Album Review – Royce Johns – “Thank Ya Kindly”

In this frenetic and nerve fraying moment in history when everything seems to be unraveling and at a quickening pace, it’s a deep breath, a cool breeze, a calming moment that is called for to help soothe anxieties, decompress, and recalibrate the mind onto the most important things in life. Lucky for you, the new album from Royce Johns fits this very profile.
Called Thank Ya Kindly, it takes inspirations from the neotraditional country that this Iowa-based musician’s previous works entail. But the album also finds that moment in country history when a bit more of the folk and songwriting influences crept into the Countrypolitan sound of the late ’60s and ’70s, enhancing songs with strong poetic notions reminiscent of artists such as Roger Miller, Tom T. Hall, and John Prine.
Your first inclination is to flip this record over and check the copyright date, because it feels a half century old, in the best of ways of course. Not just the sounds, music, and approach, but the temperament of Royce Johns’ calming and articulate delivery really make you savor the words and hang on them intently to absorb their meaning in full.
Like so much of the best country music, Thank Ya Kindly says prophetic things, but in very simple ways. It’s not that the philosophies these songs forward are novel. It’s how they remind you of things you already knew, affirming them in a way that never feels preachy, and your heart is welcoming to.

Thank Ya Kindly was recorded in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, and solicited the services of Grammy-winning producer Ben Tanner, along with well-regarded recording artist Caleb Elliot. While still sounding pleasantly simple and understated, the songs are enhanced with strings and horns to give them a fulfilling sound familiar to the time period they look to evoke.
And even though the underlying message of Thank Ya Kindly is to be kind to yourself and everyone else—and to choose to see the better in people and yearn for understanding and forgiveness—the final two songs are a bit more fun and lighthearted, including a vampire tale, and another about a moonshiner rendered in boogie woogie style, calling to mind Jerry Lee Lewis’s country era.
Thank Ya Kindly also goes down real easy. It immediately appeals to your throwback country sensibilities, while all ten songs come in at short run times, making for an album that is effortless to indulge in.
The end of one year and the beginning of another is a great opportunity to reassess your priorities and perspectives in life, and zero in on the things that really matter. Good country music is enjoyable to listen to and helps pass the time. Great country music does the same, but also enhances your life in other little ways that last well after the last note sounds. Royce Johns’ Thank Ya Kindly is great country music.
8.2/10
– – – – – – – – –
Purchase from Royce Johns
January 1, 2024 @ 9:04 am
Makes me want to move to a small town and just listening to that.
January 1, 2024 @ 10:02 am
This is one of those records that I come to this site for. Never would have found it on my own. Thanks, Trigger.
January 1, 2024 @ 11:11 am
There’s a warmth to this music that even comes through the digital streaming and made my ears swear I had just dropped the needle on a 50 year old vinyl record. Immersive is the best word I can find. This is fantastic.
January 1, 2024 @ 11:50 am
So proud of Royce Johns. His sound is amazing and he just keeps continuing to grow and grow with each album. #1 fan! BEASTMODE Troubadour
January 1, 2024 @ 2:58 pm
This was one of the albums of the year for me. Royce draws from some overlooked sources and brings his own thing to it. One of the few folks I heard this year writing excellent songs in a style that I don’t hear anybody else working in. And the production is insanely good; the fact that he did something with this level of quality independently is kind of mind blowing. If ya got your ears on Royce, congratulations on one heck an album. Look forward to hearing more from ya.
January 1, 2024 @ 10:43 pm
Thanks to Trigger for reviewing this album. I had never heard of him until today…. Unfortunately, I see he has only 165 subscribers on his you tube channel. But it’s not from lack of talent to my ears. There is a sincerity, wisdom and humor in his understated vocals that shines unlike the vocal gymnastics of other singers that overemote and shrink their level of believability. I think this music will age well, as both lyrics and music are timeless.
January 2, 2024 @ 3:26 pm
Just listened. Hadn’t heard of Royce Johns before, but this is a fantastic album. Great, smooth sound and brilliant backing band. Transported me to a different place.
January 3, 2024 @ 7:37 pm
Digging into this album because of this review. What a great find! Sincere thanks for highlight this!
I realize it’s too late, but for me this was/is absolutely one of the album of the year candidates.
January 5, 2024 @ 11:53 am
Finally gave this one some listening time. Wow what an album. I agree that this is great country music. If I might add one more artist comparison to your list, I feel some of the country Buffett vibes from some of these songs. As always, thanks for throwing this out there for us man. Hope to hear more of this from him in the coming years.
January 8, 2024 @ 11:21 am
WOW!!! Luv this!!