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This story originally appeared in the Jackson Free Press. It was added to the Mississippi Free Press website in 2025.
Note that any opinions expressed in legacy Jackson Free Press stories do not reflect a position of the Mississippi Free Press or necessarily of its staff and board members.

Being the music editor for the JFP I often get press releases from press agencies, promoting their latest band. For the first time ever, I got a NYC agency pushing a Jackson band all over the country. You know what’s up…..”Although all of 18 years old, King Elementary sound as if they have been playing forever. Actually, they almost have since they began when they were just 14 years old in their hometown of Jackson, Mississippi. Their debut CD, Kudzu will be released on Sweet Tea/Terminus Records on July 26th.

Sweet Tea is famed producer Dennis Herring’s (Elvis Costello, Modest Mouse, Counting Crows) label, and he has also produced this outstanding debut. Combining elements of neo grunge with classic angst rock, emo and a 60’s sense of pop melody, the songs are direct and powerful – they hit you full force but don’t overpower so much that you can’t get the message.

King Elementary have already been scooped up by Capitol Records for their next CD, after being courted by various labels that saw them perform live in LA and New York.
Look out for King Elementary when they go on tour this summer, and see what the buzz is all about..we just had to wait until they graduated high school!”

Formerly the Symptoms, they’ve been together for about 2 years and have put out a full length record, recorded with Matt Pleasant at The Laboratory. They’re style is like that of a 60’s garage band with influences from all over (Sonic Youth, Janes Addiction, Nirvana, Weezer), and they release their nationwide debut album on Sweet Tea Records, with producer Dennis Herring on July 26. They have an east coast and west coast tour booked, so check the dates for a city near you.
www.kingelementary.com
Booking:(601)-331-5887, [e-mail missing]

Mississippi native Donna Ladd and partner Todd Stauffer founded the Jackson Free Press in 2002 in the capital city. The heavily awarded local newspaper did many investigations heralded across the state and nation and served as a paper of record due to its diversity, inclusion, in-depth reporting and deep connection to readers and dedication to narrative change in and about Mississippi. In 2022, the nonprofit Mississippi Free Press, founded by Ladd and JFP Associate Publisher Kimberly Griffin in 2020, purchased the journalism assets and archives of the Jackson Free Press. A Google grant through AAN Publishers enabled Newspack's integration of the JFP archives into the Mississippi Free Press website to become part of a more searchable archive of recent Mississippi history and essential journalism.