Yesterday Marcus King announced the release of his genre-bending debut solo record, El Dorado – produced by Grammy Award winner Dan Auerbach and released on Jan 17 2019 on Fantasy Records. Already a 23-year-old guitar phenomenon El Dorado will further establish Marcus as an innovative songwriter and one of the most soulful voices of his generation. Following numerous sold out headline shows and triumphant festival performances with The Marcus King Band, Marcus recently announced a 32 date winter tour in support of his new record El Dorado – see dates below.
El Dorado is a contemporary sonic exploration of classic rock, blues, southern R&B and country-soul where subtle acoustics and pedal steel shines bright alongside raucous electric guitars and blistering solos. Following their previous collaboration on song “How Long,” King and Auerbach co-wrote twelve songs for El Dorado in only three days in his Easy Eye Sound studio.
On working with Marcus, Dan stated, “Marcus is known by so many as a phenom guitar player, and rightfully so. He’s regularly the best player in the room, hands down. I was equally blown away by the way he can sing – so effortless, so soulful, straight from the heart. He’s a naturally gifted writer too, which was clear right away. Everything for him is so innate – that’s why he can always go right to the heart of a song and connect in a deeper way. He’s really one of a kind and I’m proud I got to work alongside him on this record.”
Their debut single “The Well” a fuzzy, electric-blues masterpiece which rumbles down the highway like Marcus’ jet black El Dorado, premiered today with Rolling Stone who stated, “The result is an album that expands on King’s established Southern jam-rock sound. On “The Well,” the first song released from El Dorado, King embraces the blues, firing off ferocious solos and singing about the fantasy of “easy street.” In short, it doesn’t exist, but that doesn’t stop King from pining for better times.”
The song’s lyrics reflect on hard work and hard times. “When you have a $70 check go bad, you know times are tough,” Marcus recalled and added, “The Well for me symbolises the source of all my influences. It is everything that has happened to me to make me the man I am today.”
Playing professionally since he was eleven years old, Marcus King is a fourth-generation musician who followed his family’s footsteps. His grandfather was a country guitarist, and his father continues to perform live. His pursuit of music often made him feel like an outsider but equally provided comfort, especially when he was thirteen and lost a friend during a tragic car crash. Marcus stated, “She was the first girl I had feelings for, that was a really heavy moment, and writing songs was my expression. I also had undiagnosed bipolar disorder and my appearance and interests were not embraced by my educators and their pupils. They were good folks but it kind of felt like being in prison and all I really needed to learn was music.”
At 23 years old, Marcus King has already been performing live for fifteen years and has established himself as an enthralling world class live music talent. He has appeared on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, made his debut at The Grand Ole Opry and has performed with Chris Stapleton on a recent US arena tour, Crossroads Guitar Festival and at sold out headline shows including his namesake festival – The Marcus King Band Family Reunion. Previous Marcus King releases have received critical acclaim from the likes of VICE Noisey, NPR and Rolling Stone who acclaimed him an artist you need to know and described him as an “electrifying rock performer.”
El Dorado was written and recorded at Auerbach’s Nashville studio, Easy Eye Sound, with legendary writers including Paul Overstreet, Ronnie Bowman and Pat McLaughlin. Auerbach also enlisted revered studio musicians including, drummer Gene Chrisman and keyboard player Bobby Wood. Their renowned work as members of the American Sound Studio band included Dusty Springfield’s “Son of a Preacher Man,” Elvis Presley’s, “Suspicious Minds,” and hits by Bobby Womack, Joe Tex and many others. Marcus King’s debut solo album El Dorado will be released on his label Fantasy Records in association with Dan Auerbach’s Easy Eye Sound.
