Marcus King Band Darling Blue
It’s been awhile since Marcus recorded an album with his full band, 2018 to be exact. It’s been well worth the wait. With the full band backing him and some fantastic guest appearances, Marcus King has created a beautiful sonic adventure through the Blue Ridge mountain sound on the new album Darling Blue. He dives into his own personal issues while simultaneously sonically exploring his roots in the Blue Ridge Mountains. As a 4th generation musician he’s learned to hone his craft and glibly combines, Motown, cosmic country, psychedelic rock, and country folk.
With age and experience, Kings voice, songwriting and guitar playing have intertwined magnificently with the rest of the band. These new songs twist and turn in unexpected but familiar places. The band has learned to let Marcus shine when it’s time. It’s an amazing growth – and thats not saying his previous 6 albums weren’t amazing. But, this album braids the instrumentation, vocals and harmonies into a fantastically textured pattern that hasn’t been quite this visible before.
King’s seventh album has him working with some great collaborators: Noah Cyrus, Billy Strings, Jesse Welles and Jamey Johnson and Kaitlin Butts on “Here Today.” Co writers include, Meg McRee, Midland, Hillary Lindsay and Lainey Wilson. The album was recorded at Otis Reddings iconic Capricorn Studios in Macon, GA. Darling Blue was created with Grammy winning producer/engineer Eddie Spear (Sierra Ferrell, Zach Bryan).
Marcus shines in the soul fueled tunes. The album is listed under the genre “country” but there’s a lot more to this than a generic category like country can contain. His vocals and guitar are unique and inseparable, the sound bleeds with the blues and his unforgettable voice has mastered when to soar and when to stay in the cut. This can be heard especially on “Die Alone” where his guitar picks up seamlessly when his voice trails off. He has carefully cultivated the ability to braid together his two unique sounds.
While all of the tracks on the album are excellent, the collaboration with Billy Strings on “Dirt” is especially poignant. Hearing the two musicians mesh their sounds together as both of their careers are soaring is a coup d’etat on the musical stage. Marcus has elevated his game and sits with some of the contemporary greats of the Americana tradition.
This is an excellent album and I honestly can not wait to hear some of these songs performed live. With Marcus, he writes with the big picture in mind. He’s collected an excellent band and added fantastic performers to his mix. He continues to get better as his career progresses. The 14 tracks on this are a high point and for many lesser musicians this would be the pinnacle of their careers. For Marcus, he’s just getting started. This is a must listen to album.
Darling Blue by the Marcus King Band is available on all streaming platforms. It can be downloaded direct from http://www.marcuskingofficial.com
Enjoy our previous coverage here: Show Review: Marcus King Band in Raleigh with Hannah Wicklund
Musicians on the album are Marcus King on acoustic guitar, 12-string guitar, banjo, electric mandolin, bass, baritone guitar, electric guitar, backing and and lead vocals; Seth Taylor on banjo, mandolin, acoustic and electric guitar; Jack Ryan on drums and persussion; Mike Runyon on piano, clavinet, Moog, B3 and Wurlitzer piano; Drew Smithers on dobro, acoustic, electric and slide guitars; Christopher Spies on saxophone and conga; Kyle Snuffer on trombone; Alex Bradley on trumpet; Shaun Richardson on banjo and mandolin; Eric Vogel on bass; Billy Contreras on fiddle; Russ Pahl on pedal steel; Stephen Campbell on bass; Greg Garner on bass; Thorleifur Gaukur Davidsson on harmonica; Eddie Spear on claps, cowbell, hi-hat, tambourine and shaker; Jesse Welles on acoustic guitar, harmonica, vocals and whistle; Paul Franklin steel guitar; on Askel Coe on drums; Billy Strings on guitar and vocals; and backing vocals by Jeremy Lister, Jonathan Lister, Paul McDonald, Kristen Rogers, Briley King, Maureen Murphy, Devonne Fowlkes, Gren Breal and Armand Hutton;
vocals by Jamey Johnson & Kaitlin Butts and Noah Cyrus; and string arrangement and strings by Billy Contreras.
- On and On
- Here Today ft. Jamey Johnson
- Honky Tonk Hell
- Heartlands
- Die Alone
- Somebody Else ft. Jesse Welles
- Levi’s and Goodbyes
- Carolina Honey
- No Room For Blue
- Blue Ridge Mountain Moon
- Dirt ft. Billy Strings
- The Shadows ft. Noah Cyrus
- Pretty Petty
- Carry Me Home