Walking by Jazzbones the other day, Bobble Tiki heard it from a youth loitering outside.



“Who the fuck is Walter Trout?”



Bobble Tiki had to laugh on the inside.



While Walter Trout doesn’t have the most recognizable name in blues or rock, he should be up there, and the fact that the kids of today know nothing of the guitarist’s career worth of musical accomplishments strikes Bobble Tiki as both unjust and inevitable. Rock and roll and blues were once the soundtracks of youthful rebellion. Today they’re more like the founding fathers. Most kids today don’t know a damn thing about William Whipple either.



Born in New Jersey in 1951, Trout cut his teeth in the same local music scene as Steel Mill, which featured a fresh face by the name of Bruce Springsteen. After moving to Los Angeles, Trout eventually hooked up with Canned Heat and then John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers — where he and Coco Montoya formed one of the most fearsome guitar tandems of all time. It was during this period that Trout made a name for himself.



Walter Trout went solo in 1989, and was a pretty big deal in Europe. (Bobble Tiki likens it to what happened to David Hasselhoff.) American success didn’t come as easy. Eventually, through persistence and the release of solid solo records on both sides of the Atlantic, fans in the U.S. have started to remember, and Trout’s popularity has climbed.



In June of this year Walter Trout will release The Outsider, on Provogue Records — 13 original Trout tracks and a special musical guest appearance by harmonica wild man Jason Ricci. Trout is currently on tour, and no doubt dishing out some of the new material to fans anywhere and everywhere.



That everywhere and anywhere will be Jazzbones in Tacoma this Saturday, April 26 and Sunday, April 27. If you, or your kids, don’t know “who the fuck?” Walter Trout is, Bobble Tiki thinks this weekend would be the perfect time to find out.



[Jazzbones, Saturday, April 26 9 p.m.; Sunday, April 27 7 p.m., $15, 2803 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, 253.396.9169]