Texas country traditionalist Randall King has got to be one of the most under-utilized tools in country music’s utility belt. With an excellent voice in an era when singing ability seems so secondary—and a traditional sound that’s ripe to ride the current insurgence to the top—he’s one of these guys who you sit back and watch, and are rendered stupefied how he’s not selling out arenas.
That’s not to say that Randall King should be regarded with the Sisters of the Poor. Compared to many country music traditionalists, he’s hit the big time, including drawing large crowds to the clubs he plays, currently sitting a 1.7 million monthly listeners on Spotify, and signing to Warner Records Nashville in 2019. It took Warner long enough, but they finally formally sent a single to country radio with “I Could Be That Rain” in August of 2024. It became the most added track of the week.
But “I Could Be That Rain” ended up never going that far on radio, and neither did Randall King on Warner Records Nashville. The label seemed to treat him like an afterthought instead of maximizing his star power at a time when neotraditonal country is a hot commodity.
On November 21st, Randall King released a new single called “Big Deal.” Some Randall King fans quickly noticed that on the copyright stamp of the single, Warner Music Nashville wasn’t mentioned. It simply said “Randall King.” Then they went snooping around Warner’s website, and noticed Randall was no longer mentioned.
Even though the press release, YouTube video etc. did mention Warner, on Tuesday (11-25), the publicist for Randall King confirmed that he is no longer on the label. “Randall has left Warner. This next batch will be songs he is releasing independently.” King also corresponded with a fan saying, “Sony is my publisher. No longer with Warner or with a label at all.”
No word if Randall left Warner voluntarily, or if he was dropped. But he’s not the only one who’s exited the label recently. Ian Munsick and Drew Parker have also left in the country realm. This all comes as Warner has been going through major restructuring in 2025, including numerous rounds of layoffs. Incidentally, Warner Music Nashville was the label that also dropped William Michael Morgan back in 2019—another promising and under-utilized country music traditionalist.
Though this leaves Randall King without a label at the moment, one wonders if this even really matters. For Randall King, it’s questionable what Warner ever really did for him, if they didn’t get in his way. They didn’t even try to work a single to radio until he’d been on the label for nearly half a decade, and you didn’t see him getting those big touring opportunities that could have put him on a more national stage.
Randall King is not a staunch country traditionalist with a niche audience. He’s a traditional country artist with an accessible sound and style that can appeal to a wide swath of listeners when given an opportunity. He is a “Big Deal” in the small pool of traditional country artists with the capability of breaking out into the big time. Maybe Randall King doesn’t need a label with the way you can go directly to consumers these days. But there might be a label out there that needs him to up the talent on their roster.
