For the first time in 13 years, for KING + COUNTRY is taking time off the road. When they debuted in 2012, the duo was logging between 120-150 dates a year. More than a decade later, they still average between 60-80 concerts over a 12-month itinerary. Known for their high-octane, theatrical live shows, brothers Joel and Luke Smallbone are relentless road warriors. That’s why it was even more crucial for the pair to take an extended break, beginning in January. While they’ve had more time at home than they’ve enjoyed in ages, they’ve also been in the studio — planning, dreaming and creating. They say new music is coming sooner than later; but in the meantime, they’ll be closing out a year of rest with a surprise for fans. Their beloved “A Drummer Boy Christmas” tour will be returning to eight select cities this December.
Once again trading massive arenas for more intimate theaters, for KING + COUNTRY will kick off their holiday tradition with two consecutive evenings in Orlando and conclude with a five-night residency at Nashville’s iconic Grand Ole Opry House. Along the way, they’ll also make stops in Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, St. Louis, Minneapolis and Chicago. Joel and Luke recently called in from Franklin, Tennessee, for only their third interview of the year to chat about what they’ve been up to during their well-deserved downtime, when we might be able to hear new music and what fans can expect from this year’s “Drummer Boy Christmas.”
K-LOVE: You guys have taken a well-deserved break this year. Aside from working on new music, what has 2025 looked like for you?
Luke: I’ve really loved being relied upon — relied upon by my wife, by the kids, but also even just in friendships. We are, at times, a little bit like gypsies. You come to a place; you’re gone the next day. So for us to just have a moment where we’re really practicing being in a community, week in and week out, has probably been the thing I’ve enjoyed the most. It’s created margin to be able to go do some things, where you’re not just trying to recover during the week to gear up again for the next weekend, but you’re actually getting to enjoy it. You’re getting to be together. The kids know that, at the end of the day, I’m going to be putting them to bed at night, every night. It’s just been a gift and something I haven’t taken for granted.
Joel: My favorite bit has been actually being able to be more available to [my wife], Moriah, as she’s been developing and launching this Latin country music project and just being able to be her stage manager, because usually we’re splitting off. She’ll go do this thing, and I’ll go do that. In this case, I’ve gotten to really be present for a formative time for her.
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K-LOVE: Has this time off the road made you realize how necessary rest is for you, not only personally, but also professionally?
Luke: I think we got to see the flickers of what burnout looked like last year…For us, part of this year has been a development of what the next three, four, five years going to look like. You have to take a moment in time to prepare the actual content, but I also think, spiritually speaking, to prepare for what’s next. We’re intentionally removing ourselves from the hustle and bustle and the norms to prepare for what’s next, with that being music and movies.
Joel: I was texting Luke the other day, and I was like, “Man, I really think we’re going to look back on this time and see how this was incredibly pivotal in our lives as individuals, as families and as a band.”
K-LOVE: What can you tell us about the new music you’ve been working on?
Luke: That was part of the experiment this year. We’ve always made music while on the road and in and out of town, and we’ve never actually done like most other people — go and focus on writing and recording, where it’s like this sacred time. We started asking ourselves a question: What if we did carve out a period of time? What would that music even look like? Hopefully, it’s for the better, but what if we just discover what that is?
Joel: The good news is [the new music] is coming along, and it’s coming along beautifully. We will be playing some of it on our upcoming Christmas tour, which will be the first time we’ve ever played it live.
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K-LOVE: Speaking of the Christmas tour, how did this become such a wonderful holiday ritual for you and for KING + COUNTRY fans?
Joel: It’s interesting. So, 2012, the year we released [our debut record], we did about 50 shows on Winter Jam. We were the 10-minute lights-up slot at the top of the show. Then we just determined we were going to do a full tour. Then after the full tour, we thought, “Let’s do a Christmas tour.” We didn’t have a Christmas single; we didn’t have a Christmas album; we had nothing. We literally shoved ourselves into The Factory here in Franklin before it was “The Factory,” because it was a free space. It was a church at the time. We started developing these Christmas renditions, one of them being “Little Drummer Boy,” and it really shaped not only what this Christmas experience has become; but I would argue, because it was so early on, it really shaped the DNA of the band — rhythmic and beat-forward and international. A lot of these themes we pulled, in many ways, from “Drummer Boy.”
