Kam Franklin Recruits Kevin Morby For 'Didn't I'
(MPG) The Suffers frontwoman Kam Franklin has shared her new single "Didn't I" featuring Kevin Morby, the next preview of her upcoming debut solo album Land of the Neon Sun, which is co-produced with Margo Price and out August 28. Arriving with a behind-the-scenes music video with Franklin and Morby in the studio, "Didn't I" is a tender ode to unconditional friendship.
Franklin on the new single: "I met Kevin Morby at the Newport Folk Festival, and we became quick friends. When I told him I was working on a solo album, he was quick to send me some demos. I instantly fell in love with the song, and I was thrilled when Kevin made the trip out to Nashville to help me record it. To me, this is a song about good old-fashioned friendship. What does it mean to have someone who sees you for everything you are, but instead of running away, they choose you and everything that comes with you? My friend and frequent collaborator, Sara Van Buskirk, helped me develop what would eventually become the bridge, and I'm really proud of how this song turned out."
"Didn't I" follows the sultry "I Got a Lover" and the empowering "A Heathen's Hymn," which was named a Song You Need to Know by Rolling Stone. Land of the Neon Sun is a 12-song snapshot of an artist who's learned to lean into her perspective instead of contorting it into what anybody else has in mind. Track after track, Franklin subverts expectations. Country-tinged storytelling is followed by trippy calls to action, then subdued strings and playful electronic fillips. Her voice--a rolling Southern gale that's a genre unto itself--anchors as the music moves through a roots smorgasbord of growling guitars, psychedelic gospel and sparse folk.
For this labor of love and creative freedom, Franklin had saved her own money for years, then launched a successful Kickstarter campaign to fund the record. As the hard-driving, heart-pounding frontwoman of Houston band The Suffers, she has won over folks like David Letterman and Jimmy Kimmel, everywhere from the Newport Folk Festival to the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and NPR's Tiny Desk. Three albums and thousands of shows later, The Suffers are currently at work on their fourth record.
As a solo artist, Franklin's collaborations have cemented her reputation as an artist's artist, fearless political activist and invigorating creative partner. She contributed her signature vocals to the 2026 Grammy-winning Clifton Chenier project, A Tribute to the King of Zydeco. In 2022, she founded the Bayou City Comeback Chorus, and went on to release two EPs with the group, which blend psychedelic funk and traditional choral music with gutsy panache. In 2021, she joined Chaka Khan, Brandi Carlile, Price, Yola, and more as part of Allison Russell's "Once and Future" sounds on the Newport mainstage. In 2018, she released a single with Grammy-winning Tejano legends La Mafia. The previous year, she sang with the Houston Symphony, and in 2016, she performed in the March For Science band alongside Jon Batiste and Stay Human, Questlove, Judith Hill, and Fred Wesley. She is a frequent panelist at festivals and on podcasts, as well as an in-demand author, penning pieces on race, gender, and the arts for outlets including Vice and Forbes.
Land of the Neon Sun:
1. Land of the Neon Sun
2. We Ain't Going (feat. Jackie Venson)
3. I Got a Lover
4. Didn't I (feat. Kevin Morby)
5. God Bless Your Heart
6. Talk to You
7. Toxic
8. All I Could Give
9. A Heathen's Hymn
10. Pho for Breakfast
11. Profit Bop
12. Sunnyside, TX (feat. Bayou City Comeback Chorus)
Tour Dates:
8/6 - Houston, TX - Shoeshine Charlie's Bigtop Lounge
8/28 - Houston, TX - Cactus Records
10/1 - Los Angeles, CA - The Mint
10/4 - San Francisco, CA - Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival
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