As Ride took form, such memories couldn’t help but flavour the music. “This album is obviously what I was going through mentally and emotionally,” he considers. “All I did was express it. I spent a lot of time crying, because I would dig down into my emotional core. I want my songs to have some sort of truth to them. Of all the peaks in Trout’s trajectory, his abiding memory of the late Chicago bluesman is perhaps the most literal. It’s 1986, and high above Lake Geneva, at the palatial Alpine chalet of late Montreux Jazz Festival Svengali Claude Nobs, lunch is being served. “So we’re up at the top of the Alps,” Trout recalls, “in this big room with John Mayall, Buddy Guy, Junior Wells, Robert Cray, Otis Rush, and as we’re eating, Dr. John is serenading us on acoustic piano. I was sat there with Luther Allison, and we had a great talk. In November 2015, Trout became a patron of The British Liver Trust to help raise awareness and much-needed funding for the cause. Trout, and his wife, Marie have helped raise awareness for Donate Life Nebraska and are also patrons of the Danish Liver Foundation, [10] as well as Organdonation – Ja Tak. [11] "I'm only still here because someone donated their liver" he said. [ citation needed]

But five albums and a whole lot of determined re-learning later and Trout is more than he has ever been before in both music and himself. As we come up to a decade since Trouts time in hospital and subsequently in recovery, it feels like common knowledge that his post operation fortitude was not just to prove to the world that he could continue as he had, but because whatever makes him play like he does lingers in his bones refusing to be rid of.Trout joined John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers line-up in ’85, before embarking on an acclaimed solo career from ’89 onwards. By now, Trout knows that nobody ever really leaves their old selves behind. But with ‘Ride’ providing an emotional release-valve – both for its creator and his loyal listeners – perhaps this veteran artist can reconcile with his past, accept his future and live in the present as it unfolds. “I think you can interpret this album title a few different ways,” he concludes. “I mean, this album is definitely a musical ride and I certainly tried to cover a lot of ground. But, really, life is kind of a ride too, isn’t it? And I want to live mine to the fullest.” Find sources: "Walter Trout"– news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR ( January 2020) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) Marie Trout" Introduces "Walter Trout" @ The RAH". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-19 . Retrieved January 19, 2020. The New Jersey maestro spent time in John Mayall’s Blues Breakers and Canned Heat before embarking on a prolific solo career and his most recent releases have seen him at his most creative and powerful yet, from ‘The Blues Came Callin’ (2014) and ‘Battle Scars’ (2015) to ‘We’re All In This Together’ (2017), ‘Survivor Blues’ (2019) and ‘Ordinary Madness (2020).

In 2019, Trout's album, Survivor Blues, debuted with two consecutive weeks on the Billboard Blues Chart at number one and stayed in the top ten for twelve weeks. [12] Metal Zone magazine, reviewed his performance in London by naming Trout "the ultimate, supreme bluesman of the 20th and 21st centuries." [13] This album is obviously what I was going through mentally and emotionally,” he considers. “All I did was express it. I spent a lot of time crying, because I would dig down into my emotional core. I want my songs to have some sort of truth to them.” Some memories that Trout examines on ‘Ride’ are long-distant but eternally poignant. Photo taken in Los Angeles on 02/21/20.

Blues survivor Walter Trout reflects on struggles past and present on new album Ride

In a way, that’s what makes it so wonderful, because if Walter Trout can feel like this, when he’s Walter Trout for goodness sake, then we can all feel like that. Consider this your permission. Ironically, the harmonica-laden and chunky riffathon of “High is Low” might just be the highest of the many highs here. Rich organ textures, crushing percussion, and a guitar solo with a tone to die for add another memorable stop-off along this exciting and varied musical ride. There’s a deeply personal couple to end things too. “Hey Mama” is a match for anything Neil Young ever did, as he pleads to his mother and thanks her for all she did. While “Destiny” is very much a love song to his wife. A beautiful breeze wafts in almost and this one is the one that anchors everything. That makes the “Ride” worth it, to Walter. As we move into the second half of the album we’re blessed with Trout signature protean ways. Personally I think the brilliant thing about Trout is his ability to give each song on his many albums a completely different feel. The blues can only be done a certain amount of ways but it’s with layered production and attention to detail that he succeeds in doing just that.