I guess that my love affair for the acoustic guitar started when I was a teenager in the late '60s. Though I listened to my share of electric guitar heroes such as Clapton and Hendrix, the tone that touched my soul was what Stephen Stills called "wooden music". After hearing Doc Watson play though, my life was changed. I spent countless hours trying to learn his music, both his fingerstyle and his flatpicking style. What I found was that, although I never became a great musician, I was totally taken by that wooden sound of the acoustic guitar.

My goal as a professional guitar maker is to live well. By this I do not mean first and foremost making a lot of money! What I do mean is that I try to do my work with honor. That means honoring those people who came before me and those that are continuing the tradition of fine luthiery. It is also important to me to have an honorable relationship with those that I do business.

My designs are more evolutionary than they are revolutionary. My flat top designs are mostly influenced by C. F. Martin’s classic pre-war period with a bit of Gibson from the 30's, 40's and 50's. I then add a modern neck to the formula and finish them with a beautiful varnish. I build flat tops in a variety of sizes and shapes. Each of my guitars is tap tuned to meet the requirements of string gauge and playing style. I am interested in building guitars with great tone, power and dynamics.

In my archtop designs there is quite a synthesis of influences. I see John D'Angelico's work as my main inspiration mixed quite heavily with Jimmy D'Aquisto's work; add some Gibson Lloyd Loar period work and the twist of Walker and voila! Archtop players generally seem to be divided into two camps, those that like electricity mixed with their acoustic sound and those that are interested in pure acoustic sound. With the experience of satisfying players from each camp I am comfortable with either side of the fence.

I feel fortunate to have one of my archtop guitars included in the Blue Guitars of the Chinery Collection, which are on display at the Smithsonian Institution. Quoting from the book Blue Guitar by Ken Vose, Scott Chinery describes his Walker guitar as "the lightest and most delicately made 18-inch guitar that I have ever seen". From that same book Steve Howe comments about the Walker Blue Empress sound as "Very lutey--medieval--an original strong sound." Scott's concept for his Blue Guitar Collection was simple- build the best 18 inch acoustic archtop guitar and make it blue.

In the development of my line of guitars I have brought together many years of experience. I have been involved full time in the musical instrument making business since 1973, when I began as a banjo and dulcimer maker. I started making flattop guitars in 1974. In 1979 I moved to Nashville to work for noted collector and dealer George Gruhn. By 1984 I was running Gruhn's six man repair shop. In 1986 I started making prototypes for new models for the Guild Guitar Company. In 1987 I was hired by Guild to be head of their R&D and custom shop. By 1988 by was supervising production as the assistant plant manager. Working for Guild was great for me, as being involved in all phases of production of some 50 guitars a day is a great way for a maker to get his chops up! In 1994 I started Walker guitars making both flattop and archtop guitars. During all the years at Gruhn's and at Guild I continued to maintain a personal studio to create custom instruments. I feel as if the experience gained while I was working for both George Gruhn and Guild Guitars have given me unique opportunities that I simply could not have gained elsewhere.

At Gruhn's I became deeply involved with restoration and repair of guitars. I believe that there is no better way to learn about the fine old instruments. To recreate what the original maker intended challenges you as the restorer to "get into the maker's head." George Gruhn commented, "Kim is one of the finest craftsmen I have ever met; his workmanship and sense of aesthetics are truly extraordinary, on par with the highest rated makers of yesterday and today." During my years at Gruhn's I also was able to work in close association with many other fine instrument builders such as Mark Lacey, Paul McGill, and Steven Gilchrist. Another great benefit of working at George's was meeting and getting to talk guitar with some of the greatest players of our time.

Previous clients have included Eric Clapton and Brian May for Guild as artist models. Through the Country Music Foundation, Gruhn Guitars, and family members of the artists, I have also restored instruments that belonged to such legends as Hank Williams Sr., Merle Travis, Gene Autry, Jimmy Rodgers, Ray Whitley, and Clarence White. Other clients through association with George Gruhn are Hank Williams Jr., Roy Acuff, Bill Monroe, Marty Stewart, Akira Tsumura, Bela Fleck, Pat Flynn, Russ Barrenberg, Doug Green, and Harold Bradley. I have also done work for Eric Schoenberg of the Music Emporium, Stan Jay of the Mandolin Brothers Ltd., and Walter Carter, historian and author of The Martin Book.

This is me visiting at Bruce Wayne's mansion.