The music business is full of injustice and stories of great talent that did not make it to the top. When I first met Willie Walker less than two years ago, I realized that he might be one of the best examples I have ever seen of such a story. Here was a classic soul singer, with vocal artistry comparable to greats like Sam Cooke, Wilson Pickett, Solomon Burke or Johnny Taylor.

When our mutual friend Julia Schroeder introduced us, I realized he was the same Willie Walker I remembered from a few obscure Goldwax and Chess 45s. I could not believe how young he looked and how strong he sounded. However, very few people were aware of his talent and that he was still singing. My amazement was even greater at finding that he had been a paying passenger on several blues cruises on which I performed. I learned that Willie couldn’t even get the proper amount of respect at the amateur jams they had on board the ship. In my opinion this was a man that should be headlining shows across the world.

I’m not all that rich and famous myself, but Kid Andersen and I decided that we had to pull together all the resources we could in order to change the Willie Walker story. So we did, rounding up the best players we know, rallying around Willie for some magical sessions at Kid’s Greaseland Studios in California a few months later.

The results are on If Nothing Ever Changes. All we wanted to do was to make music with Willie. And do what WE could do to get him heard in the setting he deserves. Nobody was thinking about getting paid. It was for the common love of this beautiful and near extinct music.

During the production of If Nothing Ever Changes, organist/pianist Jim Pugh mentioned the idea of the creation of the Little Village Foundation, and we found our platform for launching this record into the world.

Nobody knows what the future holds, but if there is any justice left in the music world, the time has now come for Wee Willie Walker to stand tall as the giant of Soul Music that he truly is.