Marcus King has shared a new song, ‘Beautiful Stranger’. Timeless vintage soul with shimmering steel and haunting gospel harmonies, the song features Marcus‘ rasping vocals which take centre-stage on his debut solo record, El Dorado. This release has established him as one of the most soulful voices of his generation and is set to be his most critically acclaimed yet.
El Dorado, produced by Dan Auerbach, will be released this week on Snakefarm Records (UK) on Jan 17, 2020. Marcus will also make his Jimmy Kimmel Live debut on Jan 15.
Discussing the song, Marcus states, “‘Beautiful Stranger’ is a story about longing, searching for love. We tried to paint a picture of a dim-lit bar, lost souls finding one another before last call.”
The new track is written by 23-year-old vocal and guitar phenomenon, Marcus, alongside Dan Auerbach and Paul Overstreet. It features drummer Gene Chrisman, keyboardist Bobby Wood and bassist Dave Roe, legendary musicians who have graced classic recordings by the likes of Johnny Cash, Aretha Franklin and Elvis Presley.
The album’s highly anticipated first single, ‘The Well’, premiered recently via Rolling Stone Magazine who featured Marcus on the cover of The Mix in their latest issue. Rolling Stone’s insightful profile explored the young musician’s fascinating story which saw him initially struggle to fit in at school and even face the possibility of spending time in a juvenile detention centre for truancy.
Talking to Rolling Stone, Marcus exclaims, “They were trying to put me away, trying to put me into a juvenile detention centre, trying to shave my head, put me in jail. And I was like, ‘I didn’t do anything. I just missed a couple of days of class’.”
Marcus overcame these challenges, using music as a therapy, helping him deal with issues around mental health and loss to become a professional guitarist at 11 years old. Discovered in his teens after a video of him performing at Norman’s Rare Guitars went viral, Marcus is a fourth-generation musician who followed in his family’s footsteps. His grandfather was a country guitarist, and his father continues to perform live.
Marcus recently made his debut at The Grand Ole Opry, playing his grandfather’s guitar. The moment was recently captured in a video documentary, which can be watched here.
El Dorado, a contemporary exploration of southern R&B, country-soul, classic rock and blues, has widespread support from key tastemakers, including American Songwriter, Vulture, Entertainment Weekly, Flood Magazine and Paste; the album is also receiving dedicated attention from Triple A radio in the US, including KCRW. The Well’s cinematic video also premiered via Relix with hundreds of thousands of views in weeks.
Marcus is currently on a 75+ date world tour with The Marcus King Band, playing shows in the US, Australia, Japan, Europe and more. Multiple dates sold out including The Beacon Theatre in New York which was profiled by The New York Times.
Marcus has also found time to meet Bill Murray, Bonnie Raitt and Eric Clapton, who proclaimed himself a fan at his Crossroads Festival. He has developed his own signature guitar with Gibson, created a signature amp with Orange Amps, appeared on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert and performed with Chris Stapleton on his US arena tour, as well as curating his own namesake festival – The Marcus King Band Family Reunion.
El Dorado will be released January 17, 2020 on Snakefarm Records (UK). It’s available to pre-order now. Please visit: https://mk.lnk.to/eldorado
THE MARCUS KING BAND ‘EL DORADO’ TOUR DATES
The Marcus King Band, founded in Greenville, South Carolina in 2013, is Marcus‘ honoured foundation. Along with Marcus, drummer Jack Ryan, bass player Stephen Campbell, trumpeter/trombonist Justin Johnson and sax/steel guitarist Dean Mitchell bring an irreplaceable combination of commitment, craft and soul to their work and are one of the hardest working bands today.
Sat 22nd – Glasgow, UK – Oran More
Sun 23rd – Dublin, IE – Whelans
Tue 25th – London, UK – Electric Ballroom
Wed 26th – Manchester, UK – Academy 3
Thu 27th – Nottingham, UK – Rescue Rooms
Fri 28th – Bristol, UK – TheklaFollow The Marcus King Band:
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