Anyone who has driven through Pennsylvania in the fall will tell you it’s incredibly beautiful. Rolling hills of fiery orange and red leaves cling to branches as they resist the oppression of the cold that’s beginning to roll in.

It’s fitting that I spoke to guitarist Jesse Savio from Kings of Spade as they drove to their next tour date through the Pennsylvania hills. Making beauty out of oppression is nothing new for the Oahu-based blues-rock band.

Kings of Spade has built its bold, stomping, no-holds-barred sound around the lyrics of singer KC’s life and experience, some of which have to do with her coming out as she grew into adulthood.

When I caught up with Savio, the band was a little over halfway through its tour. Kings of Spade had just played Arlene’s Grocery the night before in New York City, and the band was really happy with the crowds they’d been performing for and the people they had met along the way.

Just back from the tour, Kings of Spade open for Tennessee rock band Skillet at The Republik on Sunday.

A MAJOR part of the touring experience is hanging out with other bands on the road. Savio said the band had a fantastic time getting to know some of the acts on this tour.

“We started in Arizona and then we went to Austin, Texas, which is our second home. The crowds there are great,” Savio said.

Tour highlights have included “whooping” a band called The Heroine at a game of trivia, and spending time in Alabama with an artist named Chris Simmons.

“He seemed like a preacher,” said Savio. “Everything he said was like a life lesson. And everything with him was ‘badass.’ He would say that constantly, about everything.”

While in Charlotte, the band played at a School of Rock, run by the singer in a band they appeared with. Kings of Spade performed at the school, then asked the kids to perform for them.

On the band’s Instagram page, the photo from the School of Rock shows KC next to a young musician who also happens to have fiery red hair. A lot of our national conversation lately has been about the importance of kids seeing themselves represented in their mentors and media; KC gave this girl that mentorship moment.

Highlights have also included having Riki Rachtman, the former MTV VJ from “Headbanger’s Ball,” attend a show (he has been a longtime supporter of the band), and sightseeing at the nation’s capital.

The band (rounded out by drummer Matt Kato and bassist Tim Corker) traveled in an RV, often parking at campgrounds overnight, where they would hook up the power, build a fire and refresh themselves. Singer KC had a room at the back.

KINGS OF SPADE is touring in support of its self-titled album, newly released by label Soundly Music this year. With Soundly’s support, Savio says “Kings of Spade” is reaching listeners nationwide.

Another source of support has come from BAMP Project and Republik co-owner Matty Hazelgrove, who has taken on a role as their manager. It’s a mutually beneficial fusion.

“I have been around live music for a very long time,” Hazelgrove said. “Before having a role in the music industry, I was always a music fan. Obviously, I still am.

“When you see certain bands live, you know they just have ‘it.’ Sometimes it’s hard to define what ‘it’ means, but I know that King’s of Spade is on a path to touch a lot of people with their music. Rock music is bubbling again under the surface of popular music. I couldn’t be more proud and excited to be on the team .”

One notable asset for the new album — the cover art — came to be with Hazelgrove’s encouragement. He suggested the band contact Corey Meyers, an artist who has created album graphics for Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age and Circa Survive.

Meyers responded, with a Hawaii-inspired, classic rock-style cover, featuring lava and ocean meeting up at a half-open door.

“When we have the chance to project the album cover behind us onstage, it works incredibly well,” Savio said.

THE BAND has released two new music videos in connection with “Kings of Spade,” for tracks “Bottoms Up” and “Strange Bird.”

“Bottoms Up” is a day-in-the-life storyline, which has the band cruising around Oahu in a truck and playing good Samaritan, picking up the video’s heroine when her car breaks down, and then heading out for a best day ever: They bowl, they surf, they jump fences to crash a pool and generally have a fine time.

“Strange Bird” encapsulates KC’s experience coming out as a young girl, told in the lyrics. The song kicks off with a scorching intro and then morphs into a laid-back ska strum for the verse, with a sonic lull while KC hits a beautiful clear high note for the pre-chorus. It turns into a full rager for the chorus, with KC’s bluesy growl proclaiming that she’ll keep “rocking to the beat of my own drum.”

On YouTube, after the video wraps, it cuts to KC telling her story of coming out. KC tells the story live onstage as well, before the band plays the song.

In the video, KC relays her stance on love and individuality.

“I came to the realization that two people loving each other could never be wrong, and I developed the self-confidence to just not care about what anybody else thought about me anymore,” she says.

“I realized there’s so much beauty in people who have the bravery to just rock their own colors.”