NYCS Swag Spotlight: John King
In a little mountain town in Northeast Georgia, there isn’t much to do so when our next Swag Spotlight discovered his love for music, it instantly became the most important thing to him. His father was a huge music lover, he recalls spending Saturday afternoons with vinyl records, listening to everything from AC/DC and Led Zeppelin to Hank Williams, Johnny Cash and Don Williams. “There were a lot of cool influences coming into my life from an early age, I grew up loving songwriters and country music and the music and melodies from pop and rock so I do think that fed into what I do now and what my sound is,” he tells us.
He tells us about the exact moment where he started singing, all thanks to his mom who said she was “tired of listening to banging drums and instrumentals, that someone had to sing”. After those garage bands turned into touring bands around Georgia, and after finishing his degree at The University of Georgia, he went straight to Nashville, a place he’s called home for six years.
King has found success in Nashville not only as an artist but also as a songwriter, writing Randy Houser’s number one song “We Went” with Matt Rogers and Justin Wilson. “To me, being a songwriter is just as big of a part of it, I love entertaining, I love performing but I really can’t see myself doing any of that without the songwriting aspect, it’s therapeutic for me” he explains.
His latest release, one he says is his favorite song he’s ever put out, “Try Saying Goodbye” has hit a chord with fans and King is proud of that. The concept is something he relates to on a daily basis, thinking about his wife and their relationship. “we’ve been dating for 15 and married for 5 years now, so almost half of our lives,” he tells us. “When you are with somebody that long, you go through changes, you get into an argument or debate and when you step back, the fight isn’t usually aren’t as big of a deal as you make it out in the heat of the moment and the hardest thing to do is say sorry and move on and nothing to me is worth losing the person I love in my life.” The track has garnered over 3 million streams on Spotify and is connecting with fans in a special way.
Recently, King partnered with Straight Talk Wireless to interact with his followers and fans in a more intimate way, giving them a dedicated line where they can reach out and chat with the singer-songwriter. “I couldn’t think of a better way to be one on one with fans, there are have been so many amazing stories and it makes me emotional. That is the dream as a songwriter and an artist, to see it impacting people that way, it doesn’t get any better than that.” For more information on Straight Talk Wireless, head to StraightTalk.com and to get in contact with King, you can text 706-949-3181 to let him know your story about “Try Saying Goodbye”. “Country music is such a fan-centric genre, our fans are just amazing, if they invest as you as an artist, they are there for a lifetime,” he says.
This summer King is hitting the road, touring the country and is excited to not only be playing at CMAFest but also the Grand Ole Opry on June 28th. To keep up with John King be sure to follow him on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter and for all of his tour dates head to https://www.johnkingcountry.com/
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