Written during his treatment for stage 3b colon cancer, the album's beach-country songs were born from fantasies of ocean breezes and sandy beaches, dreamt up while the longtime road warrior was confined to his home while undergoing chemotherapy. Tropicana trades honky-tonks for hammocks, offering a rallying cry of resilience wrapped in tropical twang. "I was at home for a year, without the ability to play shows or even take a vacation," Walker explains. "Since I couldn't leave town and go see a palm tree in real life, I started writing about them."

Two classic rock legends in a row for New Tunes at 2 this week… This is Van Morrison’s first collection of all original music since 2022, with songs that transcend across soul, jazz, blues, folk, and country (including a tribute to another legend known for that, Ray Charles.)

Monday, August 4, 2025 | Piedmont Interstate Fairgrounds | Spartanburg, SC

Saturday, August 2, 2025 | The Oaks at Daniel Ridge | Candler, NC

Tuesday, July 29, 2025 | The Orange Peel | Asheville, NC

Saturday, July 26, 2025 | PNC Music Pavilion | Charlotte, NC

Tuesday, July 22, 2025 | Asheville Yards | Asheville, NC

As his/their website bio describes, “Drunken Prayer transcends the bounds of Americana music: Morgan Geer writes songs that could emerge from a highly blissed-out biker bar or a swampy ashram.” Or in the case of his new album, an old church nestled deep in the rural South. Thy Burdens has been released this week, and it takes the listener on a tour of some old hymns of his great-grandmother’s church in Mobile, Alabama, but delivered in the gritty rock style that Drunken Prayer has become known for. Producer and Drive-By Truckers’ bassist Bobby Matt Patton, who cut his teeth playing in fiery Pentecostal church bands around north Alabama, put this together with Geer. “If it’s been left up to guys like us to spread the good news,” they say, “something has gone wrong.” Morgan spends much of his time in Asheville, though he’s off to his “other” home of Portland, Oregon, and the Northwest for some shows soon, before coming back to the Southeast in August. Tune in for our live session Monday afternoon with host Joe Kendrick.

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