It was 1990-something, and it was a cool evening on Reiby Place. I have no recall of what gig I was at inside The Basement, but there must have been a break, and I had gone outside to have a toke.
I was fumbling with a lighter and a joint, and I wasn’t being very discreet. I had just lit up, and I noticed this younger dude manhandling the ATM for his cash. His nose had gone up like an infield fly when he caught a whiff.
We made eye contact and I waved him over. I had recognised him as someone who was attending the same gig. We shared the joint, made pleasant conversation and talked about music and ourselves for a good half hour.
Jason and I ran into each other many times through the years. Wandering King Street, seeing him playing with alone or with someone around town, Dashville, here, there and everywhere. We recalled that joint and visited that same moment here and there also.
There I was in a music venue the other night and my partner messaged me:
“Do you know of a singer/songwriter musician, maybe from Katoombah?”
I did not pause and replied via my thumbs on my pocket computer:
“Yes. Jason Walker? Please don’t tell me that he has died?”
Yes, Jason had left the building. That hit me right in the chest.
I knew he had had health and other troubles, but whenever we spoke or crossed paths we had a wee chat and a catch-up. Not close friends, but 2 people who had met through the 2m’s.
Music and marijuana.
Below is what Wiki has to say about him.
All I can say is that is was an excellent writer, a very good musician (I loved his pedal steel playing) and a good bloke.
RIP Jason. Gone too early. Too young.
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Jason Peter Walker (1969 – c. 4 September 2026) was a New Zealand-Australian country musician and writer.[1] His third album, Ceiling Sun Letters was nominated for the ARIA Award for Best Country Album at the ARIA Music Awards of 2010.
As a writer Walker has published two biographies, Gram Parsons: God’s Own Singer (2002) and Billy Thorpe’s Time on Earth (2009).
Life and career
Born in New Zealand in 1969,[2] Jason Walker moved to Sydney, Australia at age 18.[3] In 1997 he joined Golden Rough on guitar alongside Brian Crouch on piano, David Orwell on vocals and guitar, Helen Meany on bass guitar and vocals, and Martin McDonald on drums.[3][4] That group had started two years earlier as a covers band, playing Elvis Costello, Willie Nelson and Gram Parsons material.[4] In 1998 they released their debut album of originals, Twin Firs.[4]
Walker’s debut studio album, Stranger to Someone, was issued via Laughing Outlaw Records in October 2001.[5][6] Delusions of Adequacy‘s Geoff Parks compared him with Ryan Adams and opined that Walker was “out there on the edges, pushing harder, moving quicker than Adams, who has now become a mainstream media darling.”[5] Parks noticed “[Walker’s] maturity and songwriting finesse shine through... But it’s on the cover versions featured here that you can hear [his] soul stretching out... [on] this country-fried, cosmic rock album.”[5]
As a writer Walker published a biography of Parsons, God’s Own Singer, in 2002.[7] He had started the project in 1996 and told Bill Beaver and Steve Wilcock of Triste magazine that “it completely dominated my life. Everything I did hinged upon the availability of working computers and printers so I could work on it whenever I wanted. I even started working on it during my day job, which was really taking the piss. I almost got fired.”[7]
Walker released his second studio album, Ashes & Wine in November 2003, providing lead vocals and lead guitar, with a backing band, the Last Drinks, consisting of Brian Crouch on keyboards, Dave Keys on bass guitar, Andrew Lay on drums and Worth Wagers on rhythm guitar.
His second biography was of Billy Thorpe: Billy Thorpe’s Time on Earth and released in 2009.
His third studio album, Ceiling Sun Letters was released in May 2010. It was nominated for Best Country Album at the ARIA Music Awards of 2010.[8]
Walker’s fourth studio album, All-Night Ghost Town, was released on 5 August 2016 and included the single “Borrowed Tunes”.[9]
Walker died in September 2026. In his final Facebook post, dated 20 August 2026, he stated that he was severely injured in a car crash.[10] His death was formally announced by APRA AMCOS on 8 September.[11]
Discography
Albums
List of album with selected detailsTitleAlbum detailsStranger to Someone
Ashes & Wine
(by Jason Walker and the Last Drinks)
Ceiling Sun Letters
Released: 15 May 2010[16]
Label: Laughing Outlaw (LORCD-111)
Formats: CD, Digital download
All-Night Ghost Town
Released: 5 August 2016[17]
Label: Lost Highway Records (4791719)
Formats: CD, Digital download, LP
Awards and nominations
ARIA Music Awards
YearNominee / workAwardResultRef.2010Ceiling Sun LettersBest Country AlbumNominated[18]
Bibliography
Walker, Jason P (2011) [2002]. Gram Parsons: God’s Own Singer (2nd ed.). London: Soundcheck. ISBN 978-0-9566420-3-5.
Walker, Jason P (2009). Billy Thorpe’s Time on Earth. Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 978-1-74175-823-8.