This week’s local artist spotlight goes out to soulful songwriter Marcus King. King began playing guitar when he was just three years old, and has played professionally since the age of eleven. Marcus King formed his southern rock band, The Marcus King Band, in 2013. The Marcus King Band released three full-length albums over the past several years, all of which were hits on the Billboard Blues Albums Charts. This past year, Marcus King moved from Greenville to Nashville. New to Nashville, the 24 year-old found his way around the city with the help of Dan Auerbach, lead singer of The Black Keys and talented solo artist. Auerbach produced Marcus King’s recent debut solo album, El Dorado, on his label, Easy Eye Sound.
El Dorado is an explosion of blues, R&B, country, and rock. The album blends traditional soulful elements sounding straight out of the 1960s with contemporary influences. One of our favorite tracks from the album is “Wildflowers & Wine”. This track’s keys and organ really enhance the old-school feel of the song. Marcus King’s gritty vocals blend with elegant backup vocals, creating a nice balance between the rough and smooth of the song. A killer blues guitar solo follows the third verse, elevating and strengthening the following chorus even more. King co-wrote the song with Ronnie Bowman, a singer and composer of bluegrass music. The song details a trip that King took to visit his girlfriend in Virginia, where he picked some up some wildflowers and wine along the way. With the help of Bowman, his extremely special trip was molded into poetic lyrics focusing on his love for his girlfriend.
Wildflowers and wine
An old scratchy record plays in the background of our lives
We’re still here dancing after all this time
Wildflowers and wine
Following El Dorado‘s release in January, Marcus King performed Wildflowers & Wine with Dan Auerbach at Easy Eye Sound in February. Check out the soulful performance below!
We’ll be playing “Wildflowers & Wine” throughout the week as we feature Marcus King as our Local Artist of the Week. Catch it live on-air at 100.1FM on your dial or streaming live at lightning100.com.
