The Duke & The King
The Duke & The King
Catskill Mountains, New York
“Folk Rock meets Huckleberry Finn”
If your music of choice includes overused synthesizers, highly amplified distortion, or overall heavy beats harshly reverberating your eardrums until they bleed, then The Duke & The King is not for you. This harmonious and sweetly melodic quartet from upstate New York brings you to their adventuresome roots in their new album, a compilation of their previous British releases.
Their name comes from the traveling Shakespeare hustlers in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and when listening to their folk-rock songs like “Shaky” and “Shine On You,” you can just imagine floating with them down a river, accepting whatever journey lies ahead. One of their more gospel and bluesy songs, “Hudson River,” directly relates to that idea – with lyrics that prompt the listener to want to sing along by the end – “Don’t run astray, don’t you ever take your love away.”
“If You Ever Get Famous” is the first song on the album and defines the morality of the band with lyrics including, “Keep your eyes open wide and beware of the sharks, because they get out in the dark” and “If you ever get famous, don’t forget about her.” The Duke & The King may be enjoying their journey down the river that is the music business and their growing fame, but it’s safe to say this band of musicians (compared to Shakespeare’s band of players) won’t let it get to their heads. As long as they keep that homemade folk sound, then they’ll be playing their own advice. (ANTI-)