Joshua Ray Walker at the Raccoon Motel -- February 4.
Friday, February 4, 7 p.m.
The Raccoon Motel, 315 East Second Street, Davenport IA
Lauded by Rolling Stone as "one of country’s most fascinating young songwriters" and by Saving Country Music as "a big man with a high lonesome voice and heartfelt songs who is quickly rising up the independent country music depth charts," Joshua Ray Walker headlines a February 4 concert at Davenport's Raccoon Motel, an evening with the artist who, according to Pop Matters, "sings with a tear in his beer-stained voice about our shared destiny."
A native of East Dallas, Texas, Walker started playing guitar at age 12, and worked as a session musician before writing his first country song at 19. Through a burgeoning career that has found the singer/songwriter sharing stages with acts such as the Old 97's, the Vandoliers, Colter Wall, and American Aquarium's B.J. Barham, he released his debut album Wish You Were Here in 2019, a work that was the immediate beneficiary of ecstatic reviews. Americana Highways lauded the recording of 10 songs as “an excellent album, especially so for a debut.” Saving Country Music, meanwhile, raved,“This is music that makes you palpably feel the raw emotions of run-down life and ragged dreams with no perfumes or filters to soften the pain, yet underneath the dirt and stink are these sad poetic notions that speak to the wisdom behind a life hard lived. [Walker] pulls it off by penning tunes beyond his years, matching them up with a mournful sound worthy of the sorrow-soaked sentiments, and at times surprising you with the strong and powerful yodel.”
Walker's exuberant notices were even stronger for his followup album, 2020's Glad You Made It. In his Rolling Stone rave, Joseph Hudak wrote, "It’s Walker’s voice that ties it all together. His is a classically country voice, full of quavers and cracks. He yodels to open the track 'Loving Country,' and stretches out the word 'peace' into one 12-second note in 'Voices.' In the marvelous 'True Love,' he pops and hiccups his instrument like Dwight Yoakam." Wide Open Country's Bobby Moore called the recording "a broader picture of Walker's creative mind and musical talent." And Pop Matters' Chuck Armstrong said of Glad You Made It, “With each release, Walker raises the bar a little higher. From the opening despair of 'Voices' to the closing strength of 'D.B. Cooper,' Walker has written and recorded an album that outshines expectations for what country music can, and should, sound like.”
Joshua Ray Walker's Davenport engagement starts at 7 p.m. on February 4, admission is $12, and more information and tickets are available by visiting TheRaccoonMotel.com.
