Marcus King Band

blues · rock · americana

The Marcus King Band is an American blues, soul and Southern rock group formed in Greenville, South Carolina in 2013 and led by guitarist and singer Marcus King. King is a third-generation musician who played as a pre-teen sideman in the band of his father, the bluesman Marvin King. The group's lineup has centered on drummer Jack Ryan, bassist Stephen Campbell and guitarist Drew Smithers, with saxophone and keyboards added on the road, giving the live show a horn-driven, jam-length feel closer to a soul revue than a power trio. Soul Insight (2015) reached No. 8 on Billboard's blues albums chart; The Marcus King Band (2016), produced by Warren Haynes for Fantasy Records, and Carolina Confessions (2018), produced by Dave Cobb at RCA Studio A in Nashville, both peaked at No. 2 there, and the latter's "Homesick" reached No. 26 on the Adult Alternative Songs chart. King then spent several years working under his own name: El Dorado (2020), cut with Dan Auerbach at Easy Eye Sound in Nashville, was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Americana Album, and Mood Swings (2024), produced by Rick Rubin at Shangri-La in Malibu and in Italy, dealt directly with a period of substance abuse and mental-health crisis. The band reconvened for Darling Blue, released September 26, 2025 and its first album together since 2018. Produced by Eddie Spear and recorded largely at Capricorn Sound Studios in Macon, Georgia, it is framed as a record about Greenville, the American South and the Blue Ridge Mountains, and carries guest turns from Kaitlin Butts, Jamey Johnson, Jesse Welles, Billy Strings and Noah Cyrus. The Tennessean named it among the best Nashville albums of 2025.

Subscribe to this calendar

Upcoming shows