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Kin FauxBased out of San Antonio, Texas, Kin Faux is a nationally touring, high energy Texas/Red Dirt Country band whose more obvious influences, along the lines of Charlie Daniels, Alabama and Restless Heart, show strongly through virtuosic fiddle and strong vocal harmonies. Their more eclectic influences come through via poignant, blistering guitar work and a thundering, solid rhythm section.
With most of the band having grown up in the shadows of the crumbling auto plants of Michigan, Kin Faux's music echoes the authenticity and desperation of places like Kentucky coal mines and other pockets of traditional American folklore where the livelihood of entire communities was swept out from underneath them, leaving people to fend for themselves to eke out a living for their families. This upbringing and experience brings a unique character to their brand of music that has been dubbed “Industrial Dirt” by some.
Native Texan, Rico Gonzalez, moved to Michigan in 2015 with his wife and found fiddle work with a Country band, playing the popular cover songs of the time, where he met Dan Currier. The two of them hit it off well on long drives to and from gigs around the region. At the same time, Jakey Black IX and Ross Barkey comprised half of a prolific Outlaw Country band that also made its way around the state. The two projects overlapped occasionally, and as the pair of duos overlapped more and more often, they discovered a mutual appreciation for Texas/Red Dirt music, contacts were made, and an experimental side project called Kin Faux was born. The band was inspired by the Texas/Red Dirt artists they all enjoyed such as Randy Rogers, Kevin Fowler, Roger Creager, Turnpike Troubadours and others. Unsure of how this brand of music would be received in Michigan, the band played sporadic off nights as more of a creative outlet, but it quickly became apparent that there was an unexpected and thriving Texas/Red Dirt scene in Michigan that was hungering for exactly the kind of music the boys were bringing to the table. Kin Faux shows rapidly made a name for themselves as high-energy, vastly entertaining events and the band found themselves being regarded as “the band to see” in the area. It was time to bring this group out of “side project” status and into the forefront.
Within a few months, the boys were regularly booked all over the Midwest and honed themselves into a juggernaut of raw live energy and musical performance that became ubiquitous throughout the state. Within six months of being formed, they garnered wins as Review Magazine's Best Country Band, and Rico as Best Country Musician in 2018. They began to forge relationships with influential artists such as Bobby Randall (Sawyer Brown, Confederate Railroad) and renowned songwriters like Bernie Nelson (Chris LeDoux, John Anderson, Confederate Railroad, Conway Twitty).
In the ensuing year, the boys made a trip to Mainframe Studios in Nashville to record their self-titled debut EP (produced by Bobby Randall) and began to expand their touring to include several tours of Texas itself to see how their brand of Texas music would be received. Each tour built on the successes of the previous tour and Kin Faux started to become regular fixtures at such iconic venues as Luckenbach, John T Floore's and Gruene Hall, and working with such acts as Kevin Fowler, Roger Creager, Rick Trevino and Trace Adkins, among others. Kin Faux's EP was released in the fall of 2018 to rave reviews, garnering five more wins from Review Magazine's Music Awards including Best Country Band, Best CD Release for the band and Best Multi-Instrumentalist, Best Country Songwriter and Best Country Instrumentalist for Rico.
Their four successful tours of Texas found them cultivating relationships with more legendary songwriters, such as David Lee (Cody Johnson, Montgomery Gentry, Tim McGraw, Trace Adkins, George Strait), Brett Beavers (Lee Ann Womack, Toby Keith, Dierks Bentley) and Jim Beavers (Toby Keith, Dierks Bentley, Josh Turner, Blake Shelton, Chris Stapleton), and it began to be obvious that Texas offered opportunities that couldn't be found anywhere else, so, in true Kin Faux fashion, they once again piled into the van as a unit and hit the road, this time with permanence on their collective minds and relocated to San Antonio to pursue success full-time.
They released their first single, Teardrops on the Rocks (from their debut EP) in the summer of 2019, which peaked at #20 on the Texas Charts. While working this single, mid-tour and between dates, the boys went back to Nashville to record again, this time to Sony Tree Studios with Jim Beavers at the helm. This session produced their second single, Locked Up in Lubbock, released in March of 2020. Even with the COVID lockdown stymieing their touring and promotion efforts, Locked Up topped out at a respectable #26 on the Texas Charts. The boys released their third single, Honky Tonk in Heaven in October of 2020, and this song would become the band's breakout single, steadily working its way up the charts and finally delivering their first #1 hit on Texas Radio in March 2021. Locked Up and Honky Tonk would appear on the band's second album, with the latter serving as the title track, released in April of 2021.
Honky Tonk in Heaven would prove to be the album that would establish Kin Faux as a mainstay on the Texas music charts. The title track reached #1 for two consecutive weeks; followed by Plainview, which reached #3; and Wild Horses (a duet with Terry McBride), which also hit #1 for two weeks on the Texas Charts. The success of this album would garner the boys a couple Texas Country Music Association Awards as well, taking home trophies for Country Band of the Year in 2021, and Single of the Year (for Wild Horses) in 2022, as well as a Texas Regional Radio Award for New Band or Duo of the Year in 2022. This period also found the band dabbling into music videos, creating videos for Plainview, Wild Horses and Mas Tequila Por Favor.
