In addition to the musical contributions made to SKY by Oberhoff (piano, organ, keyboards, strings, guitar) and King (acoustic guitar, harmony and background vocals), they were joined by A-list Nashville musicians with collective experience ranging from the Grand Ole Opry staff band to playing world stages with Tina Turner. The musicians sharing their talents on King’s SKY project were Steve Mackey (bass), Wanda Vick (fiddle, viola, mandolin, dobro), Jack Bruno and Lynn Williams (drums), Bob Britt and Aaron Currie (guitar), Bruce Bouton (pedal steel), Kevin Bate (cello), and Kacee Clanton and Crystal Miller (background vocals). All of the songs were written by King with one co-write.
King plans to release two singles in advance of the album. The first, “Dangerous,” was released alongside its lyric video on July 18, 2025, with a premiere earlier that week at Americana Highways, who called the song “dynamic and anthemic, a hearty roots rocker.” “Dangerous” is Diane King, fearless and on a mission to bring it. It’s about love and passion and running headfirst into life — and loving every second of it.
“Love Like This,” the second single, will be released on August 15, 2025, with the song and video premiering prior to that at V13. “Love Like This” is an up-tempo celebration of love that doesn’t hesitate or question — it just shows up, fully and forever. With infectious energy, a sing-along chorus, and that signature lyric, “Walk right on in forever style,” this song is about the kind of love that’s built to last. “I love this song,” King says. “It’s a happy song about a relationship that comes easy. I love a sad song, and I can write ’em, but this one’s about what happens when you find your person, and it all works out.”
King is a proud child of Appalachia, with a family that is generations-deep in the hills of southern Ohio and West Virginia. She was raised on music, musical talent runs in the family, and her mom was always singing and performing. “That’s all I knew — music,” King recalls. “It was around me and in me at a cellular level.” Her senior year in high school, King had the opportunity to talk to Amy Grant. She gave King guidance that has served her well. “I was able to meet Amy after a show in Charleston, West Virginia,” King recalls. “I asked her how I could get into music professionally, and she pointed me in the direction of Nashville. Two weeks after graduating high school, I moved to Nashville and have lived there ever since.”
In Nashville, King joined a local band, where she played keyboards and sang back-up vocals. Soon after, she began playing guitar and writing. Then, as a songwriter, she started playing all around Nashville, meeting with and submitting material to producers, publishers, and labels. Eventually, she was discovered by legendary songwriter Harlan Howard when a mutual BMI acquaintance gave him a demo of King’s songs and he came to see King perform at Nashville’s historic Bluebird Café. Howard began mentoring King and working with her at his publishing company, Harlan Howard Songs. King says, “Harlan told me, ‘Kid, you have the raw talent, now I’m going to teach you the craft.’ Every song I’ve written since includes that craft of songwriting that he taught me. What an absolute honor to have him as my mentor.” He told King she should sing her own songs, so, with her love for harmonies, King assembled a vocal trio, Diane King & Little Stone. King sang lead, and powerhouse vocalists Crystal Miller and Paul Ginther added harmonies to her songs. The trio performed in Nashville and throughout the South and Midwest.
After some years of the artist life, King used her bachelor’s degree in music business from Middle Tennessee State University to land a job at Nashville’s leading music business management firm, Flood Bumstead McCready & McCarthy. King’s roster of clients included Wynonna Judd, Kaki King, and Robert Randolph. “Working with Wynonna and her amazing team was such a joy,” says King. “I still have friendships from that time in my life. In fact, some of Wy’s band members I met back then played on my SKY project. What an amazing experience!”
After a few years, King found she missed the creative side of music. She left that business role to write and sing again, looking for a place to land with her Appalachian-rooted songs. King became part of the International Bluegrass Music Association and is a graduate of their select Leadership Program. She co-wrote with bluegrass songwriter Louisa Branscomb, and their song, “Gone,” was included on Branscomb’s I’ll Take Loveproject on Compass Records and performed by award-winning bluegrass artist Dale Ann Bradley.
King once again assembled a vocal trio, joined a second time by Miller, a stellar vocalist in her own right, and award-winning Nashville songwriter Karen Staley. This trio, which King called Lorena, was pure Americana and bluegrass. The three kicked things off with performances at Nashville’s premiere venues and WSM Radio’s “Coffee, Country and Cody” morning show.
Following the launch of Lorena, King found herself facing the challenge of a cancer diagnosis. Eventually, her health couldn’t sustain the commitment needed to continue the trio. It took over four years of cancer treatment and management, but finally, under the care of Vanderbilt Ingram Cancer center, King reached remission of her lymphoma. Additional recovery time was needed for singing, as her cancer battle included significant trauma to her neck and throat.
In 2023, some friends strongly encouraged her to return to her music and record a new project. Former bandmate Miller suggested she visit recent LA-to-Nashville transplant Stephan Oberhoff’s studio. The two hit it off, and over the next year they partnered in co-producing the forthcoming album, SKY. With this new release, King is back. With acoustic guitar in hand, vocal clarity, unstoppable songwriting, and the passion of a survivor, she has created SKY — a project built with no compromises and a lot of heart.
Fans eager to keep up with the latest on King should check her website and follow her on social media.
https://www.dianekingmusic.com/
For more information, please contact:
Publicity –
Krista Mettler, Skye Media, krista.mettler@skyemediaonline.com
Radio & Digital Streaming Promotion –
Peter Hay, Twin Vision, peter.hay@twinvision.net
Kate Hay, Twin Vision, kate@twinvision.net
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[Download press release here.]
