Damon Walker, Luthier. Durham, North Carolina.

Damon Walker, a “luthier” or string instrument maker in Durham, North Carolina, talks about his work making and fixing double or ‘upright’ basses with folklorists Katy Clune and Julia Gartell as part of their Occupational Folklife Project “Fixing, Mending, Making New: North Carolina’s Repair Professionals.” Mr. Walker – or “Dr. Bass” as he is widely known in the business – explains how his love of music and woodworking combined with years of formal apprenticeship at an atelier led him to became of the very few African American luthiers in the United States.