JOSHUA RAY WALKER SAYS ‘SHOOT ME STRAIGHT’ ON INFECTIOUS NEW SINGLE
LISTEN TO ‘SHOOT ME STRAIGHT’ HERE
New album Ain’t Dead Yet out May 29th
NASHVILLE, TN. – Over blaring horns and an insistent beat, Joshua Ray Walker asks listeners to ‘Shoot Me Straight‘ on the infectious new single from his upcoming album Ain’t Dead Yet (out May 29th via East Dallas Records/Thirty Tigers). The song is in many ways a counterpoint to the rest of the record, which tackles Walker’s battle with cancer. The energetic rave-up belies a more steely-eyed subject matter.
“I want to know the bad news before the good news,” explains Walker. “Don’t sugar coat it for me. I want to know the problem, so I can figure out how to fix it. That’s what this song is about. Whether it’s my career, personal relationships, or my health, I just want you to shoot me straight. It doesn’t matter how bad the situation is, you can’t stop me, so I’d rather know what I’m up against from the start.”
“This song was by far my favorite to record on the album,” Walker continues. “We really threw the whole kitchen sink at the arrangement, and I think it works. I even got to play congas on this one. It’s just a really fun song, and I needed that at the time we were making the record.”
Walker’s made a name for himself with poignant, human portraits of flawed, fascinating characters. Now, on Ain’t Dead Yet, Walker’s telling a more personal story – his own. Beneath the album’s flippant title resides some of Walker’s heaviest storytelling yet. Three years ago, when he started writing Ain’t Dead Yet, Walker hadn’t yet received the cancer diagnosis that rearranged and threatened his life (he currently has a clean bill of health). But that year was still uncommonly fraught with mental, physical, and career stresses. Pulling the songs out of the can to finalize them for the album – including re-writing and re-working almost all the songs – Walker, who was then undergoing and recovering from cancer treatment, was surprised by their prescience.
Coming out the other side of a fight with cancer offered Walker a second chance. But the angst inherent to facing death and the requisite perspective on the past figure thematically across the album. Ain’t Dead Yet is equal parts defiant and bittersweet, a reflection on Walker’s last few years and a time capsule.
Joshua Ray Walker – 2026 EU & UK Tour Dates
Jul 3 – Byscenen – Trondheim, NO
Jul 5 – Blårock Cafe – Tromso, NO
Jul 8 – Wiese – Lillehammer – NO
Jul 10 – Norsk Country-Treff – Breim, NO
Jul 12 – Ole Bull Scene – Bergen, NO
Jul 14 – Tou Scene – Stavanger, NO
Jul 17 – John Dee – Oslo, NO
July 18 – Pustervik – Gothenburg, SE
Jul 21 – Debaser – Stockholm, SE
Jul 22 – Garage Bar – Hoganas, SE
Jul 28 – The Lower Third – London, ENG
Jul 29 – The Deaf Institute – Manchester, ENG
Jul 30 – The Hug and Pint – Glasgow, SCO
Aug 1 – Whelan’s – Dublin, IE
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