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Elle King channeled her lifelong inspirations and her personal and professional growth into her first full-length country record, and it was a “transformative experience for me.”
King released her highly-anticipated project, Come Get Your Wife, at the start of 2023. The 12-track album is packed with fan-favorite anthems like “Try Jesus,” “Lucky,” “Tulsa,” “Out Yonder” and more, plus King’s smash-hit collaborations with Miranda Lambert and Dierks Bentley (“Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home)” and “Worth A Shot,” respectively). The result was a reflection of “being inspired as I grew as a person, as an artist, and as a producer, as a mother, as a human being,” she said when she recently caught up with iHeartRadio. “I just pulled from everything that I love that helped me make what country music is to me, and ultimately made my best record that I think I've ever made. I’m so proud of it.”
King credited Bentley — who released “Different For Girls” with her in 2016 before joining forces on “Worth A Shot” — with helping to draw her into country music. He brought her backstage at the Country Music Association Awards one year, and after bonding over a glass of whiskey, King was hooked on the hospitality. Now, she reflects on it as a life-changing moment (and says her go-to drink is usually a hot toddy or a Slow & Low Coffee Old Fashioned).
“It's not even about the drink,” King explained. “You never forget how someone makes you feel, you know? And I am a very sensitive being, and I never forgot how people made me feel that day. I just wanted to stay in that forever, and that's what country music felt like for me. I love bringing the fans (at my shows to it). I love showing them some of my older stuff, and I love bringing the older fans in and showing them what country is to me and how cool it is.”
The country record serves as a testament to King's genre-blending expertise, pulling together crowds drawn to her country, blues, rock and pop stylings at each soulful, energetic performance. King recently wrapped her “insane” and “unforgettable” “A-Freakin-Men Tour,” presented by Slow & Low Whiskey. Each show featured an electrifying and unique set by King — “we never did the same show twice,” she said — and she isn’t slowing down any time soon. King recently made her official debut at the Grand Ole Opry, and looks ahead to a year packed with “lots and lots of festivals and tons and tons of shows” on the horizon.
King reflected on her “A-Freakin-Men Tour” noted that its been several years since she’s hit the road on a headlining tour for a new record. Though it can be difficult to predict how the new music will resonate with the fans — and she “felt extra pressure” after a shift into country music — King said it was a “beautiful feeling” to watch audiences singing along to her songs from the very beginning. Songs like “Bonafide,” she said, prompted singalongs to the “really funny background vocal parts.”
“It's been just really beautiful, and it's totally reaffirming what drew me to country and why I love it so much,” King said, adding with a laugh: “And it's really because the fans are bada** and the most fun.”
King said that although she likes a glass of whiskey, it’s the camaraderie and coming together for a good time that draws her to country music, and that keeps her “vibing” with the audience on stage. She expresses herself while creating a welcoming environment for fans of all ages and walks of life at each show.
“I definitely beat to my own drum…I’m definitely not your average, I guess, whatever kind of mold of a female is supposed to be,” King said, and that spirit is exhibited at shows as everyone has a good time, no matter what that means for them. “I get a lot of young people who come to my concerts…I’m drinking on stage, but I always make it a point to say, ‘listen, look, you see those littles that are out in the audience, we need to show them, this is how I have fun. Sometimes I drink on stage and I'm, you know, I'm rootin’ and a roarin’. But we have to make sure that they have a good time and protect them.’ Because what they're seeing is a woman who doesn't look or sing or sound or say things like other women or even other people say or do, but you guys are here celebrating that, and that's authentic, genuine, true, free-spiritedness.”
King is part of the all-star iHeartCountry Festival lineup on May 13, at Moody Center in Austin, Texas. Fans across the country will able to tune in to all of the incredible live performances at this year's iHeartCountry Festival as the event will be broadcast on iHeartRadio country stations nationwide, and on iHeartRadio.com as well as the iHeartRadio app on Saturday, May 13th at 8pm ET/5pm PT.