After a year of grueling medical treatments that derailed his rising music career, Richmond blues guitarist Justin Golden stepped onto the stage at the Camel on Saturday afternoon to launch his monthly residency — not as a comeback, but as a defiant next chapter in an ongoing battle with Stage 4 cancer.

The performance, which also celebrated Golden’s 35th birthday, filled the venue with dancing, laughter and cheers from a crowd of around 60 as Golden; his band, Devil’s Coattails; and New York musician Hubby Jenkins — a former member of the Carolina Chocolate Drops — mixed bluegrass, roots music and African American spirituals for hours. 

The diagnosis couldn’t have come at a worse time. Golden’s 2022 album “Hard Times and a Woman” had resonated internationally, February was packed with performances, and his fourth album was in development. Then came the Stage 4 cancer diagnosis, wiping out his February schedule and delaying “Golden Country: Volume 3. 

The residency comes after a difficult year in which Golden has had to switch medications after the initial drug showed fewer benefits, rely on his mortgage work to replace lost music income, and manage disputes around his insurance while coordinating his medical schedule with his bandmates. 

Despite these complications, Golden remains in good spirits, thanks in part to support from friends, family and the broader Richmond music community. “I’m hanging in there, doing all right,” Golden said. “Made it through this year of treatment and just staying the course next year.” 

The residency provides Golden not just the opportunity to continue his work, but to perform with musicians from inside and outside Virginia without the physical demands of touring. “Because I can’t travel and be on the road, this gives me a place, once a month or so, that I can put a show together here, so people can travel to me,” he said. 

Golden also hopes the residency will encourage more artists to perform in a city he said is often skipped over and introduce the community to other forms of roots music. “I get to hang out with my buddies that I normally would see when I’m playing shows in other states and cities,” he said, “and reframe the music culture here.” 

This marks the second time this year that Golden has been the focus of a music event at The Camel. The venue was one of several in Richmond hosting benefit concerts earlier this year as part of Golden Fest to raise funds for his treatments. Community support remains strong, whether through online donations — his GoFundMe has raised nearly $107,000 of a $150,000 goal — or the range of artists, from high-profile performers to longtime friends from college, participating in his shows. 

Golden is most excited about the memories, collaboration and communal experience his residency can create. “I’m excited to see what happens,” he said. “Hopefully, the community can get behind it and we can keep it going.” 

The residency continues Jan. 17, Feb. 21 and March 21. Tickets are $14 to $18. More information is available on Golden’s social media. 

Hubby Jenkins, formerly of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, performs at The Camel during Justin Golden’s birthday concert on Saturday. Golden opened the show with a solo performance before being joined by Devil’s Coattails for a closing set. (photo by Julianne Tripp Hillian/Richmond Free Press)