Walt Richardson  Walt Richardson is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist born in Fort Walton Beach, Florida to parents, Walter Harold Richardson Sr. and mother, Helen Virginia Richardson (née Robinson). He is the eldest of eight children. He is a celebrated music veteran in the Tempe, Arizona area where his humanitarium contributions to the music community and music in schools (with an emphasis on cultural diversity), have been recognized with numerous awards. Walter Harold Richardson II was born at Eglin Air Force Base in Fort Walton Beach, Florida on January 21, 1954, where his father, Chief Master Sergeant, Walter Harold Richardson, was stationed in the Air Force. Richardson Sr. was one of the first 1,000 African-Americans to integrate the Air Force and was later recognized in 2010 as one of the original Tuskegee Airmen. He served in Vietnam and was a recipient of the Congressional Gold Medal. Richardson's father was an entertainer in the Tuskegee Airman singing group, "Operation Happiness", composed of pilots, which entertained troops. He also performed with Bob Hope in USO shows and encouraged Walt to learn to play the piano. As a first communion gift, Walt's parents bought him a piano and he took several years of piano lessons. He bought himself a guitar from Spiegel's catalog from money earned by mowing lawns, when he was ten years old, and soon put together a mock band with his sisters as go-go dancers. Richardson's early musical influences were The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Cat Stevens, Bob Dylan, Creedence Clearwater, Sly and The Family Stone, Bob Marley, and Stevie Wonder. During his high school years in the Philippines, Richardson put together his first band "Counterclockwise Predicament". It was made up mostly of military kids performing at high school events. His family moved back to the US in the early 1970s settling back in Florida where Richardson attended Pensacola College. He continued honing in on his skills on the guitar and writing songs. After graduating he was accepted at Arizona State University. Richardson began performing at local open-mic's and as a street performer while attending Arizona State University. In the mid-seventies he met Aziz Chadley who introduced him to the Reggae sound and soon they put together the band "Driftwood" (Ronnie Scott, Rudy Chavez, Calvin Lewis, Vinnie I, Aziz Chadley) with Richardson being the main songwriter as well as performing reggae cover songs.