After hearing their Duo blend, musician friends encouraged them to visit the annual Western Music Association meeting in Arizona. They were pretty certain that Walt and Paula would find repertoire in the Western genre that would appeal to them. And, that they did!
In November of 2005, Walt and Paula, now WMA members, won the Duo Harmony competition at the Western Music Association annual gathering which was now being held in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
While being members of this very active organization, Walt and Paula have performed and recorded in several formats, starting with:
Photos of the various Trails & Rails groups can be seen below.
CDs from the various T&R formats can be found on
CDBaby and iTunes,
including Walt's solo CD, "Instrumental Expressions".
Mike Craig
Mike Dennis Anderson Photography
Since 2011, an exciting new group has come into being - the Trails & Rails Trio: Walt and Paula, with bass player extraordinaire, Mike Craig - who is coming full circle, it seems .
Walt and Mike were playing in bands together while Mike was still in high school. In fact, back in the late 1960s Mike became a member of one of Walt's original bands - the infamous San Diego Grass & Eclectic Company, which also included well-known fiddle-player, Gary Francisco, also known as Farley, The Fiddler, whom you may have seen here in San Diego or at Disneyland.
If you're wondering about the band name above, it should probably be explained that, in this town all things electric run from connections to the San Diego Gas & Electric Company. "Grass" and "Eclectic" then were perfect name twists for a local folk band!
The day after Mike graduated from Sweetwater High School in 1970, he joined Walt at Grayson's Music in San Diego - teaching bass and guitar.
A few years later, Walt and Mike branched out on their own - establishing the New Expression Folk Instrument Study Center in 'East' San Diego.
Still later, Mike and Walt were joined by Vickie Cottle, Gary Francisco and other teachers as the studio expanded.
Both Walt and Mike also toured in those early years. Mike spent the summer of 1987 playing with Bluegrass, Etc. at Disney-Tokyo. As a member of Lonnie Mack’s band, Mike toured with Stevie Ray Vaughan, Gregg Allman, George Thorogood and others.
In 1988, the now-married Mike and his wife moved to Florida with the plan that he would play at DisneyWorld, but a few days after he arrived in the state, he was recruited by Brave Men, The Band - a group he played with 5-6 nights a week for the next 22 years. During this time, besides their own gigs, Mike and the Brave Men provided backup for such groups as The Shirelles, The Platters, The Crystals, The Drifters, and Percy Sledge.
Finally returning to San Diego in late 2011, Mike was able to fill in while T&R bass player, Pete Varhola, was sidelined with medical issues. When Pete decided he would have to retire from performing for the time being, Mike kept on 'filling in'.
Since their re-union, Walt and Mike have come up with some astounding Banjo-Bass instrumentals.
While they have to be seen to be believed, they can first be heard on the T&R CD, “Off the Beaten Path”, which came out in April 2012. And then on "Gatherin' Strays" which was released in February 2015.
These CDs also show a bit of T&Rs expanded repertoire: original new songs as well as reprises from their various pasts.
Besides instrumental wizardry, the group offers duo and 3-part harmonies as well as a great variety of song styles. And their repertoire has now been enhanced by Mike's new venture into song writing and lead singing. As it turns out, he is really good at both ! And he whistles, too . . .
Mike has continued to teach over the years and has given the gift of playing to hundreds of guitar and bass students. As a studio musician he has played on dozens of recordings and commercials.
He also produced and engineered "Brave Men,The Band" CD. And he was the recording and mixing engineer on Trails & Rails’ CD: “Off The Beaten Path.”
Currently he is playing a very unique upright instrument which could never get lost, even on a whole stage full of basses. Check it out . . .
For lessons or for recording projects - or to see his bass -
you may contact Mike at: mcraig57pb@yahoo.com.
"Off The Beaten Path" and "Gatherin' Strays" join T&R's prior CDs on cdbaby.com and iTunes.
Individual tunes can be purchased from the same sources.
San Diego Troubadour article about Mike Craig
