MARCUS KING BAND : DARLING BLUE

MARCUS KING BAND : DARLING BLUE

On & On
Here Today (with Jamey Johnson)
Honky Tonk Hell
Heartlands
Die Alone
Somebody Else (with Jesse Welles)
Levi's & Goodbyes
Carolina Honey
No Room For Blue
Blue Ridge Mountain Moom
Dirt (Nashvile Version) (with Billy Strings)
The Shadows (with Noah Cyrus)
Pretty Petty
Carry Me Home

Label : Republic Records

Release Date : September 26, 2025

Length : 47:12

Review (Americana Highways) : 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. 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.

Review (Saving Country Music) : If you wanted to be all buzzy and clickbaity about it, you could proclaim “Marcus King goes country!” or “Marcus King releases a country album!” But that’s not really what’s going on here. It is the moment where the sounds and collaborations from this modern guitar god veer more country than any other time in his past, which is welcome news to many discerning country fans. In truth though, this really is an album about home. And whenever you sing about home, country sounds and sentiments are never too far behind. Marcus King’s music has always been comfort food for the soul, and a long line has formed of performers wanting to collaborate with him in country music and well beyond, which Marcus been more than happy to indulge. It seems like he’s everywhere these days in music and entertainment because everyone wants to get a little bit of that greasy, soulful sound on whatever they have cooking. On his new album Darling Blue, Marcus King teams up with Kaitlin Butts and Jamey Johnson for a song, Billy Strings for another, and Jesse Welles also makes an appearance. Also making appearances are steel guitar, fiddle, and banjo, played by the likes of Paul Franklin and Billy Contreras. Marcus King writes much of the material himself, though country songwriter Hillary Lindsey appears in the credits, as does Cameron Duddy and Jess Carson of Midland. It may not be a country record, but Darling Blue is distinctly a Nashville record. The song “Honky Tonk Hell” became the quickest cut from Marcus King’s catalog to make it to a million spins, in part because it combines his old school soul and Southern rock thing with an up-tempo Jerry Reed country kick. The next song on the album “Heartlands” makes use of an excellent double entendre like only the greatest country songs can, and is driven by the fiddle. “Die Alone” is a little acoustic back porch mountain music tune. And you’re surprised near the end of “Levi’s & Goodbyes” that fiddle once again makes a surprise appearance. But this is not a country album. It’s a Marcus King album, and the first he co-credits with the Marcus King Band since early on in his career. The balance of the album is that soulful southern rock R&B sound sometimes embellished with horns that you’re used to hearing from him. If you want to hear Marcus King tap into that sweaty FAME Studios sound, make sure you don’t skip over the sensational “No Room For Blue.” One way you can approach this 14 track album is to consider the first half the more country and acoustic side, with the opening songs “On & On” and “Here Today” featuring Kaitlin Butts and Jamey Johnson surprising you with their country textures. Then the second half is what we’ve come to expect from Marcus King. One complaint that carries over from previous projects is how you don’t get a whole lot of Marcus King guitar work on this album, even though that’s really his calling card. Produced by Eddie Spear who’s known for working with Sierra Farrell, and for being one of the few producers Zach Bryan ever agreed to work with, Darling Blue is more of a vocal album than it is anything else. This isn’t a knock necessarily, since Marcus has really mastered his falsetto. But you do crave a bit more stink from the guitars since this is so important to the Marcus King experience live. This is also more of a songwriter album, with the storytelling indicative of country coming up often. Yet more than anything else, Darling Blue is a love letter to Marcus King’s hometown of Greenville, South Carolina, and the woman he’s chosen to spend the rest of his life with. Commitment, gratefulness, adulation, and maturation through his sobriety is the story this soulful, Southern rock album tells, while utilizing country music influences to give it that inviting down home feel.

