By Mark Kneubuhl
Special to LIVE!
October 27, 2007

For an up-and-coming band, a good tune and a great voice are as helpful as a good shovel and a strong back are to a ditch-digger. There are many musicians and back-up vocalists out there to support that winning combination, just as there are many writers who will start scribblin’ away if it’s worth writing about. Zack Walther has both the tunes and the vocal cords to make it all happen.

And in terms of the back-up, there’s nothing that a good studio can’t fix. Oops, I forgot to mention Walther’s band, the Cronkites, who can walk and chew gum at the same time. The gum analogy is industry lingo for a group of “Kick-#$%” musicians who can also sing.

Zack Walther and company have it all, proof of which can be obtained on any given Wednesday night at Gruene Hall where Walther has secured a weekly gig. Walther recently signed with Austin Universal Entertainment, one of the largest entertainment agencies in Southwest Texas. Perhaps some very important people are thinking he and his boys are going to go far.

His single, “Which Way To Run” is climbing the Texas Music Charts as we speak and his critically-acclaimed debut album Live At The Gruene, with tunes like “Our Corner” and “Wrapped For Me,” prove that the Austin Songwriter’s Group made the right choice in naming him the Songwriter of the Year in 2002.

But who IS Zack Walther…

Not like other singer/songwriters who write and perform with a contagious passion, Zack didn’t come from a broken or abusive home; he didn’t have trouble with the law and spend time behind bars, nor did he lose years fighting an addiction. Nope, Zack Walther had a rather normal and happy upbringing. In fact, you could say that during his formative years, he was a choir boy.

“I was very active in sports, theater and choir. Music was always a big part of it and I had a real good childhood… my parents stayed together all those years and I have an older brother. We were always a tight family,” Walther said.

Walther was born and raised in the coastal town of West Columbia where he’d squeeze in a little surfing in between tennis and choir practice. After graduating from high school, he packed his bags and headed north to San Marcos to attend Southwest Texas State. He started college majoring in music, but graduated with a degree in geography.

“As a music major you had to choose an instrument to specialize in and ‘voice’ was on that list so I took it,” said Walther. “Not many people in my business can say that their college education has helped them as singer/songwriters, but mine did… I can also read a map when I’m on the road,” Walther quipped.

And then, after 21 years of living in pleasant-ville, and starting to focus on the future, things began to fall apart. It began with the death of his father in 2001.

“My Dad was a major source of support and he knew I had a passion to do this from a very early age so he did what he could and that was to help me understand the business side of music. Everything I know today on that side of things, he taught me,” said Walther.

And then in 2002, as time was beginning to dull the sharp pain of loosing a loved one, Walther was given the opportunity to take his music to the next level.

“I was part of this Austin songwriters’ group and once a year they’d have this convention like event and with all these producers and record industry people. And we had the opportunity to pitch our songs to them. I went into the deal very confident, thinking that someone would take notice, but I learned the hard way that my songs at the time were just not there yet,” said Walther.

“I didn’t write another song for 6 months after that and I was ready to hang it up. But it was a friend that snapped me out of my depression. She told me that she really liked what I did and that I didn’t have to write for anyone but myself. And it did sink in that I shouldn’t be making music for anybody else, it’s for yourself. It’s what I love to do,” said Walther of that tumultuous time.

Zack began to write music the way he wanted to hear it. He fused his favorite genres of country, Americana and pop-rock into the sound we hear today.

One year later, Walther won the Songwriter of the Year award at that Austin convention.

”I go through phases and sometimes can rip out a couple of songs in a row. But I’m not the kind of songwriter that says, ‘okay, tomorrow I going to get out of bed and write a song,’ I have to have a reason… some inspiration,” Walther said of his songwriting process.

Wednesday evenings at Gruene Hall is a great time to catch Zack and the full band. The Cronkites are composed of Luke Leverett who could comfortably trade licks with B. B. King himself while drummer Chris Compton and bass player Mel Nolte, both skillfully reside in a place between prominence and sustenance. With Zack at the helm, they create a strong musical bond that lacks limitation.

Last Thursday, Zack played a Cronkite-less, solo set at Blaine’s Pub in San Angelo, with only Leverett in tow. They played all the favorites and a careful selection of covers, included a Springteen tune (“You Can’t Start a Fire Without a Spark”), which worked well for Zack. Luke also surprised the packed crowd with a several of his own originals.

Several months ago, Walther (pronounced Walter), told me that it made him feel good going into a venue, looking up at the marquee and seeing that his name was spelled correctly.

Zack Walther and the Cronkites have come a long way in a very short time and now, people throughout Texas are getting it right… both the name and the music.

To sample Walther's music, see http://myspace.com/zackwalthermusic.