Kings of Leon’s Caleb Followill on the band’s “most Tennessee” record they’ve ever made

Kings of Leon singer and guitarist Caleb Followill describes the band’s ninth studio album, released May 10, “Can We Please Have Fun” with words like “solid.” “Honestly.” “Cheerful.”

And ‘local’.

“I made a point while writing to make sure I was honest and local with all my references,” Followill told The Tennessean. “So I’m not singing about California or New York. Everything is very Nashville-based. I’m referencing Sylvan Park and Sperry’s Steakhouse. So yeah, I feel like this is the most Tennessee record we’ve ever made.”

Originally from Memphis, Caleb, along with brothers Nathan and Jared and cousin Matthew, all call Nashville home and have written and recorded several other records here. But Caleb Followill says this might be his favorite for a number of reasons, starting with the mentality.

“My favorite thing about this album is the fact that we went into it with something in mind,” he said. “We had a goal to do something great and something bigger than anything we’d done before and the fact that we achieved that – and we still feel like there’s meat on the bone is amazing. still songs that didn’t’ We can’t wait to get in and record at some point.”

“Can we please have fun?” I think they just did that.

The five words that make up the album title are not arbitrary or flippant. They honestly set the tone for the mentality that permeated the band while writing and recording the follow-up to 2021’s ‘When You See Yourself’.

This time, the Grammy-winning band members wanted to make sure they enjoyed the process. Being between record labels at the time, they had the freedom to create without any parameters.

“It was just kind of a message I had for the guys, you know, ‘can we please have fun?’ Because I wanted us to enjoy the process, I really felt like the material would be solid and I didn’t want us to get in our way and second-guess things. We were basically going to do what we set out to do in the beginning to do.

“Our main goal is to create something that, like I said, brings people together and makes people happy.”

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New label, new tour, new music, new perspective

The band recently signed a new recording contract with Capitol Records and will embark on a 26-city world tour later this year that will bring the boys to Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on September 26.

Followill said the band enjoyed doing everything themselves, from conceptualizing the tour to merchandise and music videos.

“There’s that level of excitement because everything has our fingerprints on it. And we’re going to transfer that to the live show. We’re not just bringing you a concert. We’re going to try to bring some theater and we’re really just trying to take everything about 10 steps higher.” to make.”

He said that after weathering COVID, when it was possible that all the band’s opportunities could disappear, the Followills emerged from that experience with a new respect for all the opportunities that lay ahead.

“So when people leave their homes and their comfort zones and spend their hard-earned money to come see us play a concert, I want them to leave there saying, ‘I can’t wait for them to come back.’ to the city so we can do it all again”.

Kings of rock music making from Nashville

The Followills were among the early pioneers of making rock music from Nashville, as opposed to New York or Los Angeles. They happened to live here, but being in Nashville could have been a help or a hindrance in the early days.

Followill said it was a little bit of both.

“We were definitely the rock band in Nashville,” he said. “Now there are still a few familiar faces here, but it was helpful because there were studios and there were a lot of people who wrote country songs or played on country songs or produced country records that at least came back. Back in the day, they all wanted to be rockers.”

He said there was a support system that bands in other cities didn’t have. Followill recalled that the rock music scene was a bit “underground,” but it was still better than being in a city where it’s hard to find a place to buy a guitar.

“We took advantage of being here and at the same time we definitely got some funny looks with the way we dressed in town.”

Nashville Rocks is a new series from music writer Melonee Hurt that explores all the people making rock music in Nashville. We share can’t-miss stories and go behind the scenes with the artists, writers, producers and players who keep Nashville rock alive. Tune in, turn it up and dig in.

This article originally appeared in Nashville Tennessean: Kings of Leon. ‘Can We Please Have Fun’ contains references to Nashville