Listen to Friends, the new single from Josh King’s debut solo LP Into The Blue (due August 17th). “Friends” is an acoustic guitar & piano-driven country/folk ballad in the laid-back vein of Willie Nelson reflecting back on his own mixed emotions seeing his old buddy embracing domestic life back when King was still at the bar every night. “The song is about one of my best friends in the world, Joel Kiser, who plays guitar on the album and played with me in House of Fools,” King says. “It was written around the time he told me that he and his wife were having a baby. It’s about friends settling down and me wanting to be happy for them, but being really selfishly bummed out. I didn’t realize until recording the song that it was such a huge turning point in my life — my friends were moving on. But now here I am, newly married with a kid of my own on the way. It all makes sense now.”
Twangy, phased-out electric guitars add a touch of outlaw influence to the mix, as King croons about an unshakable commitment to friends in need, “and just know that if you need me / I will always be around.” It’s a call to action for anyone who ever feels alone or bottomed out – there’s always someone you can talk to.
This soon-to-be father—and one-time leader of Greensboro, N.C., indie-folk rockers House of Fools—brings a craftsmanship to his songwriting that walks the line between Dawes & Willie Nelson, Tom Petty & Elliott Smith. His former group earned its keep recording for now-defunct punk/emo imprint Drive-Thru Records and touring with acts as varied as Robert Randolph, Leon Russell and Jimmy Eat World.
The music King has constructed on Into the Blue is deeply personal and rooted in mindfully crafted Americana and hummable guitar pop. The album was written during a rocky transitional period in his life, a desolate drug-fueled few years in the wake of his younger days touring with House of Fools. “By the end of that era, I’d given up on my music,” King says. “My favorite thing in the world is to write a song, even if it’s just for me and no one else hears it. But at that point in my life, I wasn’t even doing that—I was just partying as hard as I could.” This album is as much Jon Brion as it is Johnny Cash.
Photo Credit: Todd Turner