Age: 29 • Neighborhood: Avondale • Follow: Twitter // SoundCloud

Producer/singer/multi-instrumentalist Walkingshoe has been covered a decent amount over at TheseDays. From being listed as a rising producer to being featured on one of our broadcasts, Walkingshoe is no stranger to the site. 

The 29-year-old producer first grabbed my attention with the 2014 instrumental album Blastphemy. Stacking layer upon layer of a unique blend of samples and instrumentation, Walkingshoe is able to craft a foreign landscape. Like crash landing your plane into one of the jungles in Avatar, Blastphemy was lush, dense, and highly unfamiliar.

Following up that project was this year's The Future Will Kill You. One of my favorite projects of the year and one of my favorite titles of the year, TFWKY was even stronger than Blastphemy. Stepping away from a strictly instrumental project, Walkingshoe was able to enlist a series of strong vocalists for the projects. With help from Chicago artists like Defcee and Frank Leone, the seven song project feels like one long song, like one long Adult Swim commercial, crackling and groovy.

In the between time, we heard Walkingshoe on the song “RN” off of Towkio's acclaimed Wav Theory, as well as Towkio's loose single/video “Eyes”. We heard him assist with production on Toyko-based artist PhoenixandtheFlowerGirl's EP photo synth thesis. We heard him produce tracks for Chicago rapper/personality ShowYouSuck as well as Indianapolis rapper Oreo Jones. We heard him on instrumental projects like W2NDCH2LL and W3NDCH3LL.

As we approach 2016 and as Walkingshoe just starting working out of a new and improved studio, expect much more from this Chicago talent. Rather than just craft instrumentals, Walkingshoe is working on a handful of projects. You might hear something smooth between him and Rich Jones soon. You might hear something wild between him and Beach Jesus soon. You might hear Walkingshoe's folk/bluegrass/acoustic project soon. You might hear remixes and instrumentals and everything else that Walkingshoe currently has set as private on his SoundCloud.

One of the stronger producers in Chicago, be sure to not sleep on the art of Walkingshoe. I can't wait to see what he does in 2016.