After releasing their debut album Rivers back in 2019, the buzzworthy band has been hard at work making their new vision come to life by putting together a new sound with the help of Zac Brown Band‘s frontman Zac Brown.
Band members Chris Deaton, Simon Dumas, Chad Michael Jervis and Caleb Miller released their brand new single “When I Get Home” last Friday (June 10), and they knew from the moment they heard the track co-written by Brown, Jonathan Singleton and Ben Simonetti that they had to cut it.
“The feedback for this song has been great,” Simon told Celeb Secrets Country’s Juliet Schroder on release day. “What I’ve found is that release day is kind of like your birthday. Everyone is tagging you and posting about you. It seems like there’s such genuine support for this song not just from friends and family but fans as well. It’s been fun so far.”
Best described as a love letter to a past love, “When I Get Home” finds a man on the brink, owning up to his past mistakes and longing for another change. It is an excellent depiction of each band member’s true talent, as it showcases their killer harmonies and masterful instrumentals.
“The first time we heard [‘When I Get Home’] and sang it all together, we knew it was something special,” Chris said.
“Its a really cool story, and the first time we heard it, we were able to relate to it,” Caleb added. “Its about forgiveness and redemption, so when the fans hear it for the first time, we hope they feel the same way.”
View this post on Instagram
Zac Brown’s relationship with the band began a few years ago when Deaton moved in with him after graduating high school. Taking him under his wing, Brown taught Deaton everything he knew, which led to him being part of King Calaway.
Chris hadn’t seen Zac in years; but after Zac saw a live performance of the band at Exit/In, he reached back out to Chris and asked to learn more about his new project as well as hear more music.
So, Chris brought Simon, Chad and Caleb to Zac’s Southern Ground Studio in Nashville, where the “Chicken Fried” singer picked up an acoustic guitar to play “When I Get Home.”
“At first it was so surreal, but after a day, it was just so easy to work with him. What he cares most about is the music, and it was really cool to see him put his producer hat on [for us],” Chad said.
“A little thing which I think brought some magic to the room was that before we got recording on any day, Zac would walk into every room with an incense stick to set the vibe and tone. In a small way, it makes a big difference because you’re in a different headspace and that was so cool,” Simon added.
The group celebrated its release by performing the song with Zac during the Nightly Concerts at Nissan Stadium at the 2022 CMA Music Festival in Nashville last Thursday (June 9).
Previewing the song to over 30,000 people, King Calaway received an overwhelming applause following their time onstage, foreshadowing a bright future for Chris, Simon, Chad and Caleb.
“It was incredible way to debut the song and we were really happy about that night. It was amazing,” Chad said of the Nissan Stadium cameo.
“It was so thrilling,” Simon added. “I now know the definition of ‘thrill’ [thanks to that performance].”
“When I Get Home” is a taste of what’s to come from the band’s new music, which is all co-written and produced by Zac Brown.
“We have been working on new music. Nothing has been set in stone in terms of release but I’d say the collaboration [with Zac] is ongoing, so hopefully we can get some new stuff out soon,” Simon said.
“[The new music] is a bit of a mix. It was so great — we brought in some songs that we had written and Zac brought in songs that he had written, so it was really cool to bounce songs off each other to see what would all kind of fit together for a project,” Chad added.
For more on King Calaway’s music, watch our full interview with the band below.
For more Country news, visit CelebSecretsCountry.com.
