Many artists wait a lifetime to achieve the dreams that Randall King is living.
Just seven years after introducing himself with his breakthrough EP, Another Bullet, King has found himself in writing rooms with the likes of Garth Brooks and Marty Stuart, in the circle at the Grand Ole Opry, and as a member of Warner Music Nashville’s prestigious roster. The release of his major label debut album, Shot Glass, brought millions of streams as he’s continued to build a loyal fanbase with a road warrior mentality.
Before he was living those dreams, though, King was an impressionable kid in west Texas falling in love with the traditional stylings of country music that artists like George Strait, Alan Jackson and Keith Whitley introduced him to.
“It was the sounds,” says King. “I fell in love with the steel guitar when I was young. I loved the way it pulled the hair up on my arms. You could feel songs to the cryin’ of a steel guitar, just like Alan sings about. That feeling tied me into the sound I wanted to aim for.”
King so was smitten by music, in fact, that he got his first guitar in first grade, and at the urging of his parents, he began to hone his craft.
“It was like any kid with a new toy: you love it for a while, then you wanna set it to the side and move on to the next thing,” says King. “At a young age, I knew that’s what I wanted to do, but it took my mom and dad busting my chops to make sure I was staying at it and learning what I needed to learn. Once I started to figure it out, I started to fall in love with it. ‘Amarillo by Morning’ was the first song I learned how to play and sing at the same time. I spent more time with that guitar than most kids spend outdoors or on gaming consoles. I came home, picked up my guitar and got to playing. I always wanted to play and sing, that was something I never second guessed. It just came naturally to me.”
Soon after, King was doing more than just playing and singing, as he began writing music at just seven years-old.
“It was something that just came out of me. It was the way my emotions projected,” says King. “My guitar channeled emotions more than anything. As a young kid, I didn’t really know how to express myself, so that was my way of doing it. Songwriting has always been my way of channeling my emotions and what I feel through lyrics, chords and melodies. I don’t remember that first song I wrote, but I think it was a song about Jesus [laughs].”
As he entered his college years, King’s love of writing songs began to take his focus out of the classroom; eventually leading him to transfer from Texas Tech to South Plains College to study music production.
“I had one good semester at Tech. I got really, really good grades; I almost made the Dean’s List. My second semester, I stayed in my dorm room and wrote songs. I skipped a lot of class. My dad wanted me to get a business degree. That meant nothing to me. I didn’t feel like it was gonna help me out in my career, and it hasn’t!” King says with a laugh. “It led me to the decision of what I was going to do with my life. Music was it. I knew it was it. I had to make the phone call to my dad, which wasn’t fun, to tell him ‘sorry we spent 18 grand of your money for nothing, but I’m going to transfer over to South Plains because they offer education in sound technology.’ I went over there and learned how to produce records. That’s how I produced my first EP.”
The release of that EP, Another Bullet, firmly planted King on the radar of many in the Texas country music space, as songs like the title track quickly grew legs and helped him attract new fans on the road.
“It was incredible. That record helped us go from drawing literally nobody to drawing 50 to 100 people per show. For us, that felt like we were on the map. We could actually go out and gig,” says King. “I watched Another Bullet do a lot of things for me. I was able to get on with my management company and my booking agent. That record opened door after door. It opened the door to record my self-titled record, and that’s when the wheels really started turning.”
That record, released in 2018, brought about a noticeable change in the trajectory of King’s career; bringing about great successes on both the Texas charts and at shows.
“We were drawing anywhere from 100 to 150 people when we released that record. It was about six months after we released it that we started seeing a shift. ‘Tuggin’ on My Heartstrings’ was the lead single on that record, and it was my first number one in Texas. That song was the first time I ever saw a crowd singing my lyrics back to me. That moment was where I said ‘okay, it’s here. This is what we’ve been waiting on,’” says King. “We put out ‘Mirror, Mirror,’ and it went number one for almost two months. We started selling places out. That record showed the world a full-blown piece of me. Every single song was a piece of my heart and where I was at that time in my life.”
The success of that record put King on the radar of Warner Music Nashville as well, who after a lengthy courting process, signed him to a major record deal in 2019.
