“I Could Be That Rain” by Randall King: Production Track

The main question facing Texas country singer Randall King over the past few years has not been if he would break through on the national stage, but when? The answer is likely 2024, as Warner Music Nashville releases a single to country radio. The classic sound of “I Could Be That Rain” is influenced by his ’90s country music, while the weathered lyrics stay true to his Amarillo roots.

“I just take Lovestorm in stride, man, coming from West Texas, how open it is, how flat it is,” he said. “They said you could stay out for three days and watch the dogs escape. You could see the thunderclouds rolling in, and it was so beautiful.

However, the emotions in “I Could Be That Rain” are not so beautiful because they are twisted. The protagonist finds himself shut out by his ex and never gets a chance to get close to her. If he could take Shower’s place, he could touch her again. It might be a bit sci-fi for the countryside to turn into a downpour, but the broken heart behind it is the basis of the story.

“This is so real,” King said. “This is what country music should be.”

Songwriter Mason Thornley formulated the title and concept around 2021 when he heard British pop artist Labrinth’s 2014 ballad “Jealous” on Spotify. The song lists people and elements of nature who may be sharing space with an ex, leaving the singer frustrated that his love interest has moved on when he can’t.

Thornley paid particular attention to the rain in the opening image of “Jealousy,” and believed that this smaller concept could be built into something larger. “I’ve always thought of it as a complete country song in itself,” he said.

Thornley composed the chorus and opening line “Wish I could be that rain,” and wrote the first half of the chorus to symbolize a downpour. He fantasized that, as raindrops, he could touch his ex’s skin, or sing her a song through the rhythm of the raindrops on the tin roof.

He pitched the idea at several writing appointments, but it didn’t get any traction. Finally, during a writing appointment at the offices of his publisher, Deluge Music, his rain song was well received. Artist and writer Brian Fuller, one of Thornley’s frequent writing partners, thinks humanizing Rain is a bit outrageous, but he sees it as a positive.

“The weirder the idea, the more interesting it is to me,” Fuller said. “I love being able to chase hooks like this and see [what happens]. Sometimes they turn out great. Sometimes they have no results at all. But I really like it. I mean, it’s not something I hesitate at all.

They finish the second half of the chorus—the first line in the exercise, “Wish I could move some clouds into your sunshine,” is probably the song’s best—and then move on to the first verse, The pitch is significantly lowered to create some drama in the song.

“I like to write those big, all-encompassing choruses a lot of times if there’s a singer in the room who can do it,” Thornley said. “Brian has a great voice and it’s not a problem for him to hit those notes.”
The lowness in the verses allows for introspection. In the first stanza, they use July showers to make the protagonist nostalgic, recalling the romantic moments the couple experienced in the rain. In the second verse, the singer ponders how, if he turned into the rain, he would affect her in ways that humans cannot.

“I wasn’t going to text her, or I was going to see where she was, if she was at a bar we used to go to, or if she was with her friends,” Fuller said. “I’m not going to drive by her house to see if she’s home. If there’s a unique way to do that, if there’s a way to get me back to her and remind her of me, I know rain would be the best method.

They didn’t produce a demo right away, but a few months later while on vacation at Thornley, Fuller discovered that Parker McCollum was considering adding outside songs to a project. “I Could Be That Rain” seemed like a potential match for Fuller, so he asked Thornley if they could pull off a demo. Thornley worked on it during his break, and when he returned to Nashville, Fuller spoke for him.

“Rain” didn’t feature McCollum, so Fuller recorded his own version with producer Joey Hyde. When Durango artist manager Scott Gunter was looking for a producer for developmental singer Jake Jacobson, Hyde sent this recording along with several others to showcase his skills. Gunter listened to “Rain” for weeks before he realized it might be the song for King. In fact, King was instantly attracted to it, even though he called Fuller to make sure it was cool.

After receiving critical acclaim, King and co-producer Jared Conrad recorded the song at Soundstage in Nashville in July 2023, aiming to balance his ’90s leanings with a 2020s style. “I wanted it to still be the traditional country sound that I have, but with a little bit of a dark, modern edge,” King said. “I was influenced by Gary Allen/Dix Bentley, which was kind of like Smoke Rings in the Dark. That’s what we wanted for this record. I wanted to put some ‘smoke’ on it.

The band played it three times at a slightly faster tempo to good effect, but during the fourth run, King suggested that steel guitarist Justin Schipper take a larger role, playing the opening signature riff and handling the instrumental solo.

“Production-wise, we really tried to make it a little sadder,” Conrad said. “I mean, just add a steel guitar and it works instantly.”

King also wanted to incorporate the feel of rain on a tin roof into the sound. Tim Galloway hinted at this with the pulsing rhythm of a bouzouki (a weak-sounding Greek string instrument), but King added a percussion by asking drummer Evan Hutchins to play with Galloway. metal side of the drum to enhance the effect.

When King sang the final lead vocal on Into the Neon, he saved “Rain” for last, fearing that its range might ruin his voice on the rest of the songs. “This is by far the hardest record I’ve ever made in my life,” he said. But he handled it well for a few full runs, and then Conrad changed things up to focus on specific parts of the song.

“We just broke it into parts so I could do all the bass verses together and then get into the chorus,” Conrad said. “But I assume he’s practiced it a lot because in the studio, it felt very natural.”

Warner Music Nashville released “Rain” to country radio on July 10 via PlayMPE, marking the label’s first nationwide release to major radio. King is confident in its potential.

“It’s a song that people can relate to,” he said. “People understand when you hurt and miss someone. You want them to hurt you and miss you. That’s the simplest thing.