Memphis Radio Kings

MemphisRadioKings.com is now a Memphis and surrounding area music resource.

If you are looking for information from the previous site, the below info may assist you:

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MEMPHIS RADIO KINGS are wine and bullets. They are melody, hooks, rhythm and enthusiasm, aggression and restraint. They are thought provoking lyrics, sweaty live performances, and quiet moments that make you cry, or laugh. They are 3 + 1 = 4 guys who don’t care about record labels, genre labels or the other things that most bands care about. They are perfect pop songs, a Telecaster that cuts you in half, and rhythms that make you want to dance, fight, or both. With two full-length albums, an EP and hundreds of live shows, they are experienced but never jaded, always grateful. They are also changing. In 2004, they offended the MRK purists by adding a “bass-player”, and recording with Gregg Williams (Dandy Warhols). In 2006 they will shrug off the notion of “alt-country” by releasing an album full of perfectly crafted pop songs played on guitars, drums, synthesizers, pianos, and other stuff. This album will be produced by Martin Feveyear (Mark Lanegan, The Epoxies, The Briefs). You’ll want to listen closely, you’ll want to sing along, and you’ll want to do these things over and over again. Memphis Radio Kings are Charlie, Tim, Tony, and Jon. They sing and play guitars, drums, and keyboards.

Borrowing liberally from their favorite musical styles: 70′s rock, indie-pop, gospel, blues, and country (Flathead Lake style), these local lads spend their time writing songs to please themselves, their friends, and their fans; a continually burgeoning base at Seattle’s many clubs. With three critically-acclaimed albums under their belt and about to release a fourth, these three are poised to steamroll the tired alt-country scene like an armadillo on speed.

Fronting the band on lead vocals and rhythm guitar is Charlie Beck, a contender who wears his bruises and losses deep within his heart. With a crackly tenor, Charlie’s aggressive energy and emotional edginess takes the listener on a road full of hooks, jabs, and a pain that only a shot and a nod can cure. A prolific songwriter, Charlie keeps the band fresh and the audience’s toes tappin’.

In the dark, off to the side is the mysterious, enigmatic Tim Jones on lead guitar. A musicians musician, Tim doesn’t steal the spotlight, as much as slowly, deliberately draws the audience’s ears in his direction with his inventive sounds and elegant technique. Whether he’s sending out a soaring blues on his trusty telecaster, or bringing you down home with a Dobro that you’d swear was torn from the bumper of late 50′s Ford, Tim plays with an authority that can only come experience, or a really good lie.

Laying down a foundation for his boys in the front is Tony Leamer. As drummer, percussionist, and back-up singer, Tony takes his place behind the skins and sets forth on a mission to rock. Constantly pushing the band past formulaic pitfalls and pop-culture regurgitation, Tony’s relentless beats, Moon-esque enthusiasm and fearless honesty drives the band onward and upward.

The newest member of the Kingdom is Jon Goff: player of bass, creator of keyboard drenched soundscapes and harbinger of rock. The fact that Jon can play every note of Iron Maiden’s Killers with one hand while whipping up a tasty tofu scramble with the other made him an obvious choice. Jon has endured a hazing period that would have made Jason Newstead cry like a little baby, so you know he’s got the stuff.

The last few years have been good to these city boys. The year 2003 saw them in Austin at SXSW, and at the top of the roots heap in Seattle, being named Best Americana Band by readers of the Seattle Weekly. 2004 Had them playing Seattle’s Bumbershoot Festival and working with Gregg Williams (Dandy Warhols) to put out, in one reviewer’s words “…the best alt-country record of the year, hands down”, The Devil’s Dutchman. 2006 brings new sounds, textures and approaches to familiar forms. Stay tuned…

Publication: I Rock Cleveland
Author: Bill
…while the band has proclaimed a shift to a more mainstream rock sound, they haven’t forgotten their alternative country past. “Last Lullaby” will still make you shed a tear in your Budweiser and there’s also the rousing country rock number, “$2 Whiskey Pill.” Even rockers like “Brand New Depression” and “Alabaster Carpet” bring enough of the roots along for the ride that they should please both the No Depression crowd as well as the rock kids.

Publication: The Stranger
Author: Kurt B. Reighley
…sonically and stylistically, the 12-track set utilizes a broader palette than previous MRK discs, an advancement further enhanced by savvy production from local stalwart Martin Feveryear.

