Kings of Leon frontman Caleb Followill is so amped to play live music again when his band’s “When You See Yourself” summer tour starts in August that he’s already doing his “Rambo workouts” to get in road-ready shape.
“I don’t know what I’m looking forward to the most. It seems like it’s been a long time coming,” Followill, 39, told The Post about the tour, which will hit Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater on Aug. 25. “I think it’s gonna be electric.”
Eighteen years and countless shows after KOL’s debut album, “Youth & Young Manhood,” the Grammy-winning rock band — which is rounded out by Caleb’s brothers Jared (bass) and Nathan (drums), as well as their cousin Matthew Followill (guitar) — missed the road big-time during the pandemic.
“I love my family and I love being home, but man, I miss the traveling,” said Followill. “I’m already looking at the tour schedule and picking out restaurants I wanna go eat at and places I wanna go visit.”
Still, Followill said he’s enjoyed “getting fat” while spending precious family time in Nashville. “I have a young son [Winston] — he’s 2 — and if we had gotten on the road right when we finished the record, I would have missed a lot of the great things that I’ve been able to be a part of,” said the singer-guitarist, who also has a daughter, Dixie, 8, with his wife, model Lily Aldridge.
But giving back has become even more important to Kings of Leon since COVID shut down the concert biz. In fact, one dollar from every ticket sold for the “When You See Yourself” tour — which takes it name from the band’s eighth studio album, released in March — goes to the Inherit the Music foundation they recently co-founded to support aspiring artists.
While he admits that he “absolutely” gets tired of playing hits “Use Somebody” and “Sex on Fire” every single show — “There was a moment when I was a little disgruntled by it,” he said — Followill’s attitude has changed about that over the years: “Now it’s just more of a pride that comes over me when I see how many people it’s touched and the longevity those songs have had. That’s something that’s special to me now.”
And the benefits of being both bandmates and blood have only improved over time, with their bond extending beyond the music. While “Matthew kind of does his own thing,” Followill said, “Me and Nathan and Jared, we spend a lot of time together. We play golf about two times a week at least.”
And a lot has changed since they dropped their first album, “Youth & Young Manhood,” in 2003. “I don’t think our wives would appreciate if we were the same guys we were 18 years ago,” Followill said. “But we still have that hunger and that drive, and we still love making music. And I feel like our bond is much stronger now … Obviously, we’re family, but now we have [our own] families, and to see our kids grow up together and to get to look forward to getting on the road and watching them when they get to see us for the first time, that’s something that we’re all very excited about.”
And he wouldn’t tell 21-year-old Caleb to do anything differently: “I wouldn’t wanna mess with it. I wouldn’t wanna change anything.”
But, he added, “I’m sure my liver probably would ask me to slow down back in the day.”