In 2022, Kin Faux returned to Nashville to partner up with Jim Beavers once again, this time producing Kin Faux's most recent album, Cheaper Than the Truth, released in February of 2023. This album features the singles Grain of Salt, which topped out at #2 on the Texas charts, and a #1 hit for the boys with Sunny and 72. The 3rd single “Honky Tonk Honey”, is also the first Kin Faux single that the boys co-wrote on, teaming up with Jim and Brett Beavers. It reached #1 at the end of 2023 and stayed there for four weeks.
In November of 2023, the Texas Country Music Awards were held at Billy Bob’s Texas. The band was nominated for 6 awards and took home the top prize of Entertainer of the Year and drummer of the year.
2024 is set to be a big year for Kin Faux. With more extensive touring and the addition of Avery Castro on drums to replace the retired Currier, the band is seeing a level of growth that is very intriguing. With their headlining debut at the legendary Billy Bob’s, the bar is set for some exciting shows and opportunities. Kin Faux has also returned to the studio, this time keeping closer to home with award-winning producer, Stormy Cooper, of Stormy Cooper Media in Houston. The boys are working on new music and are super excited to get it out. The first single from these sessions, “My Kind of Weathered,” sets the stage for a bigger sound for the band. Written by Kensie Coppin, Barber Barrett and Thompson Garrett, “Weathered” is about appreciation for the kind of character that things and people acquire with time.
https://www.kinfaux.com/
Jaret Ray Reddick
Many successful artists attempt to “crossover” or “try something new” at some point in their career. So it wasn’t a huge surprise back in 2022 when Jaret Ray Reddick made the announcement that he was releasing a solo album. But Country?
Fast forward a couple years, and the frontman / singer / songwriter for the Grammy nominated pop-punk icons Bowling For Soup has dug his Chuck Taylor’s deep into the world of Texas Country…and there doesn’t seem to be anyone who is surprised by this!
Jaret’s voice is unmistakable. It’s somewhat hard to escape it! From Bowling For Soup songs like “1985,” “Girl All The Bad Guys Want,” and “High School Never Ends” to the theme song of Disney’s smash hit cartoon Phineas and Ferb (where he also played a character on the show). He has been the voice of everyone’s favorite pizza selling mouse, Chuck E. Cheese, for over a decade and also co-hosts the widely successful Idobi Radio show & podcast - Rockstar Dad Show.
Despite being one of the busiest dudes in the business, Jaret is taking his country music very seriously! “My plan was to dip my toes in the water, release a few songs, play a few shows, and just kinda see what happens” he remembers. “But once the album was out, and I got the band together, we got out and started doing the darn thing, everything changed. Put it this way…three months after our first full band show, we traded my wife’s car in for a band van. I feel like that shows how serious I am! And how cool my wife is!” he laughs.
Jaret’s jump start into this new musical adventure is sprinkled with some very impressive events. “My first shows were in the UK at the C2C Festival at London’s O2 Arena. Just Woke Up came out while we were there, and folks showed up to the shows
already knowing the words to the songs. It was very special. But, I don’t think you can beat my first show in Texas. It was a SOLD OUT show at Gruene Hall opening for the Queen of Texas Country, Bri Bagwell. I mean…That is a heck of a start!”
Just Woke Up racked up two top 30 songs on Texas and Red Dirt Radio before the tear jerking “Royal Family” gave him his first top 20! “There was a time I thought my 'radio days' were behind me. All of a sudden I am back in the van, visiting radio stations, playing acoustic on air, and doing it all over again” Jaret says reflecting on years of radio station visits with BFS.
Jaret finished out 2023 with an impressive number of live shows under his belt and a TCMA nomination for “Emerging Artist of the Year.” There are no plans to be slowing down any time soon. Jaret plans to release a new album, “Already In Texas” in May of
2024. His first single, post Just Woke Up, is called “Lone Stars” and will drop in late February.
“I was excited to start writing for the second album, but I couldn’t have predicted my happiness with the first song written. Back writing with Zac Maloy, who co-wrote and produced Just Woke Up, he had the idea of the “lone stars” concept. The play on words is so right up my alley. Anytime I can throw in a Texas reference, I’m happy…but the fact that we managed to do it in such a sweet song…man…lookout!”
“I love the new songs,” he continues. But I have to say, my favorite part of it all is that my band is playing on the songs this time. But yeah, the songs are great too!“
Jaret and his band have a lot of live shows scheduled for 2024. “It always falls back to playing in front of people for me. There is just nothing like it. I feel so lucky that it came so easy for me with this group of guys. I swear it is like we have been a band for 10
years already. We are are excited to melt some faces…Country style!
https://www.jaretrayreddick.com/
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2715 Rochester St, Kansas City, MO, United States, Missouri 64120
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