I had the chance to spend a little time chatting with Texanna, Brennan and Ben of King Cardinal before they head to Madison on August 17th to play The Frequency. Hailed by Marquee Magazine for their “excellently crafted Americana” and Westword for their “raw, gut-wrenching emotion,” Denver’s King Cardinal push raw roots rock into lush, sonically daring territory with hints of cosmic country and delicate folk. Building off the success of two acclaimed EPs as well as dates with Ben Sollee, Sam Outlaw, and Darlingside (in addition to a performance at the iconic Telluride Bluegrass Festival), the band is set to release their debut album, ‘Great Lakes,’ which was recorded over seven days at Texas’ famed Sonic Ranch Studio with GRAMMY-winning producer/engineer Ted Young (Israel Nash, Banditos).
In this conversation, the trio explains a little about what the Madison crowd can expect to see and hear when they get a live taste next week. We took a good amount of time discussing their first proper album set to be released towards the end of September and how all the time spent together has allowed for the release to be refined and and reflected upon while taking the bare bones and collectively providing the skin and orGans to be masterfully applied into place. We tapped into the Telluride experience and what I found very interesting was the “What have you been dialed into musically yourselves” question and what they have been putting into their ears as they get a little down time or on travel days. It also turns out that living near the Colorado mountains and all that it offers is a great place for these artists to relax, refresh and escape it all when needed.
King Cardinal
