Just after his solo breakout.
From 2019 in Paste Studios NYC, a young Marcus King took the stage as a solo artist for one of the first times. He made an appearance with his group, The Marcus King band, a year prior at Paste, but once King went solo, he returned.
Paste Studio sessions are perfect in my eyes, no bells and whistles… just raw talent on display.
King sits in the library-styled studio in his signature cowboy hat, ready to share some of the songs that would later appear on his 2020 album, El Dorado.
He opens the set with “Beautiful Stranger,” and nothing is better than King with a guitar in hand.
It lets you soak in each lyric and appreciate the talented guitar player he is.
He swaps to an acoustic guitar for the second song, one of my personal favorites, “Sweet Mariona.”
In between songs, he takes a short break to chat about the inspiration behind El Dorado, his favorite guitars, and the musicians featured on the album… and damn, was it a talented bunch on the record.
King touches on how it was an honor to record with artists like Bobby Wood and Gene Chrisman because he grew up listening to tracks that they were featured on.
He finishes out his set on steel guitar performing “The Well.”
King’s raspy twang, combined with his bluesy soul sound and rock and roll riffs, make his music addicting… simply flawless.