- Faith Hill, Kathy Troccoli, Patty Loveless, Alison Krauss, and Russ Taff are just a few of the greats who have recorded Tricia’s songs.
The year was 1981 when young Tricia Walker, Jackson resident at the time, resigned as Youth Director at a local Methodist Church, packed up most of her worldly possessions in a U-Haul, and struck out for Nashville. With stars in her eyes, a dream in her heart, and the naïve optimism only a twenty-something could have, she headed into uncharted territory, determined to make it in the music business. And so, she did.
Tricia made it big as a songwriter and a key player in the Nashville music scene. She won a GRAMMY® as well as a long list of GRAMMY-nominations, but Tricia’s opportunities were many and diverse because she could sing, play, and write, too. Her warm Southern charm was an added benefit!
Twenty-five years later, Nashville’s loss became Mississippi’s gain when Tricia heard “God’s still small voice” whispering, “It’s time to go home.” Her older, wiser, more pragmatic self asked, “What will I do if I go home?”
As Tricia wrestled with the idea, two things eliminated all doubts. Hurricane Katrina rendered its devastating blow, and she wanted to help put her state back together. About that time, her alma mater, Delta State University, offered her a position at their new state-of-the-art Delta Music Institute.
Delta Music Institute was precisely the school that had not existed 25 years earlier when Tricia was scouring libraries and magazines and asking every professional musician she could find, “How can I get into the music business?” This invitation was an opportunity to give back and to help aspiring young musical artists develop the tools and the know-how to build successful careers in the music industry.
In 2006 Tricia became an official resident of Cleveland, Mississippi, just in time to be part of the visionary group that birthed the Mississippi Grammy Museum. Her life had come full circle.
Tricia was born in 1953 in Fayette in the heart of Jefferson County. Her parents enrolled her in piano lessons with Miss Iska Montgomery when she was just six years old. Miss Montgomery, the public-school music teacher, was, in Tricia’s words, “outside of my parents the greatest influence on my life. I learned to sing, learned to play the piano, and learned music from her all the way through high school. She taught me to love music, but she taught me to love learning as well.”
Music was all Tricia ever wanted to do, and she mastered several instruments along the way. She was incredibly focused and never afraid to try her hand at something new. When Tricia tuned in to the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show one Sunday night in 1964, she immediately asked her parents to buy her a guitar. Armed with the Mel Bay Guitar Chord Book and an inexpensive instrument purchased at the local Western Auto store, Tricia taught herself to play.
In the early 1970s during the heyday of songwriters like Carole King and Jim Croce, Tricia began to dabble with songwriting. She had always been one to journal and express her thoughts on paper, so songwriting did not seem to be a stretch for her. The great oral traditions of the Southern experience was in her DNA. Like most Southern writers, she simply wrote what she knew. Whether gospel, R&B, traditional country, or the emerging contemporary Christian genre, Tricia’s lyrics and melody registered authenticity.
Her work resonated with publishers and artists. Faith Hill, Kathy Troccoli, Patty Loveless, Alison Krauss, and Russ Taff are just a few of the greats who have recorded Tricia’s songs.
Despite her own vocal and instrumental skills, she praises all songwriters reminding me that “Songwriters are the engine that drives the whole music industry.” Even now she believes her the mission is to encourage young people to get into it, too.
Aside from her reputation as a songwriter, Tricia enjoyed a decade of touring as a keyboard player and a back-up vocalist for Connie Smith, Shania Twain, and Paul Overstreet. She could do it all. She performed at the Grand Ole Opry numerous times, the Country Music Hall of Fame, and even choreographed work for the Nashville Ballet entitled “All the Way Home,” co-written by Tricia and her fellow songwriter, Kate Campbell. As one of the founding members of “Women in the Round,” Tricia and her friends Pam Tillis, Karen Staley, and Ashley Cleveland played many an informal show before a packed almost-in-your-face audience at the renowned Bluebird Café in Nashville.
The creative energy that kept Tricia reveling in the bright lights of Music City did not cease when she landed back in the Delta. She embraced her role as Director of the Institute with the same wide-eyed enthusiasm she had 25 years earlier when she rolled into Nashville for the first time.
In the ensuing age of digital innovation and with her experiential knowledge of all facets of the modern music industry, Tricia’s passion turned to developing the programs that would offer young musicians a world class training ground for achieving their musical dreams. By the time she retired in 2019, the Delta Music Institute was well on its way.
She did not rest in a rocking chair on the back porch at that point. Tricia, still the self-starter and determined personality, put her fingers in lots of pies. Defining herself as “a glorified cat-herder,” she pours her efforts into several projects that help develop live venues, aspiring artists, and access to the larger music industry.
Tricia has seen in Nashville what happens when a community puts a lot of value on its musicians. As she says, “The Delta has no shortage of talented musicians. When I retired I wanted to see what I could do to help develop a live local music scene.” Because of technology, someone can accomplish great things in the music business no matter their zip code.
Through her volunteer work at the Grammy Museum helping organize workshops and fund-raisers, her production company “Big Front Porch,” and her “Deep Roots” live music venue promotion, Tricia is making a difference, letting her light shine, and inspiring the next generation to come on and do the same.
Music is an integral part of culture, and according to Tricia, “Culture is a precious, living thing. It has to be nurtured if it’s going to survive. Any artist or creative thinker has a responsibility to help chronicle his or her own time, place and people. That’s the surest way to keep a culture from disappearing.”
For more about Tricia and by all means to hear her mellow voice and her heartfelt songs, visit here. Acoustic songwriter shows and songwriting workshops are also available through Big Front Porch Productions.
Marilyn Tinnin