Publication: Three Imaginary Girls
Author: JimiC
The overall feel of this, their third album, has a big ol’ foot in traditional American music while also prominently moving into other areas (e.g. straight rock, pop, and early 20th century jazz). Think more of the Replacements in attitude than of Hank Williams, although even Hank Sr. would feel plenty at home here. A few spins on this one, and you will, too.

Publication:Plug In Music
Author: Corinne
The Memphis Radio Kings are as much country as they are rock ‘n’ roll as they alternate between the sounds on “The Devil’s Dutchman” and blend them together.

Publication: Rhapsody Music Service
Author: Eric S.
Fans of the Americana sound who feel betrayed by their heroes leaving the twang in the dust to pursue more radio-friendly music may now bow down to the Memphis Radio Kings, who fuse some of that Bo Diddley rhythm with dexterous Telecaster picking and melodies that stick like cactus candy. Oh, and their songs rule.

Publication: Music Morsels
Author: Mark E. Waterbury
Seattle’s Memphis Radio Kings third CD smokes from end to end with their amalgamation of back alley blues, cow punk boogie and alt folk nature. With an edginess found in bands like Jason & the Scorchers and the Old 97′s, these guys take their various root elements and twist them until taut before booting them in the ass. They are all great players, with incredible songwriting capabilities both lyrically and instrumentally. They deserve a breakout with this CD.

Publication: Razorcake – Full Review
Author: Jimmy Alvarado
If this were the early ’80s and Slash were still an active label, they would’ve snatched these guys up in a heartbeat, and “God As My Waitress” would’ve been a huge underground hit. Made me nostalgic for a scene I didn’t even think I missed.

Publication: Americana UK – Full Review
Author: TJF
First off, great name, particularly as the band don’t come from Memphis, claim never to have been there and almost certainly haven’t been played on the radio there. However, this second cd from the Seattle based three piece looks set to change all of that…

Publication: RikksRevues.com – Full Review
Author: Rikk M
The style of MRK is as pleasing to a rock ear as it is to cowboy punk, genre jumping electricity flows through every tune. The stunning songwriting and flamboyant execution, along with a great arrangement add together to make a truly unique musical journey…

Publication: Americana UK – Full Review
Author: TJF
First off, great name, particularly as the band don’t come from Memphis, claim never to have been there and almost certainly haven’t been played on the radio there. However, this second cd from the Seattle based three piece looks set to change all of that…

Publication: Music Morsels – Full Review
Author: TJF
Combining various connotations of roots country and modern pop rock, this band sometimes sounds like the Eagles with Billy Bragg in the band, while on songs like “Easy Chair” they just go pretty much for the cow-punk juggler without getting heavy-handed with the riffs. The result is a more subtle version of let’s say, Bare Jr., with enough originality in the songwriting to set themselves apart from other purveyors of alt country.

Publication: Delusions of Adequacy Reviews – Full Review
Author: John H
No Band in a Happy Place (is)…more bluesy than early 60s British Invasion pop, more pop than the Replacements, and more punk than Sun Studio rockabilly. And, as the playful riff from “Purple Rain” in “Wasted Years,” suggests, the Minneapolis influence springs from more than just The Replacements. No Band in a Happy Place sits comfortably in between all of these influences, letting the band pick what suits them best from each style.

Publication: Ballard News Tribune (Courtesy of CD Baby)
Author: Steve Stav
By blending a certain blue-collar poignancy with fiery Midwestern bar-band determination and raw-as-an-open-wound, front-porch bottleneck guitar, the Kings have produced a record that has roots somewhere between Minneapolis and Mississippi — between the Replacements and Lightnin’ Hopkins.

Publication: Delusions of Adequacy Reviews
Author: John H
In the first song of their debut, “Givin’ Up,” Memphis Radio Kings wears its name like a comfortable pair of shiny black shoes. “Givin’ Up” begins almost exactly as that Who song, “I Can See for Miles.” It’s uncanny how close it comes to my memory of the Who original. Then the song jumps into high-energy, two-stepping rock-a-billy. The trio’s twin-guitar attack and relentless drumming gets the toe tapping and raises the expectations. Vocalist Charlie Beck’s raspy, impatient tenor suits the frantic pace of the song perfectly. In this song, Memphis Radio Kings lives up to its lofty name