Marcus King Releases New Single, “Carolina Honey,” Dedicated To The Woman Who Changed His Life… His Wife

The power of the right woman.

Marcus King has been teasing new music, and when he said it was coming sooner than we fans thought, he was not kidding. Last week, Marcus King announced that he was releasing a new tune this week, and today is the day that song is gifted to fans.

Following his last single, “Honky Tonk Hell,” in which King vulnerably shared how he’s given up alcohol and his partying ways, this first single since the release of Mood Swings highlighted that we are still going to get real and raw lyrics from the South Carolina native.

“‘Honky Tonk Hell’ is an anthem for anyone out there like myself who have struggled with the permanence of sobriety – those who fear the thought they will never again howl at the moon. This song for me serves as a reminder to take it all one day at a time.”

After working with Rick Rubin, who encouraged King to use his pain and past experiences as therapy, “Honk Tonk Hell’ proved that he’s still leaning into that while going slightly back to his soulful Southern blues roots. The same vibe is found in his latest single, “Carolina Honey,” which King teased heavily across social media prior to its release.

King penned “Carolina Honey” and produced it with Eddie Spear. The blues-inspired song has an instant groove that fans get into, and the lyrics depict how meeting his spitfire of a wife, Briley King, changed the trajectory of King’s life.

“‘Carolina Honey’ is all about how I met my wife and what a significant impact that chance meeting had on my life that one night after a show in Raleigh, NC. I woke up still hurting from the night before – still feeling I didn’t have much to live for. I’d given up on any thought that I could ever be ‘happy.’ All that changed when Little Bird walked into my life.

After my set, Briley came backstage to say hello – she started playing Linda Ronstadt and singing and for the first time I saw something or someone in front me that gave me ‘hope.’ Someone I wanted to be my BEST self for – Someone I wanted to grow old with, someone that made me want to grow old ‘at all.’ ‘Carolina Honey’ takes the listener through my mentality that day, my change of heart that night and my burning desire for her to feel the same way too.”

King has openly talked about how meeting his wife changed his life. King slid into Briley’s DM after a show one night and invited her to come to a second show after she claimed he didn’t play her favorite song. He set her up with tickets and invited her back on the bus after the show to make it up to her. The rest of their love story is history, and King claims he knew then and there that he wanted to marry her and that she saved his life. And that’s not dramatic because she really did.

While King was on the tour, he met Briley, and he had planned on drinking himself to death.

“I had an escape route already decided for myself and a backup if that didn’t work.”

However, after meeting Briley King and Rick Rubin, Mood Swings came to life, and he was no longer hiding his mental health struggles while playing behind a guitar. He was using them to his advantage to share what he’d gone through, which deeply resonated among fans who have experienced similar hardships.

King carries that vulnerability into “Carolina Honey.” In the lyrics, you can hear King touch on how his addictions were taking control of his life with subtle undertones of what his plan was on that tour. But in the chorus, you hear how that plan changes after meeting who would later be his bride, finding the will to fight for life.

“Raleigh, you sure look fine
I hope that this won’t be my last time
I been killin’ myself
Slowly, slowly every day
Let me make love to your town
Let me die on Southern ground
Let me find somebody that makes me want to stay…”

King makes his wife sound like a holy place (and for him, I’m sure that’s true). While this song is about his person, the depiction of the Carolinas in the lyrics makes them relatable to anyone with a special place or someone they cherish and keep close to their heart.

“Carolina honey
All that I desire
Hold me to the fire, baby
Take me even higher

Heaven knows I need a light
Broken heart can’t take one more fight
But I can outrun my demons one more night
Little bird, sing for me
Needed to hear her melody
Are we both fallin’
Or baby, is it just the wine?”

I also love that King gives a nod to his nickname for Briley, Little Bird, which is also the name of her trucker hat company. The line about needing to hear his little bird sing also pays homage to the fact that these two are a harmonious match made in heaven, captivating the audience when they take the stage together to perform songs like “Delilah,” “Goodbye Carolina,” and more. King made this song not only highly personal but also highly detailed.

“Carolina Honey” is an instant playlist add. Turn it up to max volume.

Marcus King Tour Dates:

June 12—Manchester, TN—Bonnaroo
June 13—La Grange, KY—Ashbourne Farms
June 26—Stockholm, SE—Fållan*
June 27—Oslo, NO—Sentrum Scene*
June 28—Odense, DK—Tinderbox Festival
June 30—Warsaw, PL—Klub Stodola*

July 1—Prague, CZ—Lucerna Music Bar*
July 3—Munich, DE—Muffathalle*
July 4—Pistoia, IT—Pistoia Blues Festival*
July 5—Gardone Riviera, IT—Festival Del Vittoriale Tener-A-Mente*
July 7—Bern, CH—Bierhübeli*
July 8—Frankfurt, DE—Batschkapp*
July 10—Brussels, BE—Ancienne Belgique*
July 11—Dortmund, DE—FZW*
July 12—Differdange, LU—Blues Express
July 13—Weert, NL—Bospop Festival
July 16—San Sebastian, ES—Victoria Eugenia Antzokia*
July 17—Madrid, ES—Noches Del Botánico
July 18—Vila Nova De Gaia, PT—Meo Mares Vivas
July 20—Santa Domingo De La Calzada, ES—Rockland Art Festival
July 27—Boise, ID—Knitting Factory
July 29—Monterey, CA—Golden State Theatre
July 30—Santa Rosa, CA—Luther Burbank Theater

August 1—Mammoth Lakes, CA—Mammoth Festival of Beers and Bluesapalooza
August 2—Sacramento, CA—Channel 24
August 14—Park City, UT—Park City Song Summit
August 15—West Valley City, UT—Utah First Credit Union Amphitheatre†
August 16—West Valley City, UT—Utah First Credit Union Amphitheatre†
August 17—Jackson, WY—Snow King Mountain
August 23—Charleston, SC—Marcus King Band Family Reunion Festival
August 24—Charleston, SC—Marcus King Band Family Reunion Festival
August 31—Aspen, CO—Jazz Aspen Snowmass Festival

September 5—Madison, IN—Unbroken Circle Festival At Bicentennial Park
September 12—Lincoln, NE—Pinnacle Bank Arena‡
September 15-21—Seattle, WA—Keeping The Blues Alive at Sea Alaska
September 25—Green Bay, WI—Resch Center§
September 26—Milwaukee, WI—Fiserv Forum§
September 27—Des Moines, IA—Wells Fargo Arena§
September 28—St. Louis, MO—Evolution Festival

October 2—Detroit, MI—Little Caesars Arena§
October 3—Lexington, KY—Rupp Arena§
October 9—Indianapolis, IN—Gainbridge Fieldhouse§
October 10—Grand Rapids, MI—Van Andel Arena§
October 11—Cleveland, OH—Rocket Arena§
October 16—Sugar Land, TX—Smart Financial Centre At Sugar Land**
October 18—Austin, TX—Moody Center**
October 25—Birmingham, AL—Legacy Arena at The BJCC‡

November 1—Gonzales, LA—Boots On The Bayou

*with Fiend Without A Face
†with Chris Stapleton
‡with Cody Johnson
§with Eric Church
**with Dwight YoakamThe post Marcus King Releases New Single, “Carolina Honey,” Dedicated To The Woman Who Changed His Life… His Wife first appeared on Whiskey Riff.