Review (Blues Rock Review) : It may be a little hard to believe that Marcus King is only 29 years old, because he’s accomplished so much musically during his professional career. He and his band just released their brand new recording, Darling Blue, on September 26, recorded for American Records/Republic Records at the legendary Capricorn Studios in Macon, Georgia. Marcus King was raised in a rich musical heritage, following in the footsteps of his dad, Marvin King, and his grandfather. By the time King was in his teens, he had his own band, dropped out of high school (but did obtain his G.E.D.), and knew what he wanted to do. He studied jazz theory and jazz performance at The Fine Arts Center in Greenville, South Carolina, and continued a career that would land him musical success and recognition for years to come. Darling Blue borrows a little help from a few notable artists such as Jamey Johnson, Noah Cyrus, Kaitlin Butts, Jesse Wells, and Billy Strings, along with Lainey Wilson and Midland being mentioned as guests. “Honky Tonk Hell” is a legitimate radio-friendly country song that I can hear playing on any outlaw country music station. “Heaven knows I miss my late night living. They’re getting along without me, far as I can tell. Gonna sing a little rock and roll music, raise a little honky tonk hell.” This song also has some pretty hot chicken-pickin’ guitar playing going on in it. The fifth track on this album is “Die Alone,” and it’s a slow, moody-sounding tune. Marcus King sings, “If I’m going, I’m going out my own way,” and, “I don’t mind dying, but I don’t want to die alone.” “Carolina Honey” is a soulful tune with a bluesy kind of groove going on. There is just something about this song that is bound to hook you. It’s almost like listening to Motown sounds with a little Southern blues added for seasoning. There are also some great horns in this cut. Darling Blue’s “Blue Ridge Mountain Moon” is another great song, with King singing about what he knows best: down home. “Got high on each other nearly every night. Under that Blue Ridge Mountain moon.” There is more great guitar work here, and what else would you expect from pickers like Marcus King and Billy Strings? The twelfth cut is “The Shadows,” with help from Noah Cyrus. King and Cyrus really sound great together as they sing, “Baby won’t you kiss me in the shadows?” This song sounds so unlike Marcus King that if I heard it without knowing, I would have never guessed it was him. Darling Blue is one of those albums that’s enjoyable from start to finish, and it was difficult to decide which of the fourteen songs to highlight in my review. Marcus King’s musical genre continues to be more and more difficult to define, so I won’t attempt to do so at the risk of mislabeling it. I only know that I enjoyed it, and I believe that all of you who appreciate great music will also. The band is currently on tour until at least November of 2025, and I’m pretty sure that their live performances would be an enjoyable experience. Marcus King has always been known as an accomplished, innovative guitarist, but with this new release, it appears that King is reaching further out from his comfort zone, and guess what, it’s working. We should look forward to more exciting new music from the Marcus King Band in the near future.

