Earlier this month, I wrote about the rapidly rising, Greenville, SC-born, Nashville-based singer/songwriter and guitarist, Marcus King. The Greenville-born, Nashville-based is a fourth generation musician, who followed in his family’s footsteps: Playing professionally since he was 11, King was discovered after a video of him performing at Norman’s Rare Guitars went viral. Now 23, King has been performing for the past 15 years, establishing himself as a world class guitarist, vocalist and highly sought-after session player.
Since 2015, King has been relentlessly touring with his backing band The Marcus King Band — Jack Ryan (drums), Stephen Campbell (bass), Justin Johnson (trumpet, trombone) and Dean Mitchell (sax, still guitar) — playing 140 dates live shows over the course of the past year. Adding to a breakthrough year, King and his backing band have played on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, made his debut at The Grand Ole Opry — and he recently opened for Chris Stapleton during his last US arena tour, playing in front of 17,000 people every night.
Building upon a rapidly rising profile, King’s highly-anticipated, Dan Auerbach-produced full-length debut El Dorado is slated for a January 17, 2020 release through Fantasy Recordings. Continuing the success of “How Long,” King’s full-length debut was co-written with Auerbach over three days at his Easy Eye Sound studio — and reportedly, the album is a contemporary sonic exploration of classic rock, blues, southern R&B and country soul.
“Marcus is known by so many as a phenom guitar player, and rightfully so,” Dan Auerbach says of his time working with Marcus King. “He’s regularly the best player in the room, hands down. I was equally blown away by the way he can sing — so effortless, so soulful, straight to the heart. He’s a naturally gifted writer too, which was clear right away. Everything for him is so innate — that’s why he can always go right to the heart of a song and connect in a deeper way. He’s really one of a king and I’m proud I got to work alongside him on this record.”
“Wildflowers and Wine,” El Dorado‘s second single was a slow-burning track that was one-part Muscle Shoals soul, one part Southern rock, one-part R&B and one-part classic blues centered around a lush arrangement of twinkling keys, a soulful backing vocal section and a sinuous bass pair line paired with King’s vocals. And while being clearly indebted to 70s AM radio, the song manages to be a carefully crafted and self-assured bit of soulful pop, which manages to belie King’s relative youth while being a perfect vehicle for a his blues-tinged guitar work and his exceptional and effortlessly soulful vocals. The album’s third and latest single “Say You Will” is a slickly produced, arena rock friendly blues with an enormous hook. And while bringing Slowhand-era Eric Clapton and Texas Flood-era Stevie Ray Vaughan to mind, the album’s latest single continues a run of carefully crafted and self-assured material that belie his relative youth — all while being perfect vehicles for a sultry vocal delivery and impressive old school blues-inspired guitar work.
King and his backing band are currently on a lengthy Stateside and European Union tour that includes a December 21, 2019 stop at The Beacon Theatre. New dates have been added as well. Check out the tour dates below.
THE MARCUS KING BAND ‘EL DORADO’ TOUR DATES
(NEW DATES IN BOLD)
DEC 3 TUE – Macon, GA – Macon City Auditorium – Marcus King Solo,
DEC 5 THU – Knoxville, TN – Bijou Theatre
DEC 6 FRI – Durham, NC – Carolina Theater
DEC 7 SAT – Pittsburgh, PA – Mr. Smalls Theatre
DEC 8 SUN – Washington DC – 9:30 Club
DEC 10 TUE – Philadelphia, PA – Theatre of Living Arts
DEC 12 THU – Detroit, MI – St. Andrew’s Hall
DEC 13 FRI – Columbus, OH – Newport Music Hall
DEC 14 SAT – Chicago, IL – Thalia Hall
DEC 15 SUN – Chicago, IL – Thalia Hall
DEC 17 TUE – Cleveland, OH – House of Blues
DEC 18 WED – Toronto, ON – Danforth Music Hall
DEC 19 THU – Buffalo, NY – Town Ballroom
DEC 20 FRI – Northampton, MA – Calvin Theatre & Perf Arts Center
DEC 21 SAT – New York, NY – Beacon Theatre
DEC 28 SAT – Macon, GA – Macon City Auditorium
DEC 29 SUN – Augusta, GA – Miller Theater
DEC 30 MON – Athens, GA – Georgia Theatre
DEC 31 TUE – Athens, GA – Georgia Theatre
JAN 7-12 – Jam Cruise 2020 – Marcus King solo, Miami, FL, United States
JAN 24 – Panic En La Playa Nueve, Puerto Alvaro Obregon, Mexico
JAN 26 SUN – Tempe, AZ – Marquee Theatre
JAN 27 MON – Solana Beach, CA – Belly Up
JAN 28 TUE – San Diego, CA – Music Box
JAN 30 THR – Las Vegas, NV – Brooklyn Bowl – Las Vegas
JAN 31 FRI – Los Angeles, CA – The Fonda Theatre
FEB 1 SAT – Santa Cruz, CA – The Catalyst
FEB 4 TUE – San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore
FEB 6 THR – Sacramento, CA – Ace Of Spades
FEB 7 FRI – Eugene, OR – McDonald Theatre
FEB 8 SAT – Portland, OR – Crystal Ballroom
FEB 9 SUN – Vancouver, BC, Canada – The Commodore Ballroom
FEB 11 TUE – Seattle, WA – Neptune Theatre
FEB 13 THR – Salt Lake City, UT – The Depot
FEB 14 FRI – Boulder, CO – Boulder Theater
FEB 15 SAT – Denver, CO – Ogden Theatre
FEB 21 FRI – Leeds, UK – The Wardrobe
FEB 22 SAT – Glasgow, UK – Oran More
FEB 23 SUN – Dublin, IE – Whelans
FEB 25 TUE – London, UK – Electric Ballroom
FEB 26 WED – Manchester, UK – Academy 3
FEB 27 THR – Nottingham, UK – Rescue Rooms
FEB 28 FRI – Bristol, UK – Thekla
MAR 1 SUN – Paris, FR – L’Alhambra
MAR 2 MON – Brussels, BE – Ancienne Belgique
MAR 3 TUE – Amsterdam, NL – Paradiso
MAR 4 WED – Enschede, NL – Metropool Enschede
MAR 5 THR – Cologne, DE – Kantine
MAR 7 SAT – Berlin, DE – Heimathafen Neukölln
MAR 8 SUN – Hamburg, DE – Mojo Club
MAR 9 MON – Copenhagen, DK – Vega Jr.
APR 10-12 – Byron Bay Bluesfest – Tyagarah, Australia
APR 13 MON – Metro Theatre – Sydney, NSW, Australia
APR 15 WED – Croxton Park Hotel – Melbourne, VIC, Australia
APR 16 THR – Powerstation – Auckland, New Zealand
