Drinking with Strangers: Music Lessons from a Teenage Bullet Belt

Since his days with his Georgia band, the Marvelous 3, Butch Walker has been a successful record producer and performer—he’s played with Taylor Swift at the Grammys, he sells out shows across the country every year, and he continues to work with some of the country’s most iconic music acts, from Green Day and Weezer to Pink and Katy Perry.

But though Butch has made his career look easy, it’s been an epic and colorful battle every step of the way. He has lived in his car when he couldn’t make ends meet; he has been kicked off by about 4 record labels as a musician; he lost all of his belongings (including some of his master recordings) when the Hollywood house he was renting from Flea, of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, burned down to the ground during the ‘07 California wild fires ; and although he was originally supposed to be one of the judges on Mark Burnett’s “Rock Star,” his acerbic and critical appearances all ended up on the cutting room floor.

In his riveting memoir, Drinking with Strangers, Butch Walker tells the fascinating story of his life and remarkable career, taking readers on a breakneck ride from his Georgia roots to the Hollywood music scene, and giving us a close-up insider’s view of life behind closed recording studio doors.

Butch Walker is a recording artist, songwriter, and producer. He lives in Atlanta and Los Angeles. His latest recording with the Black Widows is The Spade.

Matt Diehl is the author of four books; his writing has also appeared in such publications as Rolling Stone, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, SPIN, W magazine, and Interview. He lives in Los Angeles, California.