Review (Entertainment Focus) : Marcus King emerged from Greenville, South Carolina, steeped in a family tradition of music that nurtured his skills from a young age, and honed his voice, guitar chops, and songwriting across years touring and recording with The Marcus King Band. That band—featuring drummer Jack Ryan, bassist Stephen Campbell, and others—released a string of acclaimed albums including Soul Insight (2015), The Marcus King Band (2016), and Carolina Confessions (2018), the latter produced by Dave Cobb. In 2020 King stepped into the solo spotlight with ‘El Dorado,' co-produced by Dan Auerbach, earning a Grammy nomination for Best Americana Album. He followed that with Young Blood (2022) and Mood Swings (2024) — the latter produced by Rick Rubin — further expanding his palette and drawing praise for blending blues, soul, rock and country elements. Now, with the forthcoming ‘Darling Blue' (set for release September 26 via American Records/Republic Records), King reunites with his longtime live band for the first recorded project with them since Carolina Confessions. Recorded at the storied Capricorn Studios under the experienced hand of GRAMMY®-winning engineer/producer Eddie Spear, the album features collaborations with artists such as Noah Cyrus, Billy Strings and Kaitlin Butts, and co-writing contributions from Midland and Lainey Wilson. Many songs nod to King’s South Carolina roots and carry a deeply personal sense of home and musical identity. To complement the release, King is reviving his Marcus King Band Family Reunion festival in Charleston and gearing up for an international touring schedule that includes U.S. dates alongside Chris Stapleton, Cody Johnson, and Eric Church. ‘Darling Blue' feels like the kind of record that could only come from an artist who has lived, stumbled and come out the other side wiser. It’s not just a return to form with his old band—it’s an expansion of everything he’s hinted at before, weaving southern rock, bluegrass, funk, country and even disco into a tapestry that feels uniquely his. Right from opener ‘On and On' King sets the tone: a front-porch strum evolves into a loose, Faces-meets-Stones jam, banjo and strings dancing around a vocal of contrition. “It doesn’t mean you did no wrong,” he admits, placing blame on both sides but singing from the clarity of sobriety and self-reflection. It’s a fascinating starting point—haunting yet grounded, mature but still raw. ‘Here Today' shifts gears immediately, rolling out a swampy, funky southern groove that feels like the dirt road cousin of Little Feat. Kaitlin Butts takes the second verse with warmth and grit—“always on the run is my favourite place”—while Jamey Johnson drops a weathered spoken-word interlude about the fleeting nature of life on the move. The jam that follows practically begs for a festival stage, equal parts roadhouse fun and cosmic cowboy swagger. It’s the first real sign of just how much range ‘Darling Blue' intends to cover. That range is hammered home on ‘Honky Tonk Hell,' where King turns the barroom anthem into a confessional. Driven by harmonica squeals, female gospel-tinged backing vocals, and his own gravelly howl, the song lands somewhere between Stones sleaze and Lynyrd Skynyrd stomp—with a shot of Louisiana hoodoo for good measure. He sings about the tug of late-night living, about missing the drink even while acknowledging the damage it caused. It’s classic rock and roll dressed in redemption, and it hits like a freight train. If ‘Darling Blue' has a commercial heart, though, it might be ‘Heartlands.' A fiddle-driven love song that gallops with banjo and brushed percussion, it radiates the warmth of bluegrass without fully abandoning the rock backbone. “I love you like a Sunday morning hallelujah,” King sings, and the whole track feels like a hymn to both love and Carolina. With shades of Eric Church in its uplift and a rhythm that refuses to sit still, it’s the kind of song that could become a live staple. The record then quiets down with ‘Die Alone,' a cinematic acoustic ballad that feels ready-made for a western. “I don’t mind dying but I don’t want to die alone,” King pleads, before mournful fiddle takes over like wind across a canyon. The arrangement grows into something almost orchestral, with banjo and soft percussion carrying the tune into a breathtaking fiddle solo. It’s one of the most tender moments on the album, cutting straight to the bone with its mixture of fragility and defiance. Contrast that with ‘Somebody Else' (featuring Jesse Welles), a brooding, electric blues number where King admits, “I was afraid of dying but now I’m scared to live.” Darker guitars and layered production give it a heavier weight than most of the record, yet it still circles back to those 70s Faces-style flourishes as the song builds into its ecstatic climax. Similarly, ‘Levi’s and Goodbyes' barrels in with a riff straight out of the Stones’ ‘Sticky Fingers' playbook, exploding into a chorus that feels destined for the big screen. “I’m learning how to want to stick around,” King howls before tearing into what may be the record’s fiercest guitar solo. The back half of the album is where King really flexes his eclecticism. ‘Carolina Honey' blends disco rhythms with Eric Church-like country soul, Nile Rodgers-style guitar grooves underpinning a falsetto vocal plea. ‘No Room for Blue' channels Mott the Hoople's ‘All the Young Dudes' via southern swagger, while ‘Blue Ridge Mountain Moon' lays back into a nostalgic, horn-flecked groove that blends blues and gospel in a heartfelt tribute to home. Billy Strings brings high-lonesome intensity to ‘Dirt (Nashville Version),' a dark, moody exploration of secrets and sin and Noah Cyrus helps turn ‘The Shadows' into a lush, disco-tinged ballad with strings, horns and sultry harmonies. It’s Barry White by way of New Orleans funk and Appalachian soul. By the time closer ‘Carry Me Home' arrives—with its hazy 70s hippie soul, piano flourishes, and explosions of guitar—the album feels less like a collection of songs and more like a musical road trip across America, filtered through King’s Carolina lens. What makes ‘Darling Blue' so compelling isn’t just the sheer range—from honky tonk bangers to campfire confessionals to disco-laced blues—but the way King’s voice binds it all together. Gravelly, impassioned and lived-in, it brings coherence to the album’s wild stylistic shifts. More than that, his writing carries the wisdom of someone who has faced down demons and come out grateful for every scar. It’s a bold, diverse, deeply human record—one that cements Marcus King not just as a torchbearer for southern rock, but as one of the most adventurous voices in American music.