Joshua Ray Walker at The Lower Third, London

Ever since I first heard him I knew that Joshua Ray Walker was one of the best singers and songwriters in the world right now. After seeing him live I am more and more convinced he is right up there with the very best active today. Walker is a Texan country singer who has been performing for over 20 years and releasing incredible records for nearly a decade. This is country music in the more classic sense rather than the plastic sense – storytelling, heartache, humour and humanity. His records show country can still be as meaningful, immediate and vital as it has ever been, that it doesn’t need to be drenched in irony or faux-retro stylings or slick production. More recently, Walker has faced a cancer diagnosis and treatment, that then progressed to a diagnosis of terminal cancer, followed by the miracle of that diagnosis being misplaced and him coming out the other side cancer-free. My family has had a similar story to tell in recent years so I feel a particular affinity for his…