Long Walk Home Bio

Long Walk Home is a up-and-coming fivesome of musicians from Philadelphia, PA. Consisting of lead guitarist and vocalist Julian Booker, rhythm guitarist and vocalist Pete Nellius, guitarist and vocalist Kevin Ryan, bassist Anthony Boxler, and drummer Mark Rybaltowski, Long Walk formed in early 2001 and has been playing gigs all over the tri-state area in the years since. Following the fall ‘06 release of their first full-length album, self-titled Long Walk Home, the band has seen their popularity and success grow immensely, building a strong and rowdy local fan base and gaining a reputation for energetic and eclectic live shows. A pure rock and roll act, the band draws on blues, jazz and pop influences for diverse and raucous live performances. With recent headlining gigs at The Grape Street Pub (including Halloween and New Year’s Eve), The North Star Bar and The Khyber, as well as recent shows in New York, at the Delaware shore, and in scattered locations throughout the northeast area, LWH enters the summer of 2008 with momentum on their side and new material in the works, including 2 recently debuted songs.

After forming Long Walk Home as teenagers in 2001, Julian, Pete, Anthony and Mark began getting their footing around their home state of Delaware, playing early shows at The Wilmington Flower Market, The Stone Balloon, Kahunaville, and other area venues. The Liberation EP, recorded in 2002, was Long Walk’s first crack at studio work; only one song has survived to make appearances among the band’s current repertoire. LWH’s early work mirrored modern and alternative late 90’s rock, with a stronger acoustic sound that gradually has given way to a more pure and harder rocking style. In August of 2003, LWH recorded their LP Live Before You Die, a better precursor for the direction that the band would ultimately take as they matured and came together as a talented and cohesive unit.

By 2005, all four band members had relocated to schools in Philadelphia, and the progressive EP Long Walk Home was soon to follow. The album boasts several polished and impressive tracks, ranging from the hard-rocking raw opener “Six Foot Box,” to the jazzy and diverse “Murder By a Family Man,” to the heavily blues-influenced closing ballad “Night’s So Strange.” Over the course of 2007, friend and guitarist Kevin Ryan began coming to most of Long Walk's gigs and started playing with them occasionally, and then frequently. We'd now dare call him a member of the band, expanding the lineup to five. Blending their expanded catalogue with a bevy of covers by a variety of personal musical influences (including Bob Dylan, Phish, Wilco and My Morning Jacket), Long Walk Home has reached new heights of success in the Philadelphia region and currently is playing a regular and active schedule at an array of popular rock venues.