My name is Leigh Walker and I'm the lead singer and guitarist of the band THE NEW ADMIRALS. I'm originally from Sydney, Australia and moved to Los Angeles just over a year ago to pursue my dream of playing music.
This last year has been a roller coaster ride full of highs and lows but I feel their is finally some light at the end of the tunnel. My band is my life and if you judge someone's dream by how much they have given up I can honesty say I've given up everything to make my dreams come true.
From leaving my friends and family behind, to having my original band KISTONE fall apart just as we were on the verge of signing a record deal when i first moved to LA, nothing has deterred me from pushing forward with my goal of making great music that can help inspire people all over the world.
Life has not been easy in LA. For a year I was unable to work, and I now had to start a new band from scratch. This was very disheartening as I had my dreams right in front of me and in an instant it was taken away. In addition in the past three months my Japanese Aunty passed away and I could not make it home to Australia for the funeral. To make matters worse, our rehearsal studio got broken into and all of our equipment got stollen. Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, some of the band members I was working with had to leave due to circumstances in their own lives. A question for the Universe: Why does bad luck always seems to come in multiples of three?
With only a half empty glass I decided to grab it with both hands and fill it up to the top. I was not going to let anything stop me from doing what I love. Even with no instruments and no money, I was going to make this happen.
So I opened myself up for the possibility of miracles appearing in my life. Sure enough right on que my life changed. Through a friend who went to Musicians Institute (MI), I was introduced to two musicians who would lead me to the path to gold. When I met Simon Davies-Headman and Roger Halecky Jr., it was love at first sight. Simon is a talented and determined Swede who plays guitar and sings. Roger is a groovin bass player originally form Arizona. The two of them joined myself and, my last remaining band member, the very loyal, and incredibly talented Jake Coco. Jake was one of the first musicians I had paried up after moving to LA. Jake has stood by me through a lot of these highs and lows. Jake you are awesome man!
With the help of Simon lending me his back up guitar and being able to borrow some friends guitar pedals, the four of us have been rehearsing around the clock. We are now putting together the final piece of the puzzle-- A female singer with a big voice who plays piano. Stay tuned.
Another miracle has been Sarah Mason from CAKE LIVE. We met through mutual friends. I had heard about her mentoring program and it was something that I was very passionate about. CAKE LIVE takes kids ages 10-17 who have a passion for the creative arts and a need for a mentor. They match the kids with up-and-coming artists and a Creative Arts for Kids Expression (CAKE) PROJECT is born. The project is mutually beneficial--helping artists like me give back and giving kids the opportunity to learn from our experiences. Sarah has been amazing and I can't thank her enough. I hope I can be as big an inspiration to my mentee as Sarah has been to me.
Stay tuned for more updates on THE NEW ADMIRALS and CAKE LIVE...
Who knows where this will go but my heart is beating fast.. I'm living life, and feeling alive!
Leigh your passion and commitment to your dreams just keep on amazing me more and more every day. I have all faith in you -- thanks for being so inspiring, and so damn talented.
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