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Marcus King Band, Young Blood

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Fourth generation Greenville, SC native, artist, performer, and songwriter Marcus King began performing at the age of 8 alongside his pops, grandpa and uncles. He learned to wail on the guitar to save his voice so that he could be “heard,” while he played in bars where “nobody is paying attention and the PA sucks.” 

Since then, King has burned thousands of miles on the road as “The Marcus King Band” and has established himself with unparalleled collaborations, a huge performance prowess and a dynamic live show. He has caught the attention of NPR, Rolling Stone, the GRAMMYS, Dan Auerbach [The Black Keys] Rick Rubin and signed to American Recordings where the PA certainly does not suck. 

On Young Blood, King shot straight from the hip and straight from the heart with a ‘59 Les Paul in hand. His latest success has showed, as he has said, he didn’t disguise his ambitions at all writing his new album. He didn’t hold back… He didn’t think about anything but writing. Joined by Auerbach, King made the “kind of rock ‘n’ roll record that makes arenas and asses shake,” and it’s called Young Blood.


The project re-teams King with the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach, who previously produced King’s 2020 solo album El Dorado. Both that album and Young Blood were recorded at Auerbach’s Easy Eye studio in Nashville. This time around, King is backed only by bassist and longtime Auerbach collaborator Nick Movshon (Dap-Kings and The Arcs) and drummer Chris St. Hilaire, (London Souls) who played percussion on El Dorado.

In my earlier interview with Marcus King, he expanded on his conscious efforts in perfecting his talents, releasing emotional energy in his songs and collaborations with musical heroes and greats.

“At a young age, I made a conscious effort to listen to almost anything but guitarists for a while. I was listening a lot to B.B, Freddie, Albert, Hendrix, Robin Trower, Duane Allman, Dicky Betts and Stevie Ray … I started listening more to Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Miles Davis, Jimmy Smith and Joey D. I was pulling a lot from horn players as well as vocalists such as Otis Redding and Aretha Franklin and applying their vocal runs to the guitar.”

He continued, “The blues had a sound I was drawn to … a way to express pain and a release of energy without being negative. It had exactly what I had been searching for. I grew up being heavily influenced by Derek Trucks and Warren' Hayne’s playing. Having the opportunity to work with both of them was such a blessing. They both have a way of playing what needs to be played, never over-playing. I continue to learn from both.” 

On his newest solo album, King was once again drawn to music as a way to express pain and release energy after a tumultuous romantic break up, a complete catharsis and more big musical collaborations with larger than life artists as this album is first in a new deal with Rick Rubin’s American Records/Republic and includes a track with Desmond Child. And on the home front, there is a new beginning for King as well with a new joy in two newly adopted kittens, a wedding planned early next year with his new love and a new tour planned for Europe in  2023. 



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