One of country music’s new crop of modern traditionalists, Warner Music Nashville artist Randall King grew up on the endless plains of West Texas – and his sound is steeped in their timeless beauty with a mix of grit and grace. After years of hustling and a road-warrior’s diet of 150 shows each year, King produced and released the defiant 2016 EP ‘Another Bullet’ then followed up with a 2018 self-titled album.
Last year he released his major label debut album ‘Shot Glass’. The 11-song collection, seven of which were co-written by King, centers around a night out at a bar, with each track representing a different point of view of those in the room. It’s a terrific piece of ambitious music and in March UK Country fans will finally be able to see King play live in London across three days of the prestigious C2C festival. We were thrilled to talk to Randall all about his career and lots more besides.
Thank you for your time today, Randall, it’s so great to touch base with you. We’re very excited that you are coming over to the UK, there’s a big buzz around you over here right now.
Thank you too, dude. I’m very excited about it man. I’ve never been over to London before so this will be a first for me. That’s cool about the buzz, I wasn’t sure about whether people would know who I am or not. The only countries I’ve ever been to outside America are France and Mexico! It’s pretty crazy to me that there are people over there in the UK listening to my music, that’s the power of streaming there for you.
You were a road warrior for many years before you got the record deal with Warner back in 2019. Releasing some great independent music before ‘Shot Glass’. Am I right in thinking there were multiple labels interested in you and, if so, why did you choose Warner Music Nashville?
There was, man! We had offers from Garth’s label, Pearl Records, and then Warner and Broken Bow were also in the mix. I went with Warner because of their capabilities as a team and all they had access to put us in a better position to have success at things like national radio. They came out to a lot of shows, man, they did a lot to win me over!
It feels like there’s a little Texan take-over going on in Nashville right now. Yourself, Mike Ryan, Cody Johnson and Parker McCollum are all having success in many different ways.
Absolutely, dude. There’s a lot of guys blowing up and getting signed that came up the same route with us. I’m seeing folks like Giovannie and the Hired Guns with their ‘Tejano Punk Boyz’ vibe making waves right now. I love those dudes. I’m pretty sure Pecos and the Rooftops have been signed up as well, they’re cool too.
The pendulum is definitely swinging back towards more traditional Country music again. Cody Johnson, Jon Pardi – it’s great to see. Radio is going Country again and it’s really cool to watch. Streaming has played a big part. Being an independent artist, you don’t get to do this without the streaming platforms – there’s a lot of hate towards streaming out there and I can see it effects songwriters more than anyone else. As an independent artist, though, social media and streaming is, literally, all you have to help you get in the game. The fact that people are listening to me in the UK is testament to that, I ain’t ever been over but people know who I am.
You released your album, ‘Shot Glass’ last year. What a fabulous album that is. For people who are new to you or who might not have realised yet, tell me about the concept behind the album that ties all the songs together.
There is! The song, ‘Shot Glass’, was written by two of the best writers out there, Brett James and Tony Lane. The song was sitting around for about a year and a half, got pitched to lots of people in Nashville and they all turned it down. I wanted it, loved it. There’s a line in the song that goes, ‘how did all of that fit into a shot glass.’ The idea behind the song is that the drink hits you with a ‘shot’ of memories, these moments and then everything ties back into that.
We took that idea and made it into a record! All the ten songs tie back into the title track. They are all the memories that fit back in to that shot glass. You walk into the bar and see all ten scenarios playing out right there in the bar.
What did the record label say when you turned in your first album for them and said, ‘By the way, I’ve made a concept album!’?
I don’t think they were that surprised to be honest. We lean that route anyway. The first three singles we dropped were all tied around the idea of the three stages of a heartbreak. ‘She Gone’ was the initial breakup then ‘Burnin At Both Ends’ was the over reaction and finally there was ‘Hey Cowgirl’, which was the ‘good luck, good bye’ song.
We’ve always come up with pretty interesting concepts to put behind the songs rather than just dropping a song with no meaning or thought behind it, you know?
It was the same idea behind the EP we released as a tribute to my sister. I lost her in April 2020 and we came out with a four song EP called ‘Leanna’ where every single song was tied into her. ‘Shot Glass’ having a concept behind it was a no-brainer after that.
Now that the album has been out a while do you have a favourite song?
