The band 7 Walkers was formed in 2009 by former Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann and guitarist and singer Malcolm Welbourne, better known as Papa Mali, along with multi-instrumentalist Matt Hubbard and bass player Reed Mathis. In 2010, after most of the tracks for their debut album had been recorded, Mathis went back to touring with his main band, Tea Leaf Green, and was replaced by George Porter, Jr., former bassist of the Meters. Porter appears on one track of the album.

The lyrics for most of the songs on 7 Walkers were written by Robert Hunter, who wrote the words for many Grateful Dead songs.Willie Nelson plays guitar and sings on one track, "King Cotton Blues".

According to the Austin Chronicle, "Kreutzmann refers to the music of 7 Walkers as 'swampadelic,' a natural meeting point between his West Coast psychedelia and Welbourne's voodoo-funk. Theirs is a saga of friendship and good fortune, set in the bayou but firmly entrenched in Austin." The album is dedicated to the state of Louisiana and the city of New Orleans.

In Billboard, Gary Graff wrote, "... in 7 Walkers, Dead percussionist Bill Kreutzmann has hit pay dirt. The well-credentialed group — fronted by Louisiana singer/guitarist Papa Mali and now including Meters bassist George Porter (who appears on only one of the debut album's 13 tracks) — plays it loose and rootsy in a manner Deadheads will certainly find appealing, especially with Robert Hunter writing lyrics.... A fine soundtrack for Louisiana's continuing return to glory."

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