TO DOWNLOAD THE PHYSICAL PRESS KIT FOR THE 2012 TOUR IN .PDF FORMAT

CLICK HERE

To book Seth Walker to perform, please visit the Bookings page.

About Seth Walker

Brief Bio:

Seth Walker is Houston’s premiere national poet and Grand Slam Champion of 2007. In 2007, Seth also took 2nd at the Texas Blue Bonnet State Competition. That November, he left Houston to follow his art and travel across the country to find it… he has not yet stopped.

Since then Seth has performed at nearly every major venue in the country including Da Poetry Lounge (Hollywood, CA), The Green Mill (Chicago, IL), & The Nuyorican (New York, NY). Along the way he won several noteworthy titles such as: Slam Champion of the Utah State Arts Fair Poetry Slam (2009), North Beast Indie Slam Champion (North-Eastern Regional 2010), as well as as slamming, most recently, with the 2010 Austin Poetry Slam Team.

With Solomon Schneider (a multi-instrumentalists eerie-folk musician) and other rotating national artists, this notorious “road dog” poet travels 10 to 11 months out of the year, dedicating his art to whomever he meets.

“A Tree Story” by Seth Walker

Performed in Venice, California
Written Format Published by Borderline Poetry CLICK HERE TO READ

Seth Walker on “What Poetry Can Do”

Segment of interview w/Joe Ivory Mattingly

Charity Work & Community Support

While traveling, Seth works tirelessly to give back as much as possible to the communities that need it most by:

• Teaching writing & performance workshops for High Schools, Colleges, & Universities
• Enriching young minds with college lectures on social relevance of new forming arts
• Organizing festivals to promote the underground arts, such as the Salt Lake City Freedom Fest 2011
• Supporting rallies, fundraisers & events for Not-for-Profit organizations, churches, community groups, and legitimate activist organizations
• Teaming up with national organizations like planned parenthood to promoting noble causes like free HIV testing
• Performing for good causes like drug rehabilitation & free aid for domestic abuse victims with charities such as H.A.W.C. (Houston Area Women’s Center) & drug rehabilitation clinics around the country

Competitions

• 1st place: North Beast Indie Competition | North Eastern Regional Slam | October, 2010
• 1st place: Utah State Arts Festival | Utah State Wide Competition | June, 2009
• 1st place: Berkeley Slam | Berkeley, Ca. | May, 2009
• 1st place: Annual Highway Poetry Festival Political Slam | Los Angeles, CA | April, 2009
• 1st place: Mills End Slam | Phoenix, AZ | March, 2009
• 1st place: Ocotillo Slam | Tuscon, AZ | March, 2009
• 1st place: Last Poet Standing | Austin, TX | 2008
• 1st place: Russell Simmons Slam | Dallas, TX | 2008
• 1st place: Last Chance slam | Houston, TX | 2007
• 1st place: Grand Slam | Houston, TX | 2007
• 1st place: Talk to me Shadow Bar Slam | Houston, TX | 2007
• 1st place: Talk to me Mr. A’s Slam | Houston, TX | 2007
• 1st place: Showcase Showdown | Houston, TX | 2007
• 2nd place: Houston IWPS Slam | Houston, TX | 2008
• 2nd place: Blue Bonnet Slam Texas State Competition | Beaumont, TX | 2007
• 2nd place: Galveston Love Slam | Galveston, TX | 2007
• 3rd place Arkansas Grand Slam | Hot Springs, AR | 2009
• 29th place: Individual World Poetry Slam (International Competition) | 2008 & 2010

Accomplishments & Experience:

• Member of the Austin Poetry Slam team 2010 – Semi-Finalist Team
• Took 1st place in every regular season slam he entered in Austin during the 2010 slam season
• Member of the Houston Slam team 2007
• Member of the H-Town Slam team 2008
• Has booked with Colleges and Universities across the country including: Yale University (New Haven, CT), Pepperdine University (Malibu, CA), & the University of Northern Alabama (Florence, AL)
• Headliner for National arts festivals such as the Utah State Arts Festival 2009
• Operated an independent underground studio to record & produce local poets in Houston.
• Charitable Cause fund-raising & organizing.
• Years of hosting experience for both local and national stages & competitions.
• Works with intercity high school after school programs teaching poetry to youth and young adults.
• Experienced in teaching comprehensive poetry workshops for writing, editing, body language & psychology, and general performance.
• Works with bands, visual artists, and fellow poets around the country to create new forms of experimental art.
• Has toured across the country performing poetry to millions of people.
• Has released three full-length albums.
• Has worked with national organizations and businesses such as:
  • Planned Parenthood
  • Diamond Cutters Int.
  • Future Presidents of America
  • Circle Academy
  • Peaceful Uprising
• Has played key roles in planning & organizing independent festivals around the United States
• Is the creator and concept manager of the SLC Freedom Fest

