Joshua Ray Walker with Cecilia Castleman

Joshua Ray Walker plays The Pour House Music Hall & Record Shop on Wednesday, October 14, with Cecilia Castleman opening. The show starts at 8 PM at 224 S Blount St in downtown Raleigh.

Walker is a Dallas singer-songwriter who's built his name on character studies—poignant, human portraits of flawed and fascinating people. His sixth studio album, Ain't Dead Yet, came out May 29 via Thirty Tigers/East Dallas Records, and it marks a more personal turn inward. He recorded it before, during, and after his cancer treatment across three Dallas studios: Audio Dallas, Modern Electric, and producer John Pedigo's home studio. Sonically, the record returns to the pedal steel and fiddle of his early albums, anchored by his tenor voice and high falsetto.

The title track is defiant and bittersweet, and the album closes with the softer "Thank You For Listening." He still writes about characters, too—"Outlaw" grew from a real tour moment when a fan told him he should wear a cowboy hat to sing country music. The Raleigh date is 18+; doors are at 8 PM.