Nineties country holdouts Hot Country Knights are suited up and ready for battle, announcing the details of what figures to be their (unintentionally) hilarious debut album, The K Is Silent.
Produced by longtime admirer Dierks Bentley — who also serves as a co-writer on half the project’s hyper-masculine tracks — the 10 song set is slated for release on May 1, featuring two big-name collaborations. Built on the “brawny” sound of ’90s country classics, the band outlined their “High-T” philosophy when they signed their 30-years-in-the-making record deal in January, but band leader Doug Douglason says the Knights have taken their game up a few notches.
“We were out on the road singing a lot of other people’s hits, and we called them Greatest Hits because by us singing them, it actually made them great,” Douglason explains in a statement. “But this is a step beyond our Greatest Hits. This is all original material, and it’s the best stuff to come out of Nashville from a man band in several decades.”
The K Is Silent includes the band’s high-octane debut single, “Pick Her Up” (featuring Travis Tritt), and also features the smooth-talking ballad “Asphalt.” Other clever titles include “Moose Knuckle Shuffle,” “Wrangler Danger” (described as a feel-good tribute to honky tonk Heather Locklears), “Mull It Over” and a collaboration with Terri Clark on “You Make It Hard.”
Meanwhile, the band will lead into the album’s release on their 2020 One Knight Stand Tour, kicking off April 7 in San Diego, California. The run will feature 12 headline dates with Hannah Dasher, Tenille Townes, Rachel Wammack and Lainey Wilson on select dates, culminating with an April 29 show at Nashville’s famous Ryman Auditorium.
The K Is Silent Track Listing: