So far, The Pawn Shop Shotgun has been on hunts in Alabama and Mississippi with mixed results. Episode 6 takes the gun down to Texas for a hunt with an authentically genuine honky tonk music maker. Randall King has seen his country music stardom start to soar in the last year or so. With new music on the way soon that trend is bound to continue. But first, let’s take a quick rewind on where the shotgun has been so far on this journey.
Jay Siske from Out Here Co. and Gary Stanton from Muscadine Bloodline first picked out the gun. Then Austin Sills with Spring Legion took it on a hunt. He missed a bird and then made up for it. Then Lake Pickle with OnX Hunt took the pump action for a spin with no bird to show for it. After that, it was a visit to Mossy Headquarters for a hunt with Daniel Haas. Bad weather kept the birds quiet and the trigger wasn’t pulled. Then Gary Stanton and Charlie Muncaster from Muscadine Bloodline doubled up on birds while we dove into their new album. Then the gun went afield with Hunter Farrior from Spring Legion. He missed a shot and explained that if you haven’t missed a turkey you haven’t shot at enough of them.
Now Back Down To Texas For More About Randall King
Randall King has been making music for a while now. But things really started to take off for him in 2018 when he released his first album. That album set his tone as a classic-sounding country music cowboy with songs that metaphorically provide the cattle to back up the hat he wears. The album’s opening track, Freightline, is an upbeat hit-the-highway with-the-wheels-rolling kind of tune about working hard while the thought of truckin’ it on home to see your lady carries you through to the end of the line. Cool Under Pressure is about the mental obstacle course a guy runs through preparing for a date with a girl he’s nervously been trying to lasso for a while.
That self-titled album had several other notable songs, including Taking Me A Heartbreak, Mirror, Mirror, and Keep Her On The Line. But following that first album, King signed a record deal with Warner Music Nashville and things really started to click when the Texan started finding his sound in Tennessee. His next album really put him on the country music map. That second album included the songs Hey Cowgirl, Record High, Around Forever, and the title track Shot Glass.
His Second Album Really Put Him On The Country Music Map
Two songs really stand out though and perfectly encapsulate the energy and sound that he brings to the stage. Baby Do has the same vibe as Lee Brice’s Hard To Love. But with more fun and a higher-octane sound. It’s about finding a girl who loves you despite the tendency to walk on the wild side sometimes. It includes romantic lyrics like “When I get on a bender, she leaves on the light, so I can find my way through that front door“… “Man, I’ve always been a gamble, but damn, she loves to play that game” … and “not everybody gets me or even wants to, B-B-But baby do!”
“You In A Honky Tonk” Is His Biggest Song
The album also includes what has turned out to be the biggest song of his career thus far. It’s a real-life country music love story titled You In The Honky Tonk. The bartender that King flirts with in the video is his longtime girlfriend and fellow country artist, Brittany Warthan. It’s a serenade about how hot it is when your girl can match the vibes of your favorite hole-in-the-wall hangout. The video was filmed at one of Middle Tennessee’s grittiest honky tonks, a place called Cahoots.
King spoke a little bit about the video when it was released. “In West Texas, if you don’t keep ‘em on the dance floor, you aren’t doing your job. When I booked my first headlining gig in Tennessee, I couldn’t believe we pre-sold out Cahoots Dance Hall & Honky Tonk. It’s kinda become a tradition to bring these songs to life there just like I remember that first night on their stage,” he said.
Sidenote: I was actually in the crowd for that first gig Randall King played at Cahoots and the man absolutely burned the place to the ground. One of the rowdiest concerts I’ve ever been to. Anyways, here’s the video…
Though his Shot Glass album came out just about a year ago, he’s already released a new 5 song EP since then titled Honky Tonk BS. The lead song from that project, Small Town Bullshit, indicates that King is still turning up the volume on his rowdy meter with his new music. He’s previously found success with EPs dating back to his 2020 song Takin’ It As It Comes and his 2016 troubadour ballad Another Bullet.
A Texas Turkey Hunt With Randall King & The Pawn Shop Shotgun
Episode 6 of The Pawnshop Shotgun focuses on a West Texas adventure with Randall King. Jay Siske joins him to hunt Rio Grande gobblers, one of the sub-species of turkeys found only in the southern west-central part of North America. They team up with T.O. Outfitters for an afternoon hunt and catch some birds slipping back to the roost. A hesitant longbeard slowly sneaks into the decoy spread and Randall King unleashes a shotshell full of a lead that fully connects. It was actually Kings’s first bird, something he and Jay Siske reminisce on after the hunt. The conversation is a good one as King pours on his McConnaughey-sounding Lonestar state drawl. He then signs the gun and sends it on to Logan Cooke, an NFL punter for Jacksonville Jaguars.