Interview With Walter Blamer

Walter Blamer is a alternative music songwriter from Rothbury, MI in the United States. He started writing lyrics for songs at a very young age and this was back in the 60's as a pre-teen during the British invasion influenced by America's own blues of the time. As a young boy he was inspired by all the greats from BB king, Lou Armstrong, Chuck Berry, Chubby Checkers, Stevie Wonder, Sammy Davis Junior to the Afro American music plus Frank Sinatra, Dean, Martina, the Rat Pack in a beautiful era of neither shortage nor racism.
Growing up, one of his greatest fantasies was to be on stage doing all the genres of music that he admired and at a very young age his parents would ignite this vision with a very pleasant surprise. Guess what! they bought him a guitar and a small tape recorder.
From that day on he could really fantasize about being a rock en roll hero. He will play and record in his bedroom all day long dancing with his sisters. Walter wasn't the best when it came to playing the instruments but would stand out from everyone else as exceptional wit respect to his writing abilities. He made his debut at a very early age in school writing poems and proved to be an excellent writer. Childhood was a memorable moment for him though he suffered from anxiety and abuse but will often confide in his parents.
The first experience was being able to write about how he felt through poetry and listening to music would equally help him escape the horror he was forced to go through as a child. At the time he enjoyed a wide range of genres like blues and rock en roll from various artists including Bob Dylan , James Taylor and Cat Stevens. Listening to various music styles made a huge impact on his writing and he got so involved with his passion that he'd sometimes rush down to the local drug store to read their magazines. Also, being too young to have a job created more allowance for him to do what he loved despite the regular home chores.
His passion was so strong that it became an addiction and not having money won't stop him from bringing the hit parade mags and other great song books home. The magazine rack was usually right by the back door and he'd slip a mag under his shirt and sneak out the door. Not that he encourages young people to follow in this footsteps but these were some desperate times his life and he wasn't left with much of a choice but to take these drastic measures .
Once he finished writing a new piece, he would be so eager to get his songs out there to someone to be sung ; so he'd send them out to the ads that he saw in the back of song mags ( SONGS AND POEMS WANTED ) to be recorded by major labels. In short time he often got many replies from labels saying they loved his songs and wanted him to sign a contract for their release . Well of course, being a minor at the time, he couldn't sign on his own and would often seek help from his parents to do so .
Now they were certain that their son was a skilled writer but often skeptical as it could be a scam since the labels required a fee to grant the contracts. That was a red light from his dad as it was unacceptable to request a fee from a songwriter to use his work.
He feels his father was probably right though at the time he was mad at his father for not supporting him with his music. Like every kid of his age, he didn't understand that his father was just trying to protect him from being ripped off and hurt.
Well it wasn't long after graduation that he decided to hit the road hitchhiking for the first time in 1976. At home and unemployed and he felt this was a great way to alleviate his stress. He was only 19 and spent the next few years hiking around the country until he met with his best friend Craig during his ride.
As an escape solution to his challenges he took to a long hitchhiking adventure in 1978 and after 7 days on the road he managed to get to Washington State before realizing he still couldn't find happiness as he was neither himself nor where he wanted to be. This was really crazy moment in his life as he was on a road to nowhere land in confusion (this is title of one of the songs he submitted as a boy). After a lonely night in a hotel room, he experienced a very religious moment and concluded it was time to go back home .
The next day he met another young hitchhiker on the cascade mountains and they returned together . The new friend had a guitar on his back and they both shared dreams about their wishes to attaining stardom.
He had found some happiness with a wonderful companion and they made music together as they bonded in a very special way on their journey back home. Unfortunately, his friend left only a couple days upon arrival and this led him to write a short novel titled (Hitchhiking With An Angel) which was published by First Books, now Author House Publishing; detailing this final journey . They were so close because the companion guided him home from the west coast and he felt this was his guardian angel .
At age 21, he was still unhappy and hurt as he didn't feel fulfilled yet, however, the only solution was to return home to live with his parents again. He feels they weren't happy with him but he had no other alternative. Heartbroken and depressed, he had to seek help from mental health experts and also picked up writing more to help in his healing process.
He continued to write many poems and songs all during his adult years and never gave up on this dreams of being a writer until age 65 during the Covid-19 period when something wonderful happened to him.
After joining the Songwriters Group on Facebook, he met up with another musician by the name of Christian Bouillon from Canada. Well the rest is history cause he found happiness again, working together with his awesome new friend and both are on their way to make their dreams a reality. Their story is a lovely one and would definitely be a great inspiration to other struggling artist to never give up on their dreams.