Klaude Walters comes from a small fisherman town off the Gaspé Coast (Québec/Canada).
She was always very musical and started writing songs when she was just a teen. Her father had a horse stable when she was young and there began her love affair with horses and country music. “He had a stable and I remember the first time I saw a horse was the day I began my love affair with horses and Country music. They always seemed to go together for me. I remember hearing Tammy Wynette, Kenny Rogers, Loretta Lynn, Patsy Cline and Johnny Mathis on my father’s radio but my favourite of them all has always been Elvis. I remember country music as “story tellin’”. I was only just a step away from the radio and I could turn it on, lie in my bed and listen to all those country singers tell me one story after another. I related so much to the stories that I felt like they were part of my world and I was part of theirs. I began writing when I was 6 years old. Poetry mostly. But my stories soon turned to country songs. I always dreamed I would someday live on a ranch and have horses and all I would do is ride, write music and sing…”
Her music is a blend of the old mixed with the new and edgy style of today’s Country Music. Her voice, powerful but yet soulful and heart felt. The songs she writes are always from the deepest place within her. “Writing comes quite naturally to me. I hear the song in my head much as I would hear it playing on the radio. Everything is there for me. I usually just sit and write out the lyrics that I’m hearing and then record the melody of the vocals and then write down what the instrumentation is like and record, vocally, the rifts that the instruments are playing. Then I get together with my musician buddies and we map out the song together. It’s a lengthy but always worthwhile process!”
Klaude states that her music is inspired by many styles and artists. She said recently “All music has an influence on me. Whether it is Muddy Waters singing his painful but beautiful Blues or Martina McBride and her Power house ballads or Elvis Presley and his sublime, soulful vocals that would melt an igloo in Iceland. Even Opera and Classical music...they all influence and touch the spirit at a cellular level. Music is more than words to sound. It’s expression and emotion, it’s reflection and intonation. It’s breath or lack thereof. They have the power to make you want to jump in your car and drive through the dessert or curl up in a ball and cry for days. My head is a melting pot of all these styles and nuances and once in a while, a quarter drops on the right side of my brain and the Jukebox begins to play...and I write a new song.”
Klaude is a very giving performer. The following is what she had to say about performing at different venues. “I simply adore performing. It’s all about the audience and what you give to them and what they give back to you. The energy can sometimes be so powerful that it can, at times, overwhelm you. I have sometimes been under the weather and had a show to do and wondered how I would get through it and when it came time to get on the stage, I would completely forget or feel any discomfort until the show was completely over and I was back home. During the entire time of the show I would be energized by the people enough to give them a great experience and transpire all the emotion and feeling that needed to be shared. I often go into what I call a “transe like” state while I am performing. I go so deep inside my spirit and my heart that I lose myself in the energy and the pure essence that has become the moment. I come alive on a stage. I become my truest self. My most humble self. I am but a flute through which my spirit flows freely and melodically. It’s such a magical experience. Such a gift to be given. That is why it is all about the audience...not about me.” Having seen her perform myself, I can agree that she sometimes becomes so involved with the song that the emotion comes through and touches your heart so deeply that you wonder what just happened.
When asked which person was the most influential in her life, she said “I believe I am lucky to have so many wonderful people in my life but I would say that the most influential of them all has been my brother Walter and my husband Tom. My brother Walter was my biggest fan and always believed and supported my drive towards a music career. He passed away in 1996 and every step I take towards this goal, he’s there, right beside me…each step of the way. He is an endless well of inspiration for me…
My husband Tom is my very best friend and he knows me better than anyone in this world. He has supported my dream for the last 10 years. He’s also an amazing artist in his own right and truly inspires me to be the best I can be at all times. I have written countless songs for him…”
Klaude wants to make her mark in the Country Music world. When asked where she saw herself in 5 years time, she answered quite humbly but kind of “tongue and cheek” the following : “I see myself moving to Nashville, getting my first album out and being nominated for “Artist of the Year” at CMA. I see myself living on my ranch surrounded by beautiful horses, wonderful artists and beauty that leaves me breathless. I see myself collaborating with other artists on different projects that bring light to many great philanthropic causes, growing as a singer, as a songwriter, as an artist. I see a very full schedule of touring, benefit concerts, albums, collaborative efforts, singing in different languages, duets with other artists on their own albums, etc...I don’t see myself retiring any time soon. I want a long and fruitful career of writing songs that touch people and inspire them…
