Alex Walls was born and raised in Sault Ste. Married.

Although he didn’t learn the guitar until he was 13, Walls grew up in a musical family.

“My parents always had a great taste for music and there was always a guitar in the house,” Walls explains.

“I didn’t start playing seriously until I saw a video of Slash [from Guns ‘n’ Roses] play on YouTube and I knew that was what I wanted to do.

Guitar practice led him to his first band at seventeen.

“I didn’t join a band until I met my good friend Derek Turner [Andy Chillman and the Chill Men/Papa Fogal’s Chair/Garden of Bedlam],” he says.

“It turned into a lot of good times and lifelong friendships.”

With Turner on drums, Walls joined a band called Stanley Hill and started playing local bars.

“Derek is the benchmark I use for drummers to this day and I’m very lucky to have had the chance to meet these guys and play with them over the years.”

At 18, after graduating from high school, Walls moved to Toronto in 2013.

“I had been living in Toronto for a few years and nothing was really happening for me there in terms of music,” the guitarist says.

“I knew that if I wanted to seriously try my luck [music]I had to move. »

After considering various destinations including Los Angeles, California and Austin, Texas, Walls decided to move to Nashville, Tennessee in 2016.

“Nashville seemed like the liveliest place at the time,” noting that he had initially spent six months there testing the musical waters.

“I actually didn’t know anyone in Nashville when I moved.”

By March 2017, Nashville had become his full-time home.

“I just saved some money, bought a one-way plane ticket, brought a guitar, and never looked back,” Walls says.

“It was definitely a risk in hindsight, but I’m glad I did it. I’ve been at it forever.”

Walls says about ninety percent of his musical work in Nashville consists of live performances.

“I regularly play around town five to six nights a week with different bands and musical styles, as well as traveling.”

Walls plays regularly for Monica Lewellen, as well as Cody Parks and the Dirty South, a “country metal”

He even performed as Ace Frehley in a KISS tribute band a few times with full makeup and smoking guitars.

“We even had Christopher Williams on drums playing for Gene [Simmons’] and aces [Frehley’s] solo groups.

Walls also does a lot of “mercenary” work.

“I play for artists where I usually have a limited time to learn their music and then have to play it as close to the record as possible, as well as national and international tours.”

In 2019, he is a mercenary for a blues artist, which allows him to give a few shows in Europe.

“I’ve also done some studio work here too, playing on a few artists’ records and even podcasting radio jingle type stuff. Whatever the reason someone will hire me,” he laughs.

Interestingly, Walls was recommended by another guitarist from Nashville to work with an up-and-coming country artist from Northern Ontario named Cory Marks.

“I once got a message from Cory’s manager asking if I was available to play the Boots and Hearts festival, as well as a September tour across the US with Halestorm and Theory of a Deadman” , he laughs, saying that he immediately cleared his schedule. for this opportunity.

“I actually first met Cory last year in Canada the day before playing Boots and Hearts, which was my first gig with him,” he says.

“Unfortunately some tour dates were canceled due to COVID, but we were still able to play a few shows with Halestorm, as well as in Rocklahoma, which was a dream come true for me.”

Since August 2019, Walls has continued to play for Marks.

Cory Marks, a North Bay native a few hours from Walls’ hometown, has released several albums that blend country music with the “thumping shock of rock and roll.”

Marks’ music has garnered enormous attention here in Canada and abroad with over 100 million streams worldwide.

His EP Who am I was nominated for the Canadian Country Music Association‘s Alternative Country Album of the Year and featured the gold-certified hit Outlaws and Strangers (feat. Travis Tritt, Ivan Moody and Mick Mars) which landed at number one on the Canadian iTunes Country Songs chart.

This album made Marks the very first Canadian country artist to make the Top 10 US rock radio hits.

Marks is currently nominated for four awards from the Country Music Association of Ontario (CMA) for the single and EP Nashville Nights.

“I think Cory deserves all the success he’s gotten,” Walls says.

“I think he’s got a great career ahead of him and I think he’s doing something different from all the generic stuff right now, especially in country music. I’m rooted for him to win and hope he continues to be successful.

Although Walls won’t be returning to the Sault any time soon, he does come home a few times a year and always at Christmas.

“My schedule is always very busy, so I don’t have a lot of free time these days, but I keep in touch with all my friends and family on a regular basis,” he says.

“I plan to stay in Nashville as long as I continue to find work. It’s definitely been good for me so far. As for the future, I look forward to getting out on the road more at the end of this year and I want to focus more on original music.