Who is Randall King? The Story Behind His Journey to Country Music
Who is Randall King? The singer-songwriter joined us to chat about his journey to country music. Get to know the rising star here…
Randall King // Photo credit: Yve Assad
Quick Facts:
Full Name – Randall King
Birthdate – 1/1/1991
Hometown – Hereford, Texas
Current City – Nashville, Tennessee
Musical Influences – Keith Whitley, George Strait, Alan Jackson, Merle Haggard, Gary Allen
Label – Warner Music Nashville
Current Single – “I Could Be That Rain”
The Beginning:
Today’s spotlight shines on Warner Music Nashville’s budding star, Randall King. King is leading the pack with bringing feel-good, honest, and authentic traditional country-music to modern-day country music lovers everywhere.
As a Texas native, country music is in his blood. “I grew up in West Texas, technically the panhandle, the flatlands of Texas up there,” began King. “At seven years old, my daddy bought me a guitar […] I always wanted to stand on stage and sing, and I always wanted to tour, play, write music, sing it.” He recalls singing in competitions growing up and listening to country music with his dad often.
“I grew up a son of a truck driver who worked his fingers to the bone his whole life. He was gone all of the time and the only time I got to see him was when I went on the road with him. I’d go on the road with him and ride in the passenger seat and we’d listen to Hank Sr., Hank Jr, Merle Haggard, Keith Whitley, and George Strait. I found a new found love for country music,” shared King.
Interestingly enough, his father was also one of the people who inspired him to chase after his dreams.“I told my daddy that I wanted to play music and he goes, ‘okay, we’re going to speak it into existence. We’re going to manifest it, and write a bucket list, and write out your goals of all the places you want to play in your life.’” King adds, “We wrote out places like Billy Bob’s and Gilly’s, Red Rocks, The Grand Ole Opry […] and in my career, I’ve been able to check many of those off, and there’s one that’s written down that still ain’t checked off, and that’s Madison Square Garden in New York City.”
The Turning Point:
Despite his deep love for country music, King headed off to Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas upon graduating high school. “I went there for a year and a half as a business major and minored in music. My first semester, I tore it up, almost made the Dean’s list, and then my second semester, I started writing songs and really writing and focusing on it. I ended up staying in my dorm room, writing, and missing class, and I failed out of tech, because I lost interest in it.”
Instead, the singer-songwriter switched colleges. He was able to obtain an associate’s degree in sound technology, which helped him learn to produce records. “From there, I went out and started hitting the road, getting opening slots at local clubs and honky-tonks there in Lubbock and West Texas, and it kind of spread there across Texas and Oklahoma, and New Mexico,” he shared. Adding, “I learned my sound, and I learned my craft as a songwriter and an artist. I grew up on traditional country music, and that’s always what I wanted to do.”
King’s fanbase continued to grow as he became a bigger name in the Texas country-music scene. “Texas is such a great platform for artists coming up, and I was able to find myself, I was able to kick start my career just going through and playing the honky tonk bars down there,” he shared. In 2015, he started to come to Nashville to write music, after his manager discovered him a year prior.
“I built my fanbase independently, up until I signed with Warner Music Nashville in September of 2019, and we started releasing new singles.” King went on to play socially-distance sold-out shows in 2020, and even released his EP in honor of his late sister, Leanna, and his debut album, Shotglass. “A song called, “You In A Honky Tonk” was on that record, and in 2022, that song blew wide open in the social world and the streaming world, and set us on fire.”
Today:
Flash forward to today, King is on the rise, growing his star-power each and every day. A little bit over a month ago in January 2024, the singer-songwriter released his sophomore record, Into The Neon, featuring 18 new song that speak to the singer’s undeniable talent and charm.
“A project is in the works long before it is ever recorded. A lot of these songs were written back in 2021. […] We had just cut and finished up Shotglass, and I wrote “Into The Neon,” and I already knew it was the title of the next record, and I want to write it as a smokey, spaghetti-western, John Wayne meets urban cowboy type vibe, and this what we got out of the song,” shared King when asked about how the record came to be.
For King, the record amplifies his sound and shows off a fresh side of his musical ability and songwriting. “This record got that smoke, beer-clinging, neon-lit, dim-lit bar type, honky tonky vibes that bleeds through this whole record.”
Upon its release, Into The Neon earned the top spot on iTunes, as well as, continues to be a hit on social media and with King’s fans. “This record is booming. I think this record is going to be our step into award shows, and into the radio world, it’s going to be that for us.”
New and day-one fans of King alike can catch the singer on the road this year. Checkout his tour dates here.
Connect:
Fans can join our Weekly Round-Up e-newsletter here, for the latest in country music and more news and announcements about future Randall King releases.
To keep up with Randall King, follow him on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and Facebook.
Randall King’s music is available everywhere you buy or stream music. Take a listen below and check out more new recently released tunes on our ‘New Country Music’ playlist. Be sure to give the playlist a follow for your weekly new country music fix.