King of the Road is Scattered Hamlet’s newest offering and the first single off the yet to be named coming full length album. According to frontman Adam Joad, “The album is done, we just haven’t named it… we’ll be releasing singles and videos on all your favorite streaming platforms in advance before the hard copies drop.”
King of the Road has been a staple of Scattered Hamlet’s live show for the past year and has been a fan favorite. A live version of it was released earlier this year on their Live From 123 Pleasant Street album. Joad explained, “This one has gotten a great response live… it seemed right to release it first.” The song is about a truck stop in Nitro, West Virginia frontman Adam Joad stops at on his way to Nashville where the band often meets to collaborate on SH stuff.
Joad said: “That place is shady as shit. Meth heads, lot lizards, dogs running around.. a crazy lady demanding her fax.. you name it. I’ve had to run fools off with my 1911 there. It’s just dark.. then at night when you hit the Daniel Boone national forest it’s literally real dark and desolate. I’ve stopped and camped there a few times on my way to Nashville. That whole dark vibe reminded me of Stephen King’s The Dark Half, which is where the “High toned son of a bitch” reference comes from. On Anthrax’s Among the Living album, which is my favorite from them, there’s a lot of Stephen King references too so it’s also my little nod to the impact that album has had on me. It’s definitely one of my favorite songs to play live.”
