“I Decided to Bring the Beach to Me”: Joshua Ray Walker Announces Jimmy Buffett-Inspired New Album, ‘Tropicana’ - and We Are 100% Here For It

Last October, we got the welcome news that, after undergoing months of chemotherapy and treatment for Stage 3B colon cancer, Joshua Ray Walker was now cancer-free.

During that period, which saw the former road warrior unable to play shows, Walker found himself leaning on the escapist, sun-soaked idylls that Jimmy Buffett depicts throughout his discography. At a time where the ‘Canyon’ crooner wanted to be anywhere but where he was, he was transported to a margarita-drenched, beachside fantasy, where the drinks are always cold and the sun is always shining.

As a result, Joshua Ray Walker felt moved to create his own Gulf and Western project, in the hope that it might help others to escape - briefly - to a rose-tinted, carefree world. To that end, Walker releases his new album, Tropicana, next Friday (June 13th).

"I was at home for a year, without the ability to play shows or even take a vacation”, Walker muses on the process behind the record, “Since I couldn't leave town and go see a palm tree in real life, I started writing about them. It's the sort of place where you can order a piña colada at the pool bar and go wander down a nondescript beach. I couldn't go to the beach, so I decided to bring the beach to me”.

The alt-country maverick expands, “Music has always been an escape for me”, before underlining that he made a conscious effort not to restrict the album's setting to any one summer destination, such as Key West, “We did that on purpose. We didn't limit it to one specific space, because Tropicana is wherever you want it to be”.

Featuring ten brand new songs, including ‘Keys to the Tacoma’, ‘Laguna’ and ‘Dance With Who You Came With’, we can't wait to dive into Joshua Ray Walker's jubilant headphone-holiday. In June, Walker embarks on his accompanying Tropicana tour, with dates lined up in Texas, California, Tennessee and more.

For the full tracklist to Joshua Ray Walker's Tropicana, see below:

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

For more on Joshua Ray Walker, see below: