Biography
Walt Robertson (Omaha, Nebraska September 1928 - September 23, 1994) was an American folk singer, songwriter and guitarist.
Robertson was raised on Bainbridge Island, and went to school at Haverford College in Pennsylvania. While at Haverford, he attended a number of folk festivals at nearby Swarthmore College where he heard John Lomax, Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Susan Reed, Richard Dyer-Bennet, Leadbelly, John Jacob Niles and many others. He won a Talent USA contest, then in 1952-53 he had his own weekly show on KING-TV. With his expressive voice, tastefully inventive guitar, and respect for the songs he sang, he was soon regarded as the "dean of Pacific Northwest folk singers." He performed extensively throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. Also a talented actor, he appeared on stage in Europe and Hawaii, and in bit parts in a number of motion pictures. In the late Eighties he returned to the Seattle area, and on September 23, 1994, he died of cancer. Since then, on the first day of spring every year, his old friends get together for a "hoot" and sing one for Walt.
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Walt Robertson discography: American Northwest Ballads, Folkways Records FP 46 (1955). Walt Robertson Sings American Folk Songs, Folkways Records FA 2330 (1959). Available through Smithsonian Folkways.
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Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.