Talihina Sky

Album: Youth and Young Manhood (2003)
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Songfacts®:

  • This song popped up on several occasions during the Kings' early career. Initially a hidden track on their debut EP, Holly Roller Novocaine, it featured on the American quartet's second EP, What I Saw, and was also a hidden track at the end of their debut album, Youth and Young Manhood.
  • An 87-minute film documenting the band's lives was named after this song. Talihina Sky was released in 2011 and its director Stephen Mitchell told Spinner that he titled the documentary after this track because it's one of his favorites and it fit the theme of the film. Said Mitchell: "What inspired me is that the family reunion is based in Talihina, Oklahoma, and that's obviously who we feature in the film, so it was perfect and basically made sense to go with that song. The version the boys play at the end of the film is actually an acoustic broken-down version of the first EP hidden track, the original version by their longtime producer Angelo Petraglia."
  • Talihina is a town in Le Flore County, Oklahoma. Mitchell told Spinner about the band's connections to the central southern state: "Two of the boys were born there. All of their fathers, uncles as well, are based in Oklahoma City. Their grandparents live in Oklahoma City, so the Followill family is actually based out of Oklahoma. It's their mother whose family is based in Tennessee, but [the boys] moved to Nashville for a music career after their father left the church and wasn't preaching any longer. Their parents got divorced, they moved to Nashville and that's when I met them in the garage, and they were wanting to take a run at rock music since they knew they had musical talents."
  • The Talihina Sky documentary reveals that the band gained its name from their grandfather. Said Jared: "Leon is our grandpa. He's a funny old man. He's hilarious. We all got our sense of humor from him. He's a quiet type. We all got the band name from him. He's just always been a big part of our lives."

Comments: 1

  • Staley from Dallas, TxNot familiar with the song, but I have been to Talihina. It's at the west end of this incredible scenic drive to Mena, Arkansas. You drive along the top of a long ridge with incredible views in the Ouachitas, and there are scenic overlooks every so often to pull over and get a great look.
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