The interactions between Mighty Joshua and myself go way back. The first time I interviewed him was for the World Music Show in 2017, about four years after his self-titled debut record came out.

A few years later, he and his band came to the studios of WCVE (now VPM) on Sesame Street to play a few songs for my show and talk about his annual Bob Marley tribute. During both interviews, I asked him when fans would be able to hear new music. Both times, his answer was — “it’s coming.”

Well, more than a decade later, fans of Mighty Joshua’s will have their chance to listen to 14 new tracks via a new CD or the streaming service of their choice because his new album titled “Dreaducation” drops Friday, May 10. So why did it take so long for new music?

“It was a lot of reasons,” says Joshua, a.k.a. Joshua Achalam, who is from Charlottesville but moved to Richmond in 1995. “I’ve never done anything like this before. This project was a little bit different because I was more involved. And I brought my band in to to make it happen. We’ve only done this twice, you know, we’re somewhat still babies in this.”

The singer-songwriter took the long time gap between albums by playing at numerous festivals and writing and rewriting songs for the new record.

“Then we had just normal stuff happening, like there was a flood in the studio that we were recording in and it just kind of changed the pace,” he says. “And adding songs thinking that we were done. We weren’t done.”

“Dreaducation” is filled with 14 lip-biting grooves with big horns and even some funk on songs like “Love is the Answer.” The title track offers an education on the history and meaning of dreadlocks.

“I remember just going through a phase where I saw a lot of people wearing dreadlocks, growing dreadlocks and really not having a consciousness about what they were doing,” says Joshua. “I wondered if it was a hairstyle or if it actually meant something.”

Joshua says when he first started growing his locs he felt people were stereotyping him.

“People look at you a certain way. They make up their mind about who you are and what you represent. And we have a deep, deep history,” he says.

He says “Dreaducation” is about how we as a society need to educate ourselves about the history of dreads.

“It’s nothing to be taken lightly. It comes with responsibility,” he explains. “The song itself kind of moves through different ways that dreadlocks have been represented in the world. It’s a revolutionary act, and you have to be very conscious of how you move.”

But one of the remarkable things about the album — and there are many — is that it finds Joshua in a much more mature place and not just because of age. Both his voice and command of the material is much deeper and he sounds more relaxed while at the same time no less forceful in his messages.

“Your process can change, and you know, we change. I’m not the same person as I was 10 years ago,” says Joshua. “I listen to old recordings, my voice is completely different. So growing and changing how you work, figuring out how you work, the process just changes.”

Part of his process with this new record is the assembly of talent he’s cultivated to help deliver his message. From local horn players Samson Trinh, John Charlotte and Pete Anderson to some heavyweights like Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe guitarist DJ Williams and legendary local jazz saxophonist James “Plunky” Branch.

“We brought [“Plunky”] on stage at Dogwood Dell a couple of times,” says Joshua. “I asked him if he would come and record with us. And he was just as excited as we were.”

But there’s another standout legend helping out on “Dreaducation,” original Wailers guitarist Junior Marvin. Joshua was able to meet Marvin through a good friend who happened to have worked with the guitarist for years; one thing led to another.

“I literally sat through Zoom and watched Junior record his part on the album,” recalls Joshua. “The whole time I’m taking screenshots, I’m in disbelief. He’s smiling. He loves what we’re doing. It was just really cool to see him take some time out, to sit and put down some heavy guitar on the album.”

To celebrate the new album, Mighty Joshua is holding a release party Saturday night at the Hofheimer Building in Richmond.  “We’ve got the whole building for the night,” he says. Eastern Standard Time, the Fuss, and Crank Kukuungo will also be there. “We’ll celebrate there until they kick us out. It’s a big party, man.”

If you want to hear more about “Dreaducation” by Mighty Joshua, tune into the World Music Show on VPM Music (93.1 or 107.3FM or streaming at vpm.org) Saturday, May 11 or catch the entire interview this weekend on vpm.org/worldmusic.

Mighty’s Joshua’s “Dreaducation” release party takes place Saturday, May 11 at the Hofheimer Building with doors at 7 p.m. 2818 West Broad St. Tickets are available here.

Special guests include Eastern Standard Time, The Fuss, and Crank Kukuungo to celebrate a new album release. Tickets are limited. Pre-purchasing tickets is recommended. Unless the event is sold out, tickets will be available at the door. $20 general admission.