At their core, Texas quartet Kin Faux prove that a well-written song and a badass live show can take you to unprecedented heights in the Texas country music world. So far, those heights have included number one singles at Texas radio, opening slots for legends the likes of Willie Nelson, Kevin Fowler and Aaron Watson, and most recently, winning Single of the Year at the Texas Country Music Association Awards with their single “Wild Horses” featuring Terry McBride.
The band are set to keep the good times rolling with the release of a new David Lee single co-penned by David Lee and Dave Turnbull, “Sunny and 72,” set for release on January 20th, ahead of a full-length record, Cheaper Than the Truth, releasing February 26th. With a tour schedule quickly filling up, 2023 looks to be another busy, productive year.
We caught up with the band to talk about their forthcoming releases, as well as their radio success in 2022, Awards recognition, hitting the road and more!
Pro Country: The last time we talked, you had just released “Wild Horses” as a single to radio. Since then, the song reached number one on the Texas Country Music Chart and has earned well over 200,000 streams on Spotify alone. What do you think it was about “Wild Horses” that has made it such a special song and allowed it to achieve those heights?
Kin Faux: I think a lot of the success of that song stems from the song itself. When you put two amazing writers together like Jim Beavers and Terry McBride, you really can’t help but get a strong song out of it. On a more personal note, for us, this particular song is special because it was how we got introduced to Terry, and he has been a fantastic friend and mentor to us ever since.
PC: You also mentioned in our last chat that you feel fortunate to have hit songwriter Jim Beavers in your corner. What have you been able to take away from working with Jim and what does his belief mean to you as a band?
KF: Working with Jim has been a truly incredible journey on multiple levels. It’s hard to overstate his impact on the band. Between his writing, production and just plain experience in the industry, he has done more to move us forward than we could have done on our own in the time we’ve been working with him, and for that, we are very thankful. As far as his belief in us, it’s hard to put into words. We know that, being who he is, we are not a significant source of income for him, so the fact that he enjoys working with us is extremely gratifying, and is a good reminder to us that we must be doing something right.
PC: Your last single, “Grain of Salt,” landed at number 11 on the Texas Country Music Chart’s top 200 songs of 2022, and “Wild Horses” with Terry McBride landed at number 9. How encouraging was it to finish the year with that news and to have your songs amongst some of the biggest artists and songs in Texas?
KF: Honestly, when we first came here, we were just hoping to make a little ripple in the Texas music scene and carve out a little spot for us to do what we love to do. We never dreamed we would be lumped in with such heavy hitters like we have, and it still takes us by surprise sometimes. Texas has some of the best music fans in the world, and we are grateful to all of them for the love and support.
PC: Why did you feel that your newest single, “Sunny and 72,” was the right follow up to “Grain of Salt”?
KF: Again, it comes down to the strength of the song. Our style has been evolving over the years, like any band does, and this one feels like it meshes very well stylistically with the material we’ve been putting together. We feel that “Sunny” is a very well-written, strong song with a really good message to kick off a new year.
PC: “Sunny and 72” was written by David Lee and Dave Turnbull. Can you tell us how the song made its way to you and what drew you to record the song?
KF: The song grabbed all of us. We love working with David Lee, and he has been like our band shaman. We were stunned the day he invited us to his house and opened up his catalogue to us. David has written so many incredible songs that we sat with him for nine hours, listening to material, and he told us we hadn’t even gotten into the last ten years. It took some time, but we all eventually agreed that “Sunny” was the one we wanted to do next. After cutting it, there wasn’t much doubt that that would be the next single.
PC: You’ve previously mentioned that you have more new music on the way. What information, if any, can you give about any forthcoming releases? What can listeners expect to hear?
KF: We are really excited for this album. Produced once again by Jim Beavers, we were able to get some of our favorite songs of ours like “Sunny” on it, as well as some heavily requested fan favorites like “Mas Tequila Por Favor” and the title track, “Cheaper Than the Truth.” The album will feature six songs written with our regular group of collaborators: Jim Beavers, David Lee and Bernie Nelson, as well as a guest appearance by the legendary David Lee Garza. We have already released “Grain of Salt” from this CD and “Mas Tequila Por Favor” is available on Spotify as well. We also wouldn’t dream of releasing an album without a beauty featuring Jakey Black on lead vocals, as well with “Lonestar Lonesome.” We are really proud of the finished product and hope everyone enjoys it as much as we enjoyed making it.
PC: You recently won New Band of the Year from the Texas Regional Radio Report and single of the year at the TCMA Awards. What do awards coming from within the industry like that mean to you as a band?
KF: Again, we never dreamed that we would garner the kind of reception we have and it is truly humbling and gratifying to see how people respond to our music. The first time we went to the T3R awards, we were beyond excited just to be there and to rub shoulders with some of the biggest names in Texas country music. To see our name on a list with some of these artists is amazing and then to be recognized like that was honestly surreal.
PC: Your website shows a pretty busy live schedule throughout the winter. How much are you looking forward to staying busy on the road this year as we approach the spring and summer months?
KF: For us, playing live is the best part of our job. We enjoy being on the road and getting our music out to new people, meeting fans and seeing new places, so we are definitely looking forward to that this year. We’ve been able to meet so many fantastic people and forge new relationships on the road, and we always love being able to get out and see our people.
PC: What do you have planned for 2023?
KF: Well, firstly, we will releasing the new album, Cheaper Than the Truth on February 25th, and hosting a CD Release Party at John T. Floore’s on Sunday, February 26th, so our attention is focused that way for the immediate future. After that, we will be working up new music for the next release, and playing some fantastic shows, both on our own and opening for some amazing acts like Kevin Fowler, Aaron Watson, Josh Ward and Willie Nelson, to name a few. We will be joining the Rock the Coast Texas Music Cruise in April, alongside such acts as The Chad Cooke Band, Curtis Grimes, David Adam Byrnes, Sunny Sweeney and lots more. In late June we will be going on tour up through the Midwest, so keep your eyes open for that as well. Hope to see y’all soon and thank you for all the love and support!
*Presave “Sunny and 72” and Cheaper Than the Truth*
Pro Country 
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