LUST: Jason Walker Heats Up Rhode Island PrideFest
Besides the obvious PRIDE, there are six other ways to make your summer more interesting. Over the next few weeks, EDGE will unveil its "7 Deadly Sins" of summer series in celebration of Pride month. Here's the second in our ongoing list on how to be so bad, it's good.
Click here to begin with the first article.
"Yea!"
"Nay!"
"Woof!"
One of these words does not belong.
Yes, two of these exclamations are the kind of pronouncements one would expect to hear in the middle of a democratic voting process. But the other, unless uttered in the midst of a competitive campaign for King of the Kennel, is rarely jotted down for the ballot box
But in January of this year, "Woof!" was just one lustful remark that singer Jason Walker received when he was one of 10 nominees up for "DIVO OF THE YEAR 2007," a "best of" retrospective hosted by dance music Web site divadivodance.com. W
Walker, who will play two shows this Saturday, June 21 as part of Providence Pride, was listed among mutually talented male artists: Boston DJ Joe Bermudez, hunky crooner Ari Gold and other international favorites. But as the votes rolled in for Walker, it became clear that he held a different, much more primal sway over his constituency.
"His hotness deserves it!" wrote one fan in casting their vote. "Delicious!" wrote another. And of course, there was the aforementioned bark of a doggy-style dance fan.
It's certain that Walker will continue to be the object of many affections when he takes the stage for his two Providence Pride shows: first on the PrideFest main stage at Burnside Park (Noon-8:30 p.m.) with '80s pop diva Tiffany, followed by a performance at the Club Energy Block Party (71 Union St).
But lust isn't a vice that Walker succumbs to totally... or is it?
"It's nothing sexual!" says Walker of "Flexible," the title of his recently released sophomore album. "Trust me!" That's a bold request when, between crunchy chews of ice cubes during our interview, he coyly adds "Excuse me... I have an oral fixation!"
The laughter that follows, and Jason's zesty playfulness, is indicative of a personality that lives to push boundaries. Known to his fans as the slender white boy with the voice of a full-figured Lady Marmalade, Walker has been bending the rules of the music industry since his debut.
His race, his sex, and his sexuality have been a blessing and a curse throughout his career; on one hand, they garnered him extra attention. On the other, they required him to work a little harder to prove himself in the industry.
But it's no mistake that this white guy from Pittsburgh has found a voice alongside disco divas. After all, his early influences were soul sisters of the highest order: "My mother had an extensive collection of old 33s and 45s," he explains. "I've always been drawn to music that was a little more soulful. I fell in love with Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan, Patti Labelle and any kind of music that influenced them that came out during that time."
Ultimately, though, Walker can boil it down to one simple fact: "Any bitch that could sing is what I liked!"
After moving to New York City from his hometown of Pittsburgh, Jason got his big break upon meeting DJ/producer Junior Vasquez. Vasquez released Jason's first single, "My Life," and kicked off a series of Billboard Club Play chart triumphs. It immersed Walker in a style of music that was always near his heart.
"Some people use dance music as a 'last resort,'" he admits. "I've always loved it. I've always been a club person and I've always been drawn to it, to the energy of it. I love how it makes people smile and happy. How you can take a sickening bass line and a fierce groove, lay a hot vocal on top of it... that's a great recipe."
Walker cooked up a tasty follow-up with 2007's "Flexible." The title is a reference to the album's musical diversity, as well as Walker's chameleonic ability to defy the cookie-cutter mold of the traditional dance divo. "He's straight, he's gay / He's black and he's white," Walker sings in "Flexible," the title track from his sophomore album released at the end of 2007.
After that lyric, a recitation of restrictive labels, Jason poses the real question: "Why can't you let me be / Flexible tonight?"
His lesson in diversity has paid off: besides winning the crown for DIVO OF THE YEAR 2007, the music video for the first single off Flexible, the pounding track "Can't Get You Off My Mind," has already hit the #1 spot on Logo's Click List.
Still, it's not easy.
"I still have to deal with it. It doesn't go away," Walker says of the boundaries toward accepting a young, gay male artist. Go away, no. But at least it's getting easier. In fact, Walker says surprise--not resistance--has been the predominant response he receives. "When I lived in Pittsburgh, I would go to different raves and club nights, and different parties," he says.
"A friend of mine was a DJ around the area and I would do live vocals over his tracks. People would tell me, 'It's so cool to see somebody actually up there performing... and the fact that you're a boy and sound like you do makes it even more of a treat!'"
While Jason's gender bending is a neat piece of trivia, there's one other detail that he would prefer to keep under wraps:
"I'm not very flexible, to be honest," he jokes with a laugh. "And if you put that in there, I will KICK YO' ASS!"
Don't worry, Jason. Judging by the way you worked those ice cubes, we're sure flexibility is hardly a problem.
Jason Walker will perform at Rhode Island PrideFest Noon-8:30 p.m. Bank of America City Center & Burnside Park, 2 Kennedy Plaza, Providence, RI. Free. www.prideri.com.