DALLAS — Joshua Ray Walker is back on stage, performing. It's where it all started for the country singer and East Dallas native.
But there's a different tenor to this current slate of shows.
For the last three months, Walker has thrown a number of pop-up shows at the Kessler Theater in Oak Cliff. They're announced just days in advance, and each one has sold out within hours of going on sale.
He's been throwing these shows because they're his only outlet for performing these days, after a cancer diagnosis derailed a blossoming career.
It's a far cry indeed from where his career stood a mere six months ago, when he was touring, opening shows on the road for the rock icons The Killers and even performing on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!'
But even as his career is suddenly confined to his hometown, as well as the few moments within his chemotherapy cycles in which he feels good enough to do what he loves the most, Walker is choosing to focus on the positives.
"Dallas has always had my back," he said backstage before one of his recent Kessler Theater gigs. "I wouldn't have a career if I wasn't supported so fully by my hometown."
Walker found his calling in music 12 years ago, when he decided to make a go of his passion and perform regularly.
He's never really stopped since.
Coffee shop shows turned into Deep Ellum club performances. Then came profiles in 'Rolling Stone' magazine. With each passing moment, it seemed, his music found new, appreciative audiences.
His music is not traditional country. His songs are character-driven stories that he writes and he hopes makes fans feel things. "Canyon" was his first hit, opening doors and scoring gigs for him. It's a song he dedicated to his father, who died more than seven years ago after his own bout with cancer.
"I think he writes a collage of character studies," says John Pedigo, his producer and a long-time musician in the North Texas area. "He'd argue he wants to make you cry."
Walker knew something was amiss with his health all throughout 2023. He just felt off. It started with appendicitis. It continued with pushing through a lack of energy most days.
He had to cancel more than 15 percent of his shows last year -- a lot for a guy who plays around 250 a year -- and says he felt awful about it.
The silver lining? His appendicitis led to testing. And that testing uncovered the cancer in and around his colon.
The doctors said they caught it early enough to treat it. But it still hit Walker -- and his career -- like a gut punch.
He got the diagnosis call from his doctor at the worst time, and at the near apex of his career.
"I was on the way to the airport to fly to Los Angeles to do Kimmel when I got the call," Walker said.
Watch our full interview with Joshua Ray Walker here:
It was December of 2023. Just before boarding his plane to perform on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!", he told his family and his partner about the cancer. The next person to know was his bass player -- and that was it before the TV appearance.
He didn't want the news to affect the band during the latest in an increasingly long line of breaks he'd earned.
"I would argue he was on the precipice of stardom, for sure," said Pedigo.
Immediately upon returning from that Kimmel performance, Walker revealed to the world what he was facing. He shared his diagnosis to social media, and he released a new song called "Thank You For Listening" that expressed his appreciation for all the support he's received throughout his career.
He's continued sharing updates since, allowing his fans and friends an intimate look into all he's been facing.
It's not quite the rock star life he'd envisioned for his 2024.
"It certainly derailed all that," Pedigo said of Walker's diagnosis and its effect on his career.
On January 3, Walker had surgery to remove parts of his colon, appendix and intestines. He started chemo six weeks after that -- and he'll continue to receive treatments regularly for much of 2024.
"I canceled seven to eight months of shows -- lots of festivals," Walker said.
Sitting in the Sammons Cancer Center at Dallas' Baylor Scott & White Hospital during a recent chemo treatment, Walker again offers insight into his current struggle.
"For a couple days after the infusion, I'm pretty wiped out," he said.
As a result, he cannot tour while doing chemo. But he can do the occasional pop-up show. He said it usually takes him about a week to a week and a half to return to feeling somewhat like himself.
Realizing that is how the Kessler Theater series came to be.
The first show he announced there, back in April, sold out seven hours after it was announced. The next one, in March, sold out in just two hours.
It's therapy for Walker.
"It's just me and a guitar -- just like I started," he said.
He has no specific setlist for each show, but doesn't quite "wing it" either. He knows what songs his fans have come to hear him sing.
A documentary crew is following his slow return to music. Pedigo believes that, if everything goes to plan, Walker should be back to touring by the fall.
For his part, Walker said his diagnosis has helped him focus on his overall physical health. Lately, he said, he's felt a lot stronger, and has a lot more energy -- much more than compared to any time last year.
"In our hearts, we know he's going to be alright," Pedigo said.
Walker said his doctors tell him his prognosis looks good, and he expects he'll make a full recovery.
He just hopes his fans have the patience to wait out the chemo treatments and doctors appointments so he can start touring again. The ones at the Kessler shows don't seem to mind.
Really, he's trying to stay patient himself.
"People are going to forget I was gone for six months," he said. "I have a lot more music I want to make, and more art to create."
