Murrieta-Grown Musician Sees Bright Future for Band

It wasn't too long ago that Justin Vidal was beating drums in the Murrieta Valley High School Marching Band.

Nowadays, Vidal, 23, is attending Cal State Fullerton. In his spare time, he is the drummer of Walk the Rio, a band with an electronic rock, dance sound.

The band formed about three years ago when Vidal met up with Shawn Walker, a vocalist from Temecula. The two hit it off musically, and pretty soon they formed a full group and starting doing shows.

"We definitely have a solid foundation," Vidal said during a recent interview.

The group plays locally sometimes, such as at The Vault in Temecula, but they also play gigs in Hollywood. On April 8, they are scheduled to play at The Viper Room in Hollywood. Prior gigs have included the Whisky A Go-Go, On the Rox and House of Blues.

The band includes Vidal as drummer, Walker as lead vocalist, Christina Mansour on synthesizer and vocals, Eric Rios on guitar, Dustin Russell on guitar and Marty Cole on Bass.

After recently releasing their second album, a five-song EP, Vidal said the band is planning a break from live shows.

"We are going to take a long enough break to create some new stuff," Vidal said. "We are about to come out and write some crazy stuff and punch everyone in the face with it."

One of the group's more notable fans is professional golfer Rickie Fowler, who also graduated from Murrieta Valley High School. According to Vidal, Fowler made a large donation to the band after coming to their show in Temecula. The money was meant to help the band purchase merchandise, Vidal said.

To pay him back, the group wrote a personalized song for Fowler. Walk the Rio plans to debut the song with a video within the month, and surprise Fowler.

As for the future of Walk the Rio, Vidal says he is hopeful he the band will become something he can do full time. Until then, he plans to graduate from Cal State Fullerton this May with a bachelor's degree in kinesiology and get hired somewhere in Los Angeles as a postural therapist. He wants to help others with back pain, which he experienced following a serious car accident.

Check out Walk the Rio on Facebook or at Walktherio.com to find out which of their songs are for sale on iTunes.