By Joshua Wallace

Joshua Ray Walker is back with his second solo album following his stellar 2019 release Wish You Were Here which landed at number four on my 2019 Albums Of The Year List.  Where Wish You Were Here was mostly full of slower songs and sad country tunes, this album picks up the pace and is much more of a rocking country record.  It still features Joshua’s amazing vocals and songwriting but this time there is more variety in the soundscape and that makes for a better record this go round.

The album kicks off with “Voices” which is one of the slower tracks on here.  The high lonesome cries on the chorus of this track are a great showcase for the amazing vocals you can find throughout this album.  Another favorite is “Bronco Billy’s”.  It’s a honky tonk tune that starts off slow and builds to a fast pace with some killer pedal steel work from Adam Kurtz who is on pedal steel throughout this album and is a true standout in the band featured on this record.  “Boat Show Girl” shows off some of Joshua Ray Walker’s songwriting ability on a track about a girl who wishes someone would look at her the way people look at the boat she is trying to sell.  

Another great track is the bluesy rocker titled “User”.  There are some great blues riffs with some killer slide guitar work and even a horn section.  You wouldn’t think a horn section would work on a track about blues rock track about substance abuse, but it does.  “Loving County” is another slow track that features some great yodeling and an almost cosmic soundscape with some trippy guitar throughout.  It’s a fitting sound for a song about going to one of the most lonesome off the grid places you can think of.  Finally, the album ends with the rock number “D.B. Cooper”.  The lyrics are a short two verse song about D.B. Cooper after his escape.  The slower backdrop gives way to some thick riffs that are bound to be a rocking jam live.

This album really slaps.  It features a huge variety in sound that goes from high lonesome ballads to honky tonk bangers to thick riffs and jam worthy rock n roll.  If you felt Wish You Were Here was a bit one note with a lot of ballads, this album won’t do you wrong.  I highly recommend giving this one a spin as Joshua Ray Walker has released another album of the year contender here.  Glad You Made It is out everywhere as of July 10th, 2020.  While Joshua Ray Walker can’t tour anywhere right now, you can get yourself a copy of this record on his bandcamp page

Favorite Tracks : Voices, Bronco Billy’s, Boat Show Girl, User, Loving County, D.B. Cooper

 

Joshua Ray Walker – Glad You Made It (2020)

  1. Voices
  2. True Love
  3. Cupboard
  4. Bronco Billy’s
  5. Boat Show Girl
  6. User
  7. Play You A Song
  8. One Trick Pony
  9. Loving County
  10. D.B. Cooper
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