K-LOVE: Once you put it all together, what was that first Christmas tour like?
Joel: It almost killed us. That’s the irony. By the end of that Christmas tour, Luke had really started digressing into ulcerative colitis or showing signs of that, out of stress; and Dad was hospitalized at the end of the tour. He was in his 60s and had been driving the van and trailer through the night, cross-country. We were passionate about it, but there was pain riddled in the story with the origins of “Drummer Boy,” as well.
K-LOVE: Outside of premiering new music, what are you most excited about in regard to this year’s Christmas tour?
Luke: Well, part of what’s unique about this tour is we intentionally went with theaters. We did a little bit of that last year, where we went into some bigger theaters that were very intimate. Theaters sound good. They’re a little bit more beautiful, if that makes sense; whereas arenas, you have to remember, they’re actually designed to be loud. We are intentionally making it more intimate this year.
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K-LOVE: With your Christmas tour, you’ve built an annual tradition in many ways. How do you create a memorable night for families that come to your concerts each year?
Luke: When we get Christmas right, it’s about remembering. Obviously, you don’t get the resurrection without a birth. One of the ways I measure good songs is if people are singing the songs 15 years after they release. In some cases, even with what Joel and I do, you don’t really know how good the songs are until they’ve been around for decades. If people are still singing those songs for decades, you may have written a pretty good song. Well, when you talk about Christmas, you’re talking about songs that are hundreds of years old. You’re talking about songs that have gone through wars, songs that have comforted the comfortless, songs that have given perspective when there was none. I mean, you’re talking about songs that are astoundingly powerful, and we get to sing those every year. It’s not lost on me just how much I actually enjoy getting into a room and singing “Silent Night” together…It’s the symbolism of these things. To me, it’s the remembrance of Christmas that I think is extremely powerful.
Joel: Every year it astounds me how important Christmas is, that we actually stop and we go, wait, there is hope. Wait, there is redemption. There is joy; there is peace; there is love. You get to the end of the year, and it’s like this grand reset of going, this is the profound thing: Even while we were in this mess, Jesus still loved us; and we didn’t have to go to Him, He came to us. It’s not a mistake that we haven’t played any shows this year, and the only performances we’re going to do are the Christmas ones.
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K-LOVE: Even though you’ve been on a bit of a hiatus this year, you did attend the K-LOVE Fan Awards back in May, and you took home the trophy for Group of the Year. You now have 19 K-LOVE Fan Awards to your name, and for KING + COUNTRY remains the most awarded artist in K-LOVE Fan Awards history. Do you continue to be surprised after all this time when your name is called again?
Luke: We’re here to store up treasures in heaven, but what I do say is this: If you could see people’s faces represented in the award, I think you would be really humbled to know that they turn to your music when they’re sad or when they want to dance. They turn to your music when they’re stressed or when they’re about to go face the most difficult day of their life. I’m not a good enough songwriter to write about things that I don’t care about. I write songs to comfort my own soul. It makes me feel a little less lonely. It makes me feel a little bit more like, man, there’s other people going through very similar things as me; and how wonderful it is for us to be able to be sojourners on this thing called life.
Joel: The beginning and the middle and the end of all of this is the people. That’s what’s so encouraging about that 19 number, is like, man, that represents a lot of people.
K-LOVE: Why do you think music, in particular, impacts people so deeply?
Luke: I’m not sure what type of art there is in heaven. I don’t know if there’s painting, if there’s movies. I don’t know what it is, but you know the one thing that we do know is up there? Songs. Songs are absolutely potent. They pierce through. They bypass our head, go directly to our heart. For us to be a part of writing songs that become a soundtrack to people’s lives is a privilege and an honor.
