electric blues

Saturday Night Music Interlude — The Marcus King Band performing “Rita is Gone”

The lead singer and guitarist that provides the Marcus King Band’s moniker hails from Greenville, South Carolina, and plays what he calls “soul-influenced psychedelic southern rock,” which is an apt description.  Only 20 years old, Marcus King’s father, Marvin King, was a regionally popular blues and gospel singer, and his grandfather was a regional musician as well.  Growing up as a boy, young Marcus told eastof8th blog “I was listening to George Jones, Chet Atkins, and Merle Haggard with my granddad.  Later on, I was heavily influenced by jazz cats like Coltrane, Miles Davis, and Jimmy Smith.”

The legendary Warren Haynes has promoted Marcus and his band as a true believer, performing with them at concerts and inviting Marcus King to perform with him in the band Gov’t Mule.  The band has two albums to its credit: Soul Insight, a gritty blues, southern rock and prog rock-inflected debut, and the self-titled double disc Marcus King Band on the Fantasy label.

Touring in anticipation of their new album, they impressed at SXSW, jamming out with George Clinton, performed at Mountain Jam that included electric sets and extended jams with Warren Haynes, and–a last minute substitute booking–took the XPoNential Music Festival in Philadelphia by storm, becoming WXPN’s August Artist to Watch.

You can hear the musical influences that informed Marcus’ sound blend together in the mix of horns, drums, keyboards, and guitar, the band’s eclectic mix of blues, soul, prog rock, and southern rock producing a gumbo reminiscent of Tower of Power at their peak mixed in with a bit of Allman Brothers, a slice of John McLaughlin, a dash of Gov’t Mule, and a pinch of Hendrix psychedelia.  While still a bit raw and unfocused at times, this is one talent to watch as he matures and develops his sound.

Here is the band at WFUV performing “Rita is Gone.”

 

Sunday Music Interlude — The Record Company performing “Off the Ground”

The Record Company consists of lead vocalist and instrumentalist Chris Vos, and multi-instrumentalists Alex Stiff, and Marc Cazoria.  They began as a band in 2011, using old equipment and self-recording in Stiff’s living room in Los Feliz, California.  They name classic blues players as their inspiration, mixed up with the gritty sound of early blues-inspired rock bands of the ’60s and ’70s like the Rolling Stones.  This article from L.A. Weekly from 2012 tells you all you need to know about the personality of the band during their woodshedding days: three talented musicians playing great music inspired by great musicians–the beat goes on.  They have opened for artists as diverse as Mavis Staples, the late B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Grace Potter, and Trombone Shorty.  Their album, Give It Back To You, was released earlier this year on the Concord label.  Given the commitment of Concord to the music of jazz and blues, getting a release under that label is testament to how highly their music is regarded.

The song that follows, “Off the Ground” was recorded live for WXPN’s excellent World Cafe.  Whenever I have the opportunity, I listen avidly to this public radio station out of the University of Pennsylvania.  It’s a national treasure.