Album Notes

"Walking Spanish" is the second album released by the Texas-based independent rock band Whu Gnu. The "Walking Spanish" recording sessions took place in Austin during the year 2002, and represent the final creative works of the band before its members moved on to various other ventures.

Just as all Whu Gnu projects, “Walking Spanish” is a completely self-produced work. All songs are original to the band, and the recording, mixing, and mastering were all done by members of the band.

Whu Gnu, favoring a large blend of musical textures, added a full-time cellist to the band’s lineup. Starting from the first note of album, the listener will enjoy this blend of the concert string instruments with the traditional rock and roll orchestration.

Musical textures include:
Acoustic guitars and vocal by Jonathan Meiburg
Electric guitars and mandolin by Jack Worthy
Bass guitar by Lee Shields
Piano and keyboards by Mike Dow
Drums and Percussion by Bo Griffin
Cello by Tony Rogers

From the first downbeat, the listener is drawn into the off-beat feel of “Goldenrod,” a driving tune whose lyrics contemplate the feelings between love and death. “Goldenrod” has been described and “The quintessential Whu Gnu sound.” The band members tend to agree with this synopsis.

Other songs to listen for include: “Backseat” a slow, grinding tune about a serial killer on the loose, “Secret Chambers of the Masons” a lighthearted song with dark lyrics, “Jorge” a straight rock tribute to writer Jorge Luis Borges, and “Army Raincoat” a deliberate yet groovy song about shedding your burdens. Every tune on the record weaves a new tapestry of sounds for the listener to enjoy.

The “Walking Spanish” album ends with the song “Trainwreck.” Not only does “Trainwreck” finish off the record with a strong instrumental jam, but the song’s lyrics deal with the end of an era. Being one of the last recordings that Whu Gnu ever made together, Meiburg’s closing lyrics “carried away like wind on waves” seem rather prophetic.

“Walking Spanish,” similar to the band’s first album “Naked and Without Teeth,” was mastered and released in 2009 as a posthumous archive of Whu Gnu recordings made at the early turn of the century. Band members are also working on a third album “Stand of Pines,” to the chronicle the recordings made during the time span between the first two released albums.