Walmsley to appear at Chautauqua

Sep. 20—GREENSBURG — Musician, songwriter, actor and producer Jon Walmsley will present his special brand of rock and roll and blues at 7 p.m. Saturday, September 24, at Greensburg Community High School's Goddard Auditorium.

The event kicks off the 16th Annual Chautauqua for GCHS history teacher John Pratt.

The Chautauqua has developed a unique reputation regarding Pratt's ability to lure presenters from all walks and eras. They have included Ed Asner (Mr. Grant) from the "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," famed anthropologist Jane Goodall, and television stars like actor/activist David Farrell and astronaut Dr. David Wolf.

This year is no different.

For those of us who grew up watching television in the '70s, Walmsley's name might not ring a bell, but the character Walmsley played on CBS from 1971 to 1982 certainly does.

"Music was my first love, but it was through music that I had the opportunity to act," said Walmsley.

Born in Lancashire, United Kingdom, in 1958 and moving to the US with his parents, he learned to play the guitar at 8 years old, and then "jumped at the opportunity" to act on television at the age of 10.

Recognized by a talent scout, Walmsley landed his first television role playing a part on the 1962 World War I television drama "Combat" alongside Vic Morrow.

After hiring an agent, he received an invitation to audition for the television show "The Homecoming," which became a weekly hour-long Depression-era family drama, "The Waltons."

Walmsley played Jason Walton for all nine years of The Waltons and in six subsequent Waltons movies as well as providing the voice of Christopher Robin for Disney's Winnie the Pooh cartoons.

After the Waltons, he attended the Musicians Institute of Technology of California, which gave him the skills to play professionally.

Walmsley's favorite music is the blues and he started playing blues when he was 13. After reading about blues guitarists Eric Clapton and B.B. King, he vowed to play like them.

"I was already into the Beatles and The Rolling Stones and current pop music, but through that I started learning the roots of popular music and those roots were in blues," he said.

Playing in many bands, doing studio work and learning the many different genres of guitar music, Walmsley devoted his life to playing music and living on the road.

His longest stretch of touring was with artist Richard Marx, which he said was a great learning experience in itself, watching Marx cut albums and studying his method of composing.

"People don't realize how hard that work is," he said." But the hard part was traveling and living life in hotels and in a bus."

As for studio work, Walmsley worked with television composer Dan Falliard in different shows through the years. "Roseanne", "Home Improvement," and "7th Heaven" all contain guitar licks by Walmsley.

Walmsley and a friend from MIT, with whom he hasn't played in 30 years, will play for 90 minutes on the 24th. He will be playing blues on electric guitar and will be selling and autographing his self-produced CD of original blues music.

Tickets for the September 24 concert are available at the GCHS bookstore, at the Greensburg Decatur County Public Library and at www.gchschautauqua.com.

Contact Bill Rethlake at 812-651-0876 or email bill.rethlake@greensburgdailynews.com