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Marcus King

A guitarist who plays and sings with an impressive degree of seasoned maturity and passion, Marcus King delivers a hearty mixture of soul, blues, rock, and jazz that has made him a star on the blues and jam band circuits. On his debut album, 2015's Soul Insight, King and his band generated a powerful, guitar-based attack rooted in high-impact blues and Southern soul, while 2016's The Marcus King Band took a more eclectic approach, with the more dynamic numbers revealing a gentler aspect, showing the influence of gospel and folk. 2020's El Dorado was King's first album as a solo act and he put a greater emphasis on his strengths as a vocalist, while his love of blues-based classic rock of the '70s dominated 2022's hard-edged Young Blood. King turned inward with the subdued, searching Mood Swings, a 2024 album produced by Rick Rubin. Marcus King was born in Greenville, South Carolina, on March 11, 1996. His father, Marvin King, was a well-known blues guitarist in South Carolina who also played with gospel acts, and his grandfather was also a regionally popular musician. Marcus was barely out of diapers when he first picked up a guitar, and at age eight, he started playing shows with his father. In his teens, he began playing out with his own band, juggling club gigs at night and school in the morning as he and his bandmates barnstormed with what they called "soul-influenced psychedelic Southern rock." In 2015, the Marcus King Band -- King on guitar and lead vocals, Alex Abercrombie on keyboards and backing vocals, Anthony House on bass, and Jack Ryan on drums -- released their debut album, Soul Insight. Warren Haynes of Gov't Mule checked the band out and liked what he heard, so he tapped them to open shows for Gov't Mule and reissued Soul Insight on his Evil Teen Records label. Haynes' support of the group helped spread the news about King's music, and he soon landed a record deal with the venerable independent label Fantasy Records. Personnel shakeups led to a new lineup of the Marcus King Band, with Abercrombie and House leaving the group, while King and Ryan were joined by Stephen Campbell on bass, Matt Jennings on keyboards, Dean Mitchell on sax, and Justin Johnson on trumpet and trombone. The new edition of the Marcus King Band went into Carriage House Studios in Stamford, Connecticut with Haynes serving as producer and cut their second album mostly live in the studio. The Marcus King Band was released by Fantasy in October 2016, with the group touring extensively in support. A third full-length, Carolina Confessions, arrived in 2018, landing at number two on the blues albums chart. King became friends with fellow guitarist Dan Auerbach, co-founder of the Black Keys, and they teamed up to make King's first solo album. Auerbach produced 2020's El Dorado, recorded in Nashville with a band comprised of veteran Music City session players, while King put a greater emphasis on his impassioned vocal stylings along with his agile guitar work. El Dorado was nominated for a Grammy Award as Best Americana Album, and received enthusiastic reviews in the music press, and King kept up his unrelenting touring schedule, opening for Chris Stapleton, Greta Van Fleet, and Nathaniel Rateliff, and playing festival dates as well as his own headlining shows. Respected producer Rick Rubin signed King to his American Recordings label, and he returned to the studio with Dan Auerbach once again in the producer's chair. 2022's Young Blood was a stripped-down, revved-up set informed by classic rock of the '70s, and King cut the sessions with bassist Nick Movshon (who has played with the Menahan Street Band and Lee Fields & the Expressions) and drummer Chris St. Hilaire (ex-the London Souls) as an homage to the classic power trios of the era. It reached number three on Billboard's Top Heatseekers chart and King closed out that year with a pair of Spotify Singles, one of which was a dynamic, horn-led cover of Gnarls Barkley's hit "Crazy." King first collaborated with Rubin on Mood Swings, a soulful 2024 album that emphasized his voice over his guitar. Recorded at Rubin's Malibu studio Shangri-La, Mood Swings was preceded by the lead single "F*ck My Life Up Again."
© Mark Deming /TiVo
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Marcus King (of the South)