(MPG) Today, the Dallas-based singer/songwriter Joshua Ray Walker announced he will release a new album Tropicana next Friday, June 13. Written during his treatment for stage 3b colon cancer, the album's beach-country songs were born from fantasies of ocean breezes and sandy beaches, dreamt up while the longtime road warrior was confined to his home while undergoing chemotherapy. Tropicana trades honky-tonks for hammocks, offering a rallying cry of resilience wrapped in tropical twang.
Also today, Walker announced his Tropicana Tour that will kick off on August 14 in Little Rock, AR and make stops in Memphis, Cleveland, Nashville and more. In June, he will perform a handful of shows in Austin and Los Angeles before heading to New York City for a performance at the critically-acclaimed Honky Tonkin' In Queens concert series on June 27. Find a full list of tour dates below or visit his website.
"I was at home for a year, without the ability to play shows or even take a vacation," Walker explains. "Since I couldn't leave town and go see a palm tree in real life, I started writing about them." Inspired by Jimmy Buffet's early records, George Strait's vacation-minded hits, and the glory days of '90s country music, Walker's new songs all shared a common location: a mythical beachside hotel called The Tropicana. "It's the sort of place where you can order a pi-a colada at the pool bar and go wander down a nondescript beach," Walker says. "I couldn't go to the beach, so I decided to bring the beach to me."
"Music has always been an escape for me," says Walker. That belief carried him through a career-launching run of concept albums that earned praise from outlets like Rolling Stone, who called him "one of country's most fascinating young songwriters." In 2023, his momentum hit a new high. He released a gender-bending covers album, opened shows for The Killers, and made his late-night TV debut on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. But while traveling to Los Angeles to perform his powerful version of Lizzo's "Cuz I Love You" on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, he got the news that would change everything: a cancer diagnosis. If Walker ever needed an escape, this was it.
A series of surgeries and chemo treatments followed. The recovery process left Walker - who'd been playing shows since the age of 13, racking up as many as 250 performances a year - unable to hit the highway. What he could do was head down the block to producer John Pedigo's house. The two had long collaborated, shaping Walker's songs, rich blends of autobiography and fiction, into modern-day vessels of classic two-steppin' twang.
The result is a genuine oasis of a record. On the title track, steel guitar and steel drums share the same space, creating a new musical climate where Texas heat, Key West humidity, cowboy boots, and flip-flops all coexist. Cities like Panama City and Laguna Beach are mentioned during the nine songs that follow, widening Tropicana's scope. "We did that on purpose," Walker says of the album's cross-country imagery. "We didn't limit it to one specific space, because Tropicana is wherever you want it to be."
Tropicana tracklist:
1) Tropicana
2) Keys to the Tacoma
3) Laguna
4) Dance With Who You Came With
5) I Don't Wanna Be Alone
6) Heavy Stones
7) Dirty Laundry
8) Whiskey to My Heart
9) Novella
10) I Hope I Have Fun Dying
Tour Dates:
6/12 - Houston, TX - The Armadillo Palace
6/13 - San Antonio, TX - The Lonesome Rose
6/14 - Austin, TX - Sagebrush
6/24 - Los Angeles, CA - The Desert 5 Spot
6/27 - Queens, NY - Gottscheer Hall
8/14 - Little Rock, AR - Revolution! Music Room
8/15 - Memphis, TN - Hernando's Hideaway
8/16 - Indianapolis, IN - Duke's Indy
8/17 - Ferndale, MI - The Loving Touch
8/19 - Cleveland, OH - Beachland Ballroom & Tavern
8/21 - Nashville, TN - Skinny Dennis
8/24 - North Charleston, SC - Marcus King Band Family Reunion
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
[an error occurred while processing this directive]