Kings of Leon

SeeqPod Music beta - Playable Search

wikipedia entry:


Kings of Leon are a rock band made up of three brothers and one cousin, based in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee. Their influences range from Southern rock, Indie rock, to blues styles. Their three critically acclaimed albums have given them a devoted following, especially in Europe.

[edit] Early years
The group's name is derived from Nathan, Caleb, and Jared's father and grandfather, both named Leon [1]. Jared and Caleb were born in Tennessee, while Nathan and Matthew were born in Oklahoma. The brothers spent much of their youth travelling around the American South with their father, a traveling United Pentecostal Church preacher and their mother, who taught them when they were not in school. According to Rolling Stone magazine, "While Leon preached at churches and tent revivals throughout the Deep South, the boys attended and were occasionally enlisted to bang on some drums. They were home-schooled or enrolled in small parochial schools. Except for a five-year stretch when they settled in Jackson, Tennessee, the Followills spent their childhoods driving through the South in a purple 1988 Oldsmobile, decamping for a week or two wherever Leon was scheduled to preach."
Although it was rumoured their father, Leon, was "defrocked", in an article for Q Magazine in July 2007 Leon himself was quoted as saying "I was not defrocked, I resigned." Leon and his wife divorced in 1997 [citation needed] and after various jobs, the brothers moved to Nashville in 1998. They formed a band in 2000 with their cousin Matthew. Their music is influenced by their religious upbringing and their Southern roots and also other musicians, including Matthew R. Hudson who played the drums in a similar fashion to that of Nathan.
Before trying their hand at rock and roll, brothers Nathan and Caleb sang country music. They worked for a brief period of time with label/management group Pistol Creek Productions. They spent their time with this label mainly singing at rodeos. They also were members of the West Tennessee Mass Choir for a short time. [2]
Nathan, the oldest of the brothers, graduated from the now defunct private school, Christian Life Academy, in Henderson, TN. Caleb dropped out mid-senior year to pursue country music.
Upon signing with RCA, they were introduced to Nashville-based song-writer/producer Angelo Petraglia, who had previously worked with artists such as Brooks & Dunn, Trisha Yearwood and Martina McBride. Petraglia would prove very important to the band, moving them in a more rock-oriented direction and co-writing many of their songs. "I turned those guys on to the Rolling Stones and a lot of the older raw rock-and-roll stuff," he said.[3]
Caleb is sometimes known as "Tony" to the rest of the band and his closest friends as his first name is Anthony.

[edit] Holy Roller Novocaine EP
The Holy Roller Novocaine EP was Kings of Leon's first release. It contained some of the songs that would later be released onto Youth and Young Manhood. However, it also included the famous B-side "Wicker Chair". All the songs were co-written by Petraglia.

[edit] Youth and Young Manhood
They got their start with their album Youth and Young Manhood and rose to relative stardom, especially outside the United States, by being chosen by popular rock bands The Strokes and U2 to tour with them. The title of the album was taken from their father's bible according to Jared. All songs were again co-written by Petraglia, who also contributed guitar and co-produced the album with Ethan Johns. The song "Red Morning Light" was used as the opening song for the video game FIFA 2004. "Holy Roller Novocaine" was later used in the movie Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, the movie Stuck on You (2003 film) and the TV show The Shield.

[edit] Aha Shake Heartbreak
The band's second album 'Aha Shake Heartbreak' was released in the United Kingdom in October 2004 and in the United States in February 2005 to widespread acclaim. The album was praised for its mix of garage rock and Southern swagger. "The Bucket", "Four Kicks", and "King of the Rodeo" were all released as singles. The band first previewed tracks from the album at the 2004 Glastonbury Festival which saw them get moved up the bill to second headliner by request of Noel Gallagher from headlining act Oasis.

[edit] Because of the Times
In March 2006, it was announced by NME that Kings of Leon were back in the studio, working on their third album. Drummer Nathan Followill told NME.COM: "Man, we're sitting on a bunch of songs right now that we wish we could let the world hear!". The band's third album was titled Because of the Times, which is a not-so-subtle reference to a large UPC ministers conference held in Alexandria, Louisiana that the brothers often attended.[4] The album was released on April 2, 2007 in the UK, and a day later in the US. It entered the charts at #25 in the US and débuted at #1 in the UK selling approximately 70,000 copies in its first week of release. The release of Because of the Times was preceded by the single "On Call", which was available for download on iTunes on February 6. The single was available for airplay on February 26 in the US, and available to purchase in the UK on March 26. The song can currently be heard on their MySpace page. On the 13th of February the album leaked on file sharing sites and was thus available for download as "Advance" copy. The source of the copy is unknown. In June 2007 the band announced details of their first UK arena scheduled to kick off at Hull Arena on November 30th as well as taking in dates in Manchester, Glasgow, Birmingham, Nottingham and Brighton before finshing off in London on December 12th at the city's 12,000 capacity Wembley Arena.
"Charmer", "My Party" "Arizona", and "Fans" were all premiered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on July 2, 2006 at Summerfest, which may have also had an unplanned encore that included additional new songs premiered, but the full setlist remains unknown. [5] Other new songs were premiered later in 2006, including "On Call", "McFearless" and "Black Thumbnail". [6][7] The Kings also played "My Party" at the 2006 Austin City Limits Music Festival.[8]

[edit] 4th Album
Caleb recently confirmed to UK magazine NME that the band is already working on tracks for the fourth album even though the third album was only just released. One of the reasons for this is that the third album was finished almost a year before it was released so he felt it was time to write songs again. Also Jared suggested in an interview the next album will "rock harder" suggesting more tracks like McFearless ,Charmer and Black Thumbnail.

website: http://www.kingsofleon.com/

Kings of Leon