IN HIS ‘NEON’ ERA
Country singer Randall King pays homage to upbringing with new album
Randall King’s got an arsenal of shorts and a straw hat ready for his Hawaii vacation. It’s been a long time coming for the country singer.
After spending the majority of 2023 on tour and making an album, King’s ready for a break.
“It’s a short trip,” he says. “But I’m going to soak in every moment of it.”
The country singer released his sophomore album, “Into the Neon” in January and is hitting the road in support of it.
King is slated to make a stop on Thursday, April 11, at the Dirty Bourbon Dance Hall & Saloon. Clay Hollis will be opening.
King first built an independent, grassroots following on the strength of his electrifying live shows – each one a harrowing mix of rowdy roughnecking, romantic tenderness and breathtaking emotion – never asking for permission to explore his creative vision.
He has since gone on to headline all across the United States, the United Kingdom and Europe, where he continues to play nearly 150 shows a year
“We are officially in the ‘Neon’ era, baby,” King says of the album. “The ‘tonk’ factor is on and set to 11.”
King says he drew inspiration for the album from the hues of neon that backlit his budding career – inclusive of the glowing skies in the plains of West Texas where he was raised and the radiant signs of the nearly 150 honky-tonks he performs in each year.
“Sonically, this album represents a sound I’ve been honing in on for some time,” he says of his seven-year journey. “Lyrically, the album’s a little bit of everything, just like life: heartbreak songs, two-steppers and love songs, all are mostly true stories of life along the way.”
The album is co-produced by King alongside Jared Conrad, and this second full album for Warner Music Nashville incorporates a unique blend of the influences from icons and modern masters alike who have inspired King’s sound; inclusive of the timeless country twang of George Strait and Keith Whitley, and the blood pumping, Y2K-era rhythms of Dierks Bentley and Gary Allan.
King recently performed a West Texas Fire Relief Concert on March 24 alongside fellow panhandle natives Kevin Fowler and Aaron Watson, with all proceeds benefiting the Panhandle Disaster Relief Fund, an initiative created by the Amarillo Area Foundation providing assistance to those affected by disasters in the Texas Panhandle region, offering immediate relief and long-term recovery efforts to individuals and families impacted by natural disasters, such as wildfires, floods and severe storms.
“I love those guys,” he says of Fowler and Watson. “We wanted to give back to our homeland, where we’re from. When you look at the damage of the fires that went on, it’s one of the biggest fires to ever hit Texas. We wanted to do our part and give back to the community. It sold out in 20 days and Amarillo really showed up.”
Though King has two major-label albums, he’s released a handful of albums independently along his journey.
He’s finding the right groove with the set and has begun incorporating songs from “Into the Neon.”
“Out of 18 new songs, I have to know what to keep in the set,” he says. “It’s been a little challenge for us. We figure it out by trial and error. We always look at the songs that are connecting with the audience. Then we have to keep the ones that are steady hits. It’s a fine balance and I think we’ve got it down.”