Randall King

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Randall King

“You grow wiser with age, you grow wiser while you’re working and experiencing life, and I feel like I have a deeper understanding of what my music really is. We're moving into the neon era of country music. The pendulum is swinging, and you’re watching it happen…Now I just hope people get their mind blown.” -- Randall King

In the few short years since he arrived in Nashville, Randall King has made no bones about his honky-tonk allegiance. In fact, he’s worn it like a badge of honor, growing with pride into a leading voice for today’s traditional country. But if anyone thought he was stuck in the past, his new album proves otherwise.

A West Texas native and self-described “old soul,” the Warner Music Nashville star has never wavered in his country-to-the-core style. Amassing over 270 Million streams on a series of singles like “You In A Honky Tonk,” “Hey Cowgirl” and “Mirror, Mirror,” he’s kept the twang alive in country’s mainstream while also earning acclaim through deeply personal EPs like Leanna, and flexing his creative muscle with the 2022 concept album, Shot Glass – all while playing nearly 150 shows a year, honing his craft where it matters most.

But with his sophomore major-label album, Into the Neon, his musical mix of timeless-and-trendsetting reaches fresh heights. With this one, he’s taking honky tonk somewhere new – a place where “steel guitar and smoke” meet a modern buzz.

“There’s a side of me that has not been captured yet,” King says, flashing a playful      grin and his matter-of-fact confidence. “One that’s still honky tonk and country, but it’s got an edge to it. That’s where we got to on this one.”

For a guy known for sticking close to stylistic ground, that’s an intriguing statement, but one that’s not actually so tough to believe. Raised in Hereford, West Texas, not far from the New Mexico line, King grew up on a steady diet of country greats, from Keith Whitley and George Strait to Alan Jackson and John Anderson. Singing in the back of a ‘93 Chevy as it criss-crossed county roads and tractor paths alike, it was there that his love of the classics took shape – and where he would begin to develop his signature baritone, a rumbling vocal capable of both booming like thunder across the plains, or whispering with the midnight wind.

Over time, he used that timeless vocal to build a rep all across Texas and beyond, embracing a road-warrior lifestyle and never waiting on permission to explore his creative vision. Working independently, King produced and released the defiant 2016 EP, Another Bullet, boldly going against the mainstream grain to proclaim honky tonk would not go down … at least, not without a fight. With fans flocking to his electrifying live shows – each one a harrowing mix of rowdy roughnecking, romantic tenderness and breathtaking emotion – he then followed up with a 2018 self-titled album, and hit Music Row with an all-or-nothing honky-tonk mandate.

Shot Glass – his full length major label debut – landed on both Whiskey Riff’s Top 40 Country Albums of 2022 and Billboard’s All Genre 50 Best Albums of 2022 (So Far), and along with his never-ending tours of the U.S., King even took the pure-country gospel overseas, headlining and selling out venues in Europe and the U.K. in 2023 while being named a Country Artist to Watch by everyone from Pandora and Country Now to Music Mayhem Magazine.

But despite his hand-crafted status as an old-school troubadour (with a new-school fire), it was actually a pair of modern masters who inspired King’s early path, becoming the soundtrack to his coming of age.

At 16, he “wore out Dierks Bentley’s first three records,” captivated by the unbridled energy and rootsy flair. King likewise calls Gary Allan’s Smoke Rings In the Dark pivotal to the dusky emotion of his own sound, and with Into the Neon, 18 fresh songs build on those era-spanning touchstones like never before.

Co-produced by King alongside Jared Conrad, King’s neo-traditional ethos meets the blood-pumping rhythms and sharp, arena-sized grooves of Y2K-era country – plus a vocal that burns like a shot of straight tequila. Doubled electric guitars and heavy steel drive irresistible melodies forward, while an all-organic cast of add-ons like banjo, bouzouki and cello add depth to tender two-steppers and steel-toed boot stompers alike. All told, King grabs hold of something he’s been chasing all along.

“It’s that smoky, edgy side of me that hasn’t gotten to be shown off yet,” he says. “That’s what I’ve been looking for, and it’s honestly the best singing I’ve done. I’m incredibly proud of the whole thing.”

Co-written by King with Ben Stennis and Matt Rogers, the title track “Into the Neon” buzzes like a sonic welcome sign. Vibey and slow burning, the song exudes desolate atmosphere, with a deep, musky vocal and lonesome, low-down twang welcoming a drifter “Into the Neon” of a modern-timeless ballad. With one foot in the a hazy ether of the past, and another firmly in the here and now, King says it hits close to home.

“In the line of work I do, that’s us 100 percent,” King says. “Don’t stick around too long. Don’t stay on the same trail. Always thinking about riding off to the next town or next bar. Into the neon.”

All throughout, punchy sounds exist side-by-side with timeless swagger. Tracks like “Burns Like Her,” for example, would feel at home on country radio – either today or in the early 2000s. With a smoldering foundation of classic passion, and King’s voice set to an aching rumble, it also features a fuzzed out steel guitar, blurring the line between yesteryear and today.

“Why would you not?” King says. “It’s still me, it’s still country as shit. It’s just a little more rocking.”

Tunes like “When My Baby’s In Boots” (Trannie Anderson, Michael Carter and Jordan Walker) feel like a long-lost jukebox anthem, pairing warm twang and a danceable rhythm with King’s vocal at its flirtatious peak. “Hard to Humble” (Ben Hayslip, Corey Crowder and Chris LaCorte) matches a rolling banjo and rolling beat to a heart filled with smitten pride, as King plays a lucky guy who’s out of his romantic league “by a country mile.”

Others like “Hang Of Hanging On” (Lee Brice, Brett Sheroky) offer up a Texas-style dancehall slow jam – complete with tender romantic strains and a swell of “seal-the-deal” sweetness – while “Coulda Been Love” (Jake Worthington, Roger Springer, Kim Penz) picks up the pace for a neo-honky-tonk anthem of missed opportunities – and with the fan favorite “I Don’t Whiskey Anymore,” King and co-writer Gordie Sampson serve up a reflective, caramel-voiced ballad of personal growth, as relevant now as ever.

Meanwhile, standouts like “What Doesn’t Kill You” double down on twang-rocking tailgate energy, and with the heartwarming “Right Things Right,” King turns some simple advice into a swaying, windows-down mantra for a life well-lived. “One Night Dance” starts the project off with a lost-in-love collision of two hearts (and decades of country style), and while “But It Ain’t” wraps a broken heart that refuses to heal in dark, dusky twang, “Tonk Til I Die” finds King renewing his forever-country vows – a barroom blaster which has never heard of “last call.”

But it’s “I Could Be That Rain” that best displays King’s new “edge” – and kicks off his neon chapter.

An emotional flood pairing devotion and desperation with an easy groove, whisper-soft twang and drums meant to mimic the sound of rain on a tin roof, the track captures King’s creative spirit in its full blaze of glory. Penned by Brian Fuller and Mason Thornley, it’s a story of timeless heartache with all the elements of a country classic, plus the adventurous spirit of a modern hit – but it’s not about living in the past. It’s about keeping the good stuff alive in the present tense.

To King’s mind, that’s where he was always headed. Bringing country music Into the Neon.