King Dude

Under the name King Dude, T.J. Cowgill has developed in Seattle, Washington, a solo project that emerged in the late 2000s at the intersection of neofolk, dark folk and an Americana darkened by post-punk and the legacy of gothic rock. Previously part of the West Coast metal scene, notably with Book of Black Earth, he later shifted his writing toward a more stripped-down format centered on guitar, a deep voice and a pronounced taste for biblical imagery, desire, death and the murky areas of spirituality. After the initial releases My Beloved Ghost and Love in 2011, King Dude refined this aesthetic on Burning Daylight (2012), Fear (2014), Songs of Flesh & Blood - In the Key of Light (2015), Sex (2016) and Music to Make War To (2018). His trajectory sits within the dark folk, gothic and underground scenes across the United States and Europe, with a repertoire that alternates austere ballads, shadowy folk rock and songs with shades of noir country. King Dude thus works a contemporary form of folk that is spare, direct and laden with symbolism, while retaining a very frontal approach to song.