#MarcusKing #TheMarcusKingBand #TheCohoesMusicHall #TheSpot518
COHOES — The Music Hall Arts Alliance and Guthrie Bell Productions welcome Marcus King to the Cohoes Music Hall on Saturday, Nov. 24 at 8 p.m. Tickets are priced at $27 (General Admission Dance Floor), $27 Reserved Parquet and $22 Reserved Balcony and will go on sale this Friday, July 20 at 10 a.m. at www.thecohoesmusichall.org, by phone at 518-953-0630 and in-person at the Music Hall Box Office two hours prior to any show.
The Marcus King Band features Jack Ryan on drums and percussion, Stephen Campbell on bass, Matt Jennings on keys and organ, Dean Mitchell on saxophone, and Justin Johnson on trumpet, trombone and backing vocals. Joining the band on the new album are a number of mentors and collaborators, including Derek Trucks (who plays guitar on “Self-Hatred.”)
No guest plays a bigger role than Warren Haynes, though. A longtime champion of King’s songwriting and guitar prowess, Haynes produced every track onThe Marcus King Band (and contributed his trademark slide guitar on “Virginia”), expertly capturing the group’s live sound for a cohesive collection reflecting the band’s expansive explorations. “Marcus is the first player I’ve heard since Derek Trucks to play with the maturity of a musician well beyond his age,” Haynes says. “He’s very much influenced by the blues, but also by jazz, rock, soul music, and any timeless genres of music. You can hear the influences, but it all comes through him in his own unique way. He has one of those voices that instantly draws you in, and his guitar playing is an extension of his voice and vice versa.”
At only 20 years of age, Marcus King’s dazzling musical ability is evident throughout The Marcus King Band, the young phenom’s 2nd full-length LP and first for Fantasy Records. Operating within the fiery brand of American roots music that King calls “soul-influenced psychedelic southern rock,” the album highlights King’s gorgeous, rough-hewn vocals, soaring guitar work and heartfelt songwriting all amidst a group of masterful musicians who, together, are quickly becoming one of the country’s most sought-after live acts.
Raised in Greenville, South Carolina, King was brought up on the blues, playing shows as a pre-teen sideman with his father—bluesman Marvin King, who himself was the son of a regionally-known guitarist—before striking out on his own. Going beyond the sonic textures of his acclaimed 2015 debut album, Soul Insight; The Marcus King Band broadens his sound, touching upon everything from funky R&B to Southern soul and Americana in the process. His band gets in on the action too, stacking the songs with blasts of swampy brass, a lock-step rhythm section and swirling organ. Ever the multi-tasker, King bounces between several instruments, handling electric and acoustic guitar — as well as pedal and lap steel — while driving each track home with his soulful, incendiary voice.
“This album is a big melting pot of different kinds of music,” says King. “It’s the sound of everyone taking their own influences and collectively coming together as a group. We’re all really hungry to play, and we’re so passionate about this music. I want people to feel the same thing we feel — to leave the show feeling some sense of release. It’s almost like the show ends, and everyone can take a deep breath together.”