My favourite song on there will probably always be ‘Middle of Nowhere Church’. I wrote that with Jeffrey Steele and then Jeffrey and the legendary Paul Franklin co-produced it. Paul is one of the best steel guitar players of all time. We really took our time in the studio and developed the chord structures and sonics very carefully.
One of my favourite George Strait songs is ‘Run’ and what I love about that song is that it was written by Tony Lane and Anthony Smith and they created this kind of sonic space in the song that is so powerful. We wanted to utilise that kind of feeling on ‘Middle of Nowhere Church’. Paul Franklin played steel guitar on ‘Run’ so I was, like, ‘Paul! Just play on this track like you did on ‘Run’, right!? (laughing) I just let the big dogs be the big dogs and they worked their magic.
It’s a very visual song too, just like ‘Another Bullet’ was.
“Another Bullet’ tells the story of the Dutton family’s struggles in Yellowstone years before Taylor Sheridan began the show. How has it never been on the soundtrack, it sounds perfect to me?
I’m not sure if Taylor has ever heard the song or not? I’m not sure the sonics of the song, as it is, match up with the kind of sound they are looking for. I’m going to go back in the studio at some point and re-record that song. Will it ever make it’s way on ‘Yellowstone’? Who knows? I’d love it to, it’s one of my favourite shows. What Taylor Sheridan is doing with that show and the spin offs is amazing, it’s like watching something like ‘Lonesome Dove’ but for a new generation.
He’s probably one of the single most prolific minds I’ve seen in a long time in terms of what he is creating. That guy is brilliant. I would love to be a part of it, for sure. I still love the ‘Another Bullet’ EP, it’s what got my career going. We recorded ten songs but trashed five of them to trim the fat, we didn’t need filler space, we needed a really great EP. We were still playing three hour gigs in New Mexico at that point, we all sacrificed something back then to get the foothold into the industry and then we just ran with it.
I can hear the influence of Garth Brooks on you on songs like ‘Tugging on My Heartstrings’. What was it like working with him on ‘The Road I’m On’ back in 2019?
My publisher had been sending him songs for a while at that point. They pitched ‘Takin Me a Heartbreak’ and ‘Burnin At Both Ends’ to Garth and he loved them but fortunately he didn’t cut them and we got to cut them! (laughing) He emailed my publishers and he was, like, ‘I love this kid’. They asked him if he would be free to write with me and Garth, being who he is, replied, ‘Of course, if he would be willing to take the time to come out and write with me.’ I mean, what a dude, really? I was, like, ‘Clear my schedule!’ (laughing)
We went over to his studio and he was the most the most gracious and humble human being I’ve ever met. When he’s with you he makes sure he is with you, you know? He ain’t looking over your shoulder at what else is going on in the room. Anybody who came into the room, he apologised to me, introduced me, spoke to them and then apologised to me again. That blew me away. He went out of his way to be so kind and that says a lot about who he is.
We sat in the room and he explained this idea he had called ‘The Road I’m On’. It was essentially a love letter to his fans who have been with him from the honky tonks to the big stages. I sat and thought ‘what would 1990’s Garth do with this idea?’, you know? I started chugging along on guitar and started in on the melody and then we wrote the first verse and the chorus. He texted me the next day and was, like, ‘Hey, man, we cut that song!’ (laughing) That was quick, that was cool, hell yeah!
Talking about concepts and ideas behind your music, the video to ‘You in a Honky Tonk’ has a story behind it too.
I wanted to make a video to the song from the get-go. I wanted a sort of ‘Urban Cowboy’ vibe to any visuals that went with it. Warner texted me last December to say that they wanted to do a video for it and I was, like, ‘Lets Go!’ I knew we could do it low budget and yet still produce something really great. My cousin is part of the Texas A & M dance team down in College Station and she pulled a bunch of strings and rounded up some people for the shoot. A sweet woman who owns an Air B&B in Nashville who’s helped us out a lot also pitched in with some accommodation and then, of course, who had to use Cahoots in Lebanon, Tennessee, that was the first honky tonk I ever sold out outside of Texas.
The team from Warner really knocked it out of the parked with the lighting and the video crew and then my girlfriend, Brittany, suggested we also pull in the two TikTokers who blew the song up on there in the first place. I flew them in, put them in a bad ass hotel right there on Broadway, and they taught the dance to the College Station team! Byron and MacKenzie were the TikTokers names, they were so cool.
You can see Randall King play his brand of fabulous Texan influenced Country music in London at the C2C festival across the weekend of March 10th to the 12th. You can get your tickets here.