What Others Have Said About Seth Walker

“Neobeat slam poet Seth Walker’s words were a perfect counterpoint to the message at hand. With lyrics that celebrated triumph of the spirit over the degradation of life circumstances, Walker engaged the audience and, hopefully, galvanized them to take up the cause even after the show was over.”
Melonie Magruder | The Malibu Times |”Fashion to Free Trafficking Victims” | Malibu, California

“The feature for the night was Seth Walker who’s name is appropriate because he walked on water. Defying not only gravity, but mediocrity as well. He opened up with a prayer then paid homage to our fallen soldier Suzie Q. He then courted us with a love piece and closed with two of his and our favorites. Seth, ‘Rock on Dude.’”
Genesis | G’s and Z’s Blog | Houston, Texas

“I saw Seth perform in Los Angeles and he was captivating. His stage presence, his sense of empathy and the way he embodies his poems all combine to create a dynamic performance. The moment he was done, three hundred people leapt to their feet and thundered him with applause.”
Jason McBeth | 2008 IWPS runner up | Los Angeles, California

“Floating above the seas of disposable ideas and so-called “news” presented by supposed “Fair and Balanced” hucksters, Seth Walker brings it real, raw and unrelentingly. His spoken word is emotional but not over-wrought; to the point but not simplistic. Seth Walker is a walkabout version of the evening news. In a world of false messengers, Seth is the real thing.”
Kenn Rodriguez | National Poetry Slam Champion | Albuquerque, New Mexico

“Seth Walker has exploded onto the poetry scene coupling clever word play and high energy stage performances to become Houston’s most passionate poet! A true joy to watch, he is a must see.”
Black Snow of Snow Industries Poetry Collective | Houston, Texas

“Seth Walker possesses a very passionate and animated delivery orgied with crazy vivid and vivacious imagery to make for some entertaining storytelling and consistently crucial truths.”
Jessica Davis aka Lady Pariah | Art Scene Critique & Blogger | Houston, Texas

“A phenomenal ‘word spitter’, whose delivery is as on point, as his work is socially relevant. Seth has the swagger of a hip hop B-boy with the revolutionary mind state of an artist who lives his work. A true poet in the street, out there making change happen.”
Amoja Sumler aka “Mo Man” | Poet | Little Rock, Arkansas

“Seth Walker’s work is real. When he performs, he IS his poetry. Plainly, simply, beautifully, brilliantly. His work is insistently human.

Seth’s performances of his own poetry completely changed the way I see performance, poetry, and all of spoken word as an art; as an aspiring poet, he has been one of the most inspirational, brilliant people I’ve ever encountered.”
Zac Henderson | Truth Spreader | Debatable, Planet Earth

Written Samples:

The Objector
~By Seth Walker

Upon induction
Into the United States Marine Core
He was informed
His uniformed ass was
Now government property
He wore a half cocked grin
Like a death shroud,
Proudly nodding in compliance, but
His faith weighed on him like a lead albatross

Spun
Like a quarter on a bar top
He landed halfway round
The world
Playing cops and robbers
With real guns
No take backs
No more stopping the game
For cars…..
Instead, opening fire…..

He played judge and executioner
Forgetting necessity of juries
His morality flew on Icarus wings
Not tempered for hells oven
M-16 shells dripped red
Wax in sand traps
Replacing dreams with snuff film scenes

As a boy,
He never truly conceived war
Never imagined in childhood games
How bullet holes look
Hung between the eyes of a nine year old
How mothers cry differently
When tears are shed over split potential

He couldn’t wear his W.W.J.D. bracelet
On the battle field
And still look God in the eyes at night…
His prayers began to float crooked
Telling himself he was only doing a civic duty
Protecting mothers from terrorists….
But guardian angels don’t carry the grim reapers sickle
Mortgage to be made or not…..

