Charles “Poppy Bob” Walker’s guitar compositions have a liquid, expansive cosmic Americana scope. The notes linger in pellucid backwashes and slide eerily between the known tones. Not much is known about the Yuma-based outsider artist, now apparently deceased, but his work on DOUBLE-WIDE —and on the earlier Dirt Bike Vacation — is a far cry from the usual pickin’ and grinnin’ proficiencies of blues-folk old-timers.
The guitarist and song-hunter Cameron Knowler stumbled on Walker’s work at, of all places, a Texas local library branch. Intrigued enough to track down a sample, Knowler immediately became obsessed with the music, which evokes ambient kosmische players like Chuck Johnson, Luke Schneider, and in some moods, William Tyler.