For those unaware, today, the Dallas-based singer/songwriter Joshua Ray Walker released a new album entitled Tropicana this past Friday, June 13th, 2025.

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 14th 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 27th.

“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 pińa 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.”

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

With some dulcet steel guitar and steel drums sharing the same space, up first is the low slung title track Tropicana and the guitar driven Keys to the Tacoma and then we get the languishing balladry of Laguna, the accordion-imbibed Dance With Who You Came With and the feisty I Don’t Wanna Be Alone.

Along next is some impassioned storytelling that drives Heavy Stones which is itself backed by the countrified twanger Dirty Laundry, the AORC of Whiskey to My Heart, the set rounding out on the softly Americana vibed Novella, closing on the rhythmically melodic 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

Joshua Ray Walker - Tropicana (The Album Trailer)

Official Digital Purchase Links

www.joshuaraywalker.com