Bob Walkenhorst

From his early bar days with the band Steve Bob & Rich, to his years of international acclaim as songwriter and lead singer for The Rainmakers, Bob's unique vocals and viewpoints have gathered him a dedicated following. His acoustic performances feature many Rainmakers favorites, as well as new songs from his ongoing songwriting adventures. Bob’s solo performances have the strength and professionalism that have come with years in the music business, but maintain the joy and spontaneity of a true believer who discovers something new every time he plays.

Bob is also a painter. With formal training from University of Central Missouri and a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Northwest Missouri State, Bob began exhibiting paintings in shows around Kansas City in the 1980's, and in several national art shows across the U.S. "But then the Rainmakers happened, and my painting efforts got put on hold for about . . . 20 years!", says Bob. "But times change, and one day you find that it's time to paint again."

Bob's paintings are very connected to his songs. Scenes of farmlands, woods, and people from the Midwestern United States, and from the small town where Bob grew up, are his favorite subjects. "Songs are about words and sounds," Bob says, "but paintings are about silence, about finding a language that doesn't use words."

The meeting of images and words took a new form in 2020 as Bob completed his first book of short stories, Whirlybird Day, a glimpse into the lives of nine people in the small town of Shorter, Missouri. All the stories occur on a single day, when a helicopter visits the town during a summer festival. A former baseball star comes home to lead the parade, a woman who drifts between dementia and magic, a local musician who may have played his final gig, a college girl anxious to leave her roots, a DJ who tries to come home but has trouble finding the way. Snapshots of lives, all turning, changing, happening - on Whirlybird Day.