Son-of-a-Trucker Randall King Makes Old Country New Again
Randall King played his first show in Lubbock over the weekend since taking a hiatus to record an album in Nashville. The show just so happened to fall on the 59th anniversary of the death of Buddy Holly.
King, a "4th generation 'hay hauler,' son of a trucker," from Hereford, Texas, played at the Blue Light Live Saturday night to a sold-out crowd of rowdy Texas Country lovers. It's a genre King has tapped into with a voice that reminds a country-raised ear of a young Alan Jackson.
Manifesting his consideration for 90s country traditions, King's set displayed his bandmate's skills on the auspicious steel guitar. This instrumental addition to King's showcase not only rang true to music played in honky-tonks throughout the ages, but set his style aside from other voices in the Texas circuit of country music.
Along with playing his hits like "The Problem" and "Hard Livin' Ilene," King debuted his latest single, "Another Bullet" to the music lovers in the audience. He named his main influences while on stage, saying Merle Haggard, George Strait and "yes, even Buddy Holly" were musicians he channeled -- both when performing live, and while working on his self-titled upcoming album, which is set to release sometime this spring.
"There's a lot of people that want country music to come back around, and there's a lot of people that will say you have to sell out and play radio hits to make it," King said. "I want to make my stamp as an artist with this record, I can be me and still make an impact across the country."
King will be playing shows across Texas, with tour dates going through April and more shows being added weekly. Your next chance to catch this neo-traditional artist in the Texas Panhandle will be March 8th at Rockin’ Rodeo in Midland, Texas.