After a long talk with his creator….
Private First Class Michael Barnes
Turned in this statement:
“I have been trying to justify being a soldier
And finding a way to do so while still being a Christian,
But I can no longer justify spending my short time in this world
Participating in or supporting war. …
I must try to save souls,
Not help take them.”

September 24th, 2008
Private Barnes was granted
Conscientious objector status with an honorable discharge
After experiencing a religious awakening in Iraq.
Now it’s our turn to call our troops back
To their families, Communities, and country…..
Before We Let God……
Call them home…..

Seth Walker performing “The Objector”
(IWPS National Competition – Charlotte, NC)

To Those Who Remain
(Ole PawPaw)
~By Seth Walker

I’ve been watching you boy,
Through mirrors and reflections
For nearly a decade
I’m proud of you
Six feet of dirt ain’t enough to cloud these eyes…

I’ve seen you raise yourself to be a man
Worthy of my last name,
Your mother’s maiden.
It doesn’t have to be on your birth certificate
to be in your veins
You bleed Mississippi backwoods justice boy
Don’t fight the feeling
Ain’t healthy for frogs not to jump
Makes em weak,
unproductive
And unfulfillin of their purpose
Jump boy
Like the wings’ll grow if you catch enough air
Them blue windows prove
You got sky in your soul son
So you better shine bright enough to justify
God stuffin all that good light into clay
You wasn’t made no better than the next kid….
But, being my grandson,
I’d like to think you’re a lil better off than the next kid…

I couldn’t leave you footprints in my will to follow
So I tucked this ghost in your closet
To visit you every so often
To remind you that
Some days….
You gotta bring your gun to town son

Some fights are worth a few lost teeth
Survivors always have the best
Bragging rights and stories…

Never backing down
Wasn’t the easiest road to walk,
But it’s one I don’t regret traveling
After all
Back roads just tend to lead
To more interesting places

I know soon you’ll be looking
For ole Paw Paw again
To ask that same ole proverbial question
“How will I know it’s her
When I meet her?”
Though the answer is still as simple
As it is infinitely complex
It hasn’t changed….
You’ll just know son,
You’ll just know

For now,
Avoid nagging women like tacks in your shoes
A small wound constantly prodded
Can still kill a man
And never date a girl with big hands….
Makes your cock look small

But seriously,
This world only feels real
‘Cause it’s all you’ve ever known
Dreams aren’t realized as such
‘Till perceived through waking eyes
Don’t get lost in it son
This life is molasses thick and sweet
Dirt road winding
And good scotch treacherous
Just remember that nothing passes
With you through the veil
But the people you’ve touched
And the memories you built together

Am I moving too fast for you boy?
Well keep up…..

Time is your only asset
Invest it wisely

Childhoods are often cut short
trying to grow up too fast
Adult hoods spent seeking to relive the teenage years
Eventually wisdom’s old age will settle
On the shoulders
Grow into aching bones
Like the truth
That time is as precious
As it is fleeting
Its waters pour freely
Glazing our hands
Slipping ‘tween our clinching fingers
We must eventually realize
That capturing these moments
Can never compare
To the joys of constant newness

Now,
is the only moment you’ll ever have child
Here
is the only place you can stand
Understanding this is what it is to be a man
So be here now
With a purpose higher than yourself
Your voice can’t be amplified if not combined with something else
The words will come…
In case you forget them
they’ve been engraved in your tongue
If you need help translating
I’ll be waiting
on the wind…
With my shotgun in hand
Pouring buck shot in your guts
Packing gun powder in your spine
If you need an excuse to start a revolution
Take mine:
This world ain’t gonna save itself
And all you’ve got down here is time

It’s your world to save now son,
So fight like you got nothing better to live for
Before you don’t…..

Seth Walker performing “To Those Who Remain”
(UCSC Kinetic Poetic’s Feature on Final’s Stage – Santa Cruz, CA)

If you are interested in booking Seth Walker to perform, please visit the Bookings page

_____________________________________________________________________________________

FEEL FREE to leave a comment below & tell us about your experience with Seth Walker

WE LOVE to hear what YOU have to say!