Thom Bishop has written more than a thousand songs, but Train Leaving Dallas arrives with the focus and purpose of an artist still discovering new ground. Due out July 31st, 2026, the album is a twelve-track release that combines six original compositions with six newly arranged classics, led by the single “Here Comes The Night.”
Bishop’s career has moved across music, literature and education. He has performed alongside figures such as John Prine, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Pete Seeger and David Allan Coe, while also gaining recognition as a novelist under the pen name Junior Burke. He taught at Naropa University’s Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics, eventually serving as Chair of the department, and his books include The Cold Last Swim and Buddha Was a Cowboy.
The roots of his songwriting go back to his college years, when a reluctant trip to a rural Illinois dancehall led to the creation of “Mr. Arthur’s Place.” Bishop has described that moment as the point when he understood songwriting was not merely something he wanted to do, but something he needed to do. That lifelong commitment is present throughout Train Leaving Dallas, an album shaped by decades of craft and experience.
Working with Billy Panda, Bishop developed a record that places his own songs beside classics without treating either category as secondary. The title track has already been recorded by Crystal Sands and Megon McDonough, giving Bishop’s own version added significance. Meanwhile, “Here Comes The Night” connects the album to Ireland, where Bishop has found fresh inspiration during time spent in Galway with his family.
Bishop’s life has also been marked by resilience, including the destruction of his home in a 2013 flood and a later near-fatal accident that led him to reassess his priorities. Now influenced by meditation and Kriya Yoga, and preparing the publication of Branches & Blades, a collection of lyrics and reflections, he presents Train Leaving Dallas as a statement of authenticity, survival and renewed creativity.