Songwriter Soul with a Funky kick is how Carole Walker self describes her crafted sound. Her songwriting goes far beyond convention. She weaves her lyrics into a tapestry of spoken word, poems, and heartfelt songs all wrapped in her warm powerful voice. Mike Breen “CityBeat” magazine (Cincinnati, Oh) says “Carole Walker has been equally lauded for her soulful, lilting vocal ability, which get its calling card with Be Yourself (she can somehow occasionally sound like Joni Mitchell, Nina Simone, Ani DiFranco and Erykah Badu in the span of one line).”
Carole is now working on her upcoming EP “Bloom,” a collection of songs inspired by personal growth, loss, acceptance and love. In July of 2010 Carole lost her brother/bass player Chris Walker who was also her musical partner and co-founder of the bands “Heavy Weather” and “The Walker Project” “Music can’t heal everything but It can help you find your way back from the darkest of places” says Carole “these songs were my way of putting back the pieces of myself after what seemed like to me was back to back tragedies. The songs were more personal than I ever expected and still more songs are coming.”
Carole developed her guitar skills and continued to write songs. Her solo work led to the creation of “The Walker Project” (the Project) — the second collaboration with her brother. Carole describes “The Walker Project” as ‘an acoustic soul duet.’ The Project released two self –produced CDs (Trilogy, U can be Yourself). In 2003, Carole was nominated and received the Cincinnati Music award (Cammy) for best Hip-hop vocal. Carole has shared the stage with Michelle Malone, Tracy Walker, Allison Pippitone, and the late Katie Reider. Carole’s time with Heavy Weather” with her brother/bass player Chris Walker and fronted the band with her powerful vocals. The band played an amalgamation of genres including funk, rock, soul, reggae, and pop. They opened for a number of national acts including Fishbone, Kid Rock, Merrell Saunders, MMW (Medeski, Martin and Wood), Freekbass, and Sister 7. In 1994, they were selected as the official band for the American Indian Movement Walk for Freedom national tour which began in Florida and ended with a concert on the Washington Monument in Washington DC. Heavy Weather toured extensively for 10 years receiving numerous accolades and produced three CD’s (The Difference, As My World, Live) until 2002 when they took a much deserved hiatus.
Helen Yee, who performs with Carole Walker, is also a martial artist. She has been studying martial arts since 1978. Her training led her to becoming a licensed massage therapist. She is the Co-founder and co-owner of the American Institute of Alternative Medicine (AIAM). She has studied in China as well as the United States. Helen has taught Tai Chi and Chi Gong to acupuncture and martial arts students as well as those who have been interested in holistic and alternative approaches to health, at AIAM, martial arts camps and seminars nationally and abroad. Helen has also been invited by several self-defense and women organizations to share her success story of escaping harm from a gunman. She competed on the U.S. Tae Kwon Do team in 1990, earning a silver medal in the World Cup in Madrid, Spain. Helen was inducted into the Bruce Lee Martial Arts Hall of Fame in 2015.