Walker Dean
A Musical Moment
story by KATE HAMILTON PARDEE photos by SUSAN DELOACH
In the many intertwining towns of charming Beaufort, SC, you can count on finding a vast array of fabulous restaurants to visit for a meal. As you search for your perfect destination, you will often find out that there are even still more reasons your experience dining will be exceptional. That will happen when you discover the talented and engaging Walker Dean will be performing at your chosen venue. Whether your visit includes a water view or game on TV, when you hear Dean and his acoustic rock guitar on stage playing live, it will elevate that stop for a bite to be magical and memorable.
Walker Dean was born in Elon, NC, where his mother ran the Elon College (now Elon University) Bookstore. His father was the plant manager of the AT&T Burlington, NC facility. Dean’s family was musical; his mother and sister played the piano while his father and younger brother played guitar.
“Music was always around my family growing up,” Dean remembers. However, he did not feel pressure to play. “My father encouraged me to play guitar. But only if I liked it,” he says with a smile. As it turns out, Dean liked playing and decided to pursue music as a career.
He was influenced first by the rock music of the 1970s and artists such as Jimmy Page and Jimmy Hendrix. He enjoys playing his Ibanez bass and his Takamine guitars, of which he has three.
He began college at the University of South Carolina with a baseball scholarship, unfortunately cut short by a career-ending torn rotator cuff. No longer able to throw a baseball, Dean decided to pick up his guitar again. He attended and graduated from Elon University, where he began playing guitar acoustically and singing around campus locally, adding that “Making a few extra dollars certainly didn’t hurt either.”
After graduation, he moved to Ashville, NC, where he continued to play music. His sister, an attorney, had moved to Beaufort and then told him that she knew of a local band looking for a bass player. “I always liked coastal areas and hoped to live in a town near one, and I decided to check it out.” It didn’t take long for him to move to Beaufort full-time in the summer 1994, where he joined a new band called The Gone Dogs. Dean liked the guys he was playing with, and the band was then regularly booked at many of the downtown Beaufort locations. He continued to play bass and sing back vocals with the band.
Although Dean acknowledges he tried to pursue a music career in college after he graduated, it didn’t immediately materialize. Although bittersweet, Walker Dean is happy to perform locally. “I am not performing for me anymore, but I am performing for the people who come to see me.”
“I am not reinventing the wheel and enjoy staying in my lane of music.”
“I like that people come to see me and have a good time, and I like giving them a good time. I want to connect to people on a personal level.” Dean feels that he might not be the world’s best musician, but he does know that he is a good entertainer.
In 2009, Dean met his wife, Kelly, a managing partner at Griffith, Freeman, & Liipfert in Beaufort. The town was a smaller community during that time, and with Dean’s sister being an attorney, their paths soon crossed. They recently celebrated their twelfth anniversary and have a daughter, Annabelle (age 8), and Dean’s son, Trey (age 22), from a previous marriage.
Like the way Dean grew up in his family, both of his children are very musical. Trey likes to play guitar, and Annabelle loves to sing. Dean gave Annabelle a guitar this last Christmas, and although she is still young, she is learning to play. She often comes to gigs with Dean, where you can hear her sing along with her Dad. “She does an amazing rendition of Purple Rain,” Dean says proudly. “And, she’s also a Diva.”
While Dean has worked as a wine salesman, golf pro, and homeschooler to their daughter during COVID, he considers himself a full-time musician. Dean is the first to recognize his wife as he continues to pursue his music career: “I could not do what I do without the amazing support and understanding that I get from my wife, Kelly.”
Dean loves performing in Beaufort at many different venues and is grateful to each one for the opportunity. He loves the interaction with the crowd. “I am a people person and chatty, and my wife will tell you I do a lot of it.” Besides his solo and acoustic performance play dates, he is still the lead singer and member of the band Trey’s Aliens. Dean’s son came up with the band’s name, and it stuck. They often play on Fripp Island.
Being in Beaufort and living in the South, Dean enjoys country music. “I like older and traditional country music, like Johnny Cash. He feels that much of the current country music is “a bit too poppy.”
Dean recently attended a Willie Nelson concert stating, “Wilson was and is as good as ever at 88.” In addition to Nelson, a favorite performer, he enjoys the work of many female artists. “Pat Benatar is one of my favorites. Tina Turner is another one I love, but I feel that it is a crying shame that Pat Benatar is not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.”
Asking him if there were any famous musicians — past or present — that he would like to play with, he doesn’t miss a beat. “Eddie Van Halen. The group Van Halen was a huge influence on me growing up. I loved Kiss too, but when they came into the scene, ‘I was like, what is that?’” According to Dean, Eddie Vedder changed the way people played guitar. “More importantly,” Dean added, “he changed how I played guitar.”
Dean also shared that if he could pick a dream place to perform, it would be Red Rocks in Colorado. “It is just an awesome venue, and they built the amphitheater into the mountain. It’s gorgeous — so many famous people have played there, and, quite simply, it would just be an incredible place to play.” Could there be a magical place in Beaufort that he could add to that list? “I would love to play on the downtown bridge with the boats both going by and listening to the music. We would have to stop all the traffic, but it would be cool.”
Dean is now booked through Labor Day, with only a few days open for any new venues that could be added to his busy schedule. Dean is frequently asked to play privately — by audience members moved by his performance and charmed by his engaging personality. This sense of personal connection felt during his shows is mainly responsible for his success.
Don’t miss the opportunity to see Walker Dean, whether you live locally or are planning a visit to Beaufort. Be prepared to have a delightful evening and become one of his many loyal fans. Be sure to follow Walker Dean on Facebook to see his performance dates and the venues where he will be playing.
