Acclaimed American songwriter, novelist and educator Thom Bishop is set to release his new album Train Leaving Dallas on July 31st, 2026. The twelve-track record brings together six original songs and six reimagined classics, creating a project that reflects Bishop’s long songwriting history while pointing toward a fresh creative future shaped in part by his growing connection with Ireland.
The album was produced with longtime collaborator Billy Panda, with Executive Producer Grace McKay also helping guide the finished record. Bishop and Panda built the album around a clear artistic idea: the original songs should feel timeless, while the cover versions should sound renewed. “We wanted the originals to sound like classics and the covers to feel fresh and new,” Bishop explains. “At the end of the day, we just wanted to share some rock ‘n’ roll.”
The lead single, “Here Comes The Night,” offers a new interpretation of the Van Morrison classic and was inspired by an evening Bishop spent in Galway. Sitting with a guitar as night fell across the city, he began thinking about the ideal song to play in Ireland. His thoughts returned to hearing Van Morrison on American radio for the first time, leading to a recording that captures the album’s blend of memory, place and reinvention.
For Bishop, Train Leaving Dallas is more than another album. It reflects decades of work as a songwriter who has shared stages with John Prine, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Pete Seeger and David Allan Coe, while also building a respected literary career under the name Junior Burke. With its mix of original writing and carefully chosen covers, the album presents Bishop as an artist still searching, still evolving and still deeply committed to the power of song.