, also a songwriter, were put in touch with Graham Sclater of publisher Tabitha Music in Devon.

“I’d published some of their songs, but never met Bo and his father,” recalls Graham.

“Then, last August I visited Berry Hill and met Bo, his father Ron and Bo’s co-writer John David. I listened to their new songs, and asked who was singing as I loved the voice. It was Bo, and though we didn’t agree anything at that first meeting, on the drive home I decided I really liked it.

“But we needed to find a niche and in fact the niche for Bo is all-encompassing – appealing to the younger generation and to fans of Elvis who don’t have any new records to buy. Now it’s crossing over into the mainstream.

It’s really incredible.”

It may also have helped to have the legendary Mark Knopfler playing on Hey Mister Night, the second track on Bo’s first double A-sided single.

“John David knew Mark Knopfler’s manager and Bo asked if he’d send him some songs and ask if Mark would play on any of the tracks,”

explains Graham. “He also played on Miss You Bad, which will be on the new album.”

It was Graham’s conviction that convinced Bo and has seen him attracting attention around the world with his first two singles in just three months.

“I realised that I had always wanted to make it as a singer.

I always believed I had the potential to do it. But as much as it takes self-belief, you need someone like Graham to believe in you too,” he said.

Bo reveals that he tried his luck on X Factor several years ago. “I got through the first round, but not the second,” he says, but he’s now delighted that he didn’t take that route, pleased to be in a position where he can make the music he enjoys.

“The beauty of doing all this with someone like Graham is that we don’t have to have a style of music thrust upon us.

I’ve never subscribed to pigeon-holing, but I guess my music is rock ’n’ roll with country undertones.”

Bo’s album is a modern take on rockabilly recorded with an edge and to date the tracks have been well received both here in the UK and overseas.

“I couldn’t be happier with it,” declares Bo, who is currently doing a round of interviews with radio stations here and abroad ahead of the album release this spring.

“It’s called Waiting on a Dream,” he says. “It couldn’t be more appropriate.”

Wild at Heart is available from download sites.