Joon Walker

James Walker Jr., or “Joon” as he is better known in the music industry, has been a musician since he was a child. Starting with private lessons on the trumpet and then teaching himself how to play the guitar, Joon enjoyed the pure sound and feel of making music. In 1964, Joon saw the Beatles perform live on the Ed Sullivan show and that sparked his desire to make a career in music. Awed by the novel sound of the music and the spunk that the Beatles embodied, Joon walked up to his parents that night and said to them, “I want to do that job there.”

Soon after, Joon, who was a teenager at the time, began his musical journey by teaming up with close friend Rodney Stepp to create a soul band. Joon played the guitar, and the two of them, along with a few other friends, started writing songs and performing them around their neighborhood and city.

Joon is currently a vocalist with a smooth jazz band called Stepp Walker Project and a vocalist for Men In The Fire a local gospel group. As a songwriter Joon’s soft spot when it comes to writing music is love songs. “I would say my music is about falling in love, staying in love, being in a love that goes bad, and falling in love all over again.” Joon believes that with love songs you can’t go wrong. Working in collaboration with Rodney Stepp and AZ IZ Records, Joon has a self-entitled album called JOON. His song Valerie was #1 on WOSD Radio in Chicago in 2019.