Country Sound: Down country trails and Walker’s Way

Behind the microphone is the roguish and humourous Junior Walker, whose laid-back humour has carved out its own special niche with an FM outreach into three provinces.

He has always been known as Junior and, at this stage, no one really cares what his real name is.

“I hardly know myself. I come from the border town of Keady in south Armagh, once described by our best-known citizen, the late Tommy Makem, as ‘the hub of the universe’,” says Junior.

He recalls the first time he did a radio show on Big M Radio, a pirate station broadcasting out of Castleblayney in the mid 1980s.

“I called into a pub in Keady before I went over to do the show and I told the lads to listen in.

I played a mix of music, from country to Bob Dylan and Procol Harum. I dropped into the pub in Keady on the way back again and asked the lads what they thought of the show: ‘We never heard worse in all our lives. Go back to the drumming.’”

Drumming

Junior’s journey to his radio days came through his love of country music. He started his drumming career with a marching band.

“My first country band was with a group of local lads and we called ourselves Canvass Wagon. We were in our late teens and influenced by the Cotton Mill Boy and The Smokey Mountain Ramblers.

"Two of us later joined Union Express, with lead singer Pat Woods. We were a good band and recorded Molly Darling in the Eamonn Andrews Studios in Dublin, but we didn’t get far.

"After that I spent a time with The Glensiders (the Haughey brothers) around Keady.”

Junior’s big break came when Tony Loughman, one of the top porters at the time, called out from Castleblayney one evening to see if he would join a band called The Storytellers, fronted by Susan McCann.

“Tony came back another time and persuaded me to give it a try. Susan had a single out, Feeling Single Seeing Double.

We were ticking over for a few months and then Susan recorded Big Tom Is Still The King.

Within weeks, the song had soared to number one in the Irish Top 20 and our crowds surged in spectacular fashion.

“I remember we did 93 nights in a row, and that run was interrupted when Susan was involved in a car accident coming into Newry after a gig.

"Several Monday nights in the summer months were taken up with the Top Rank football evenings, which were always followed by a dance, and we were the main band.

"I spent seven good years with the band, from 1976 to 1983.”

Big Tom

Junior later did occasional gigs with other bands and recalls one with special affection.

“I played with Big Tom one night in the 1980s when his then-drummer Pete McCarthy was sick.

"The gig was at the famous Sound of Music in Glenamaddy. No rehearsal, straight on stage. It was a mighty night.”

Radio days were not far away, as the pirate boom was rocking the country. The mediumwave band was alive with the sounds of local radio.

“Frank Morgan was running Big M in Castleblayney. I always had an interest in radio and I had joined the Radio Caroline Fan Club back in the 1970s.

“It was Frank who gave me the start on Big M and I had plenty of encouragement from Michéal Lynch, who was also on air and was a member of The Storytellers band with me sometime earlier. Tommy Toal was a big help and lent support from the outset. We used get requests in from Liverpool at the time and the station was very popular in the north because we played so much country music.”

Northern Sound

When Northern Sound went on air in June 1990, Junior Walker was on board.

He took a break in 1995, but was invited back by Joe Finnegan four years later in 1999 and has been an integral part of life at Shannonside-Northern Sound ever since.

He got good support from many along the way, including the late Phelim Cox, who had a big audience on the station too.

“I started back doing the Breakfast Show and later did Walker’s Way for several years between 7pm and 9pm.

"The show now goes out five evenings a week from Monday to Friday between 6pm and 8pm.

“The Wednesday show is all American country, where I love to feature all the great legends from the scene like Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Dolly Parton, Moe Bandy and so many more.

There is a huge love and respect for their music in these parts.

The other four evenings sees a mix of Irish and American country music, with a blend of songs from over the years as well as from the newcomers to the scene.

Junior has his regular features on the shows such as the Teatime Teaser, Showband Archive, Songs You Don’t Hear Anymore (a listener told him last week she did not want to ever hear it again either), and the Intro to Popular songs competitions for the ‘dodgy CD’ prize.

Walker’s Way spreads its wings over a vast catchment area and brings a lot of joy to many homes across the land.

For three decades, the Armagh man has remained ultra true to the country music way of life.

“One of the best compliments I got was in recent years from a lady living on her own. She said: ‘Your programme is great company.’ The simple statement from the heart is still the most powerful of them all,” reflects Junior.

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