Kings of Leon
Who:
Garage rock’s great Southern hope — three ragamuffin sons of a preacher man and their cousin, all hard-rocking and easy on the eyes. Discovered by the guy who signed the Strokes
Sound:
If the Allman Brothers Band covered the Who. Tunes such as „Molly’s Chambers“ and „Wasted Time“ combine bluesy rock & roll, Southern boogie and Sixties-style garage.
Holy Rollers:
Nathan, 22, Caleb, 20, and Jared Followill, 16 — on drums, guitar and bass, respectively — learned to play by performing gospel songs in church. Their father, Leon, was a Pentecostal minister who traveled around the South evangelizing; the boys say they got their real musical education in the back seat of their parents‘ car. „Whenever our mom wasn’t in the car, our dad would put on the Rolling Stones or Neil Young or Bad Company,“ says Caleb.
All in the Family:
After they signed with RCA in 2002, the brothers recruited their cousin Matthew Followill, 18, to play second guitar. „As a family, you’ve already got a sixth sense with each other,“ says Nathan. „We’re discovering that you can tap into that in the music.“
Look for:
Kings of Leon’s five-song debut EP comes out February 18th, and the band begins recording its first album this month in Los Angeles with producer Ethan Johns, who has worked with Ryan Adams, Counting Crows and Ours.
www.rollingstone.com
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