“The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated”

That quote belongs to Mark Twain but could easily be written about Texas singer songwriter Joshua Ray Walker. His latest album ‘Ain’t Dead Yet’ released by Thirty Tigers Records is a fitting testament to a man who was written off by the medical establishment with Stage 4 cancer.

In London’s The Lower Third in swanky Soho the Texan held court to fans who had travelled from Marseille, Amsterdam, Brighton and beyond.

Opening the nights proceedings was the two time Spellemannprisen award winning Norwegian artist Malin Pettersen. Walker had first heard of Malin’s voice when she supported Robert Ellis during his Scandinavian tour in Copenhagen 2019. It’s taken this long for Pettersen and Walker’s diaries to sync. Walker has been touring across Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany and now across the UK for his Ain’t Dead Yet tour.

With just a guitar and a microphone he held the hearts and minds of the audience in his hands. With whoops and hollers the audience responded to every pluck of guitar string, every breath, every yip and yodel is like a Cattle Call to this country music brethren.

I say just a guitar and a microphone but Walker’s secret weapon is his voice which echoes that of Slim Whitman, Hank Williams and Dwight Yoakum. At once entrancing, at times hypnotic these transcendental vocals coupled with a masterful finger picking guitar style brings his music to life.

Walker took us on a biographical journey of his life which inspired his biggest hit ‘Dumpster Diving’ (Walker would work alongside his Grandfather scouring rich neighbourhoods for what was left on the sidewalks repair it and sell it on), ‘Boat Show Girl’ Walker’s mother would take him along to these trade shows were bikini clad women would try to entice middle aged men to part with their money for fibre glass boats) to ‘Outlaw’ (where he was accosted for not  wearing a Cowboy hat).

While you can you should go see Joshua Ray Walker live and in person. Truly your ears will thank you, you’ll come out of the evening, feeling uplifted as if a messenger from upon high has gently lifted you clear from the ground and now your just floating on a cloud of heavenly yodels, yips and twanging of guitar strings. Harlan Howard might have coined the phrase “Country music ain’t nothin’ but three chords and the truth” but it’s artists like Joshua Ray Walker who continue to keep this tradition alive and kicking in 2026.