“It was a long ass process,” King says with a laugh. “It took almost a full year to get the paperwork locked in and get it to where we were signed. They had been looking at us and talking to us for a while, but the official offer came in right after we played The Ryman with Cody Johnson in March of 2019, and I didn’t sign until September. The reason I signed is because they weren’t going to change me or tell me who I am. They believe in my music and what I’m doing. They’ve bought in, and they’ve helped us grow a hell of a lot.”
In promoting that growth, the label signed on to King’s unashamedly traditional and steel-heavy sound, something he attributes to the authenticity in his music.
“People want something real. For so long, we’ve watched the industry try to mold and manufacture music based on a specific sound that was having success. You can’t chase things, you just have to let them be. I think they’re figuring that out and letting artists be artists,” says King. “That’s why you’re watching guys like Zach Bryan and Cody Johnson blow up. You’re seeing the independent guys coming in, hopping on labels and smashing home runs. It’s because they’re truly being themselves. I think that’s what the industry was missing.”
Two months after the ink dried on his contract, King released his first single with Warner Music Nashville, “She Gone,” which allowed him the opportunity to bring new music out on the road.
“I was itching to release that song,” says King. “I’m running a business, and that business is live music. To play live music, you’ve gotta be putting music out. It was hard to be patient.”
Just a year later, King had more new music to release, this time, in the form of his sophomore EP, Leanna, which allowed him to honor his late sister.
“I think letting me put that EP out is the greatest thing Warner has done for me. They let me put it out the exact way my vision was. They let me add a very special song to it to complete the EP and dedicate it to my sister,” says King. “They went all in. They let me make a music video for every single song, and they really pushed every track. For an artist that was brand new to them, that’s not super heard of. I owe them a debt of gratitude for pushing that EP and her memory, because that’s what it was.”
Just a few days before the release of his major label debut album, Shot Glass, King had the opportunity to push Leanna’s memory again, but this time, from the circle at the Grand Ole Opry, performing “I’ll Fly Away” in her memory.
“That was a moment I dreamed about when I was a kid. My dad sat me down and made me write up my goals when I was nine years-old. Those goals were to play The Ryman and to play the Grand Ole Opry, and I’ve hit them,” says King. “To stand on that stage and have my daddy there in the circle with me was hard. My sister got to stand in the circle with us when I played The Ryman back in 2019. Playing the Opry three years later, I know she was standing there with us. That made everything feel full.”
While the release of Shot Glass offered King the opportunity to present recorded versions of fan favorites like “Hey Cowgirl,” it was track three on the album, “You in a Honky Tonk,” that became a viral TikTok smash and took the album to new heights.
“That’s the moment we were waiting for. You always want a song to take you to brand new places. You see new fans that think they don’t know us, but when we fire that song up, they’re singing it back,” says King. “They say ‘he’s the honky tonk guy!’ I’m the honky tonk man, son! [laughs].”
Though Shot Glass is just over a year old, King has showed no signs of slowing down in the studio, with two new single releases, “Green Eyes Blue” and “When My Baby’s in Boots” already under his belt ahead of a new album he hopes to release this year.
“This is such a fast-paced industry, especially when you have people releasing 24-30 song records,” says King. “Personally, it’s my goal to never drop a song that would be considered a B-side. I’m very selective with my songs, how I release them and how they flow,” says King. “We’ve cut seven songs with my producer, Jared Conrad. This music shows a side of me that’s a little darker and edgier that I haven’t had before. We’ve cut seven songs, and we’ll probably take four or five of those and put them with another ten or eleven. The goal is to put out a 15-song record in the fall.”
As he looks forward to growing his catalog, King will once again hit the road hard for the rest of the year, bringing his music to fans old and new.
“I look forward to being in some new places, playing venues I haven’t played yet and watching my fanbase grow. I love seeing these shows sell out and watching people sing the songs back and be there with me,” says King. “The most important thing is seeing my music have an impact on people’s lives, seeing it better them or help them get through things. That’s what the Leanna EP was. That’s what Shot Glass was. That’s what this next record will be. That’s what country music is for.”
*Feature image by Yve Assad*
**Randall’s music is featured on The Best of Pro Country playlist!**
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