The Marcus King Band Announces New Album, ‘Darling Blue,’ Drops Two New Singles Including “Here Today” Featuring Jamey Johnson & Kaitlin Butts

Not one but two new singles.

The Marcus King Band is back together and rocking and rolling – and gearing up to release their first record since 2018.

Marcus and the crew announced today that their new album, Darling Blue, is set for release on September 26th via American Records/Republic Records.

But along with the announcement of a new album, he’s also coming out of the gate hot and giving us two new singles as a teaser of what they have in store. While King officially announced this new album today, July 11th, he had teased its arrival earlier this summer at the Bonnaroo festival.

“This is another one from the new record I just announced. I’m not sure I was supposed to do that, but hell, it’s Bonnaroo, baby!”

Since Carolina Confessions, The Marcus King Band has grown, evolved, and King has cleaned up his act. Fans can expect a continued conversation on this record surrounding his sobriety and mental health struggles, which we’ve already gotten a preview of with “Honky Tonk Hell.”  As for the sound fans can expect from the forthcoming record, the South Carolina native shared that his home state inspired the music, along with influences from country, folk, and psychedelic rock.

To top it off, King also incorporated elements of blues, which is signature to the band’s sound.

“It truly felt like home. Like my band and I were just working out songs to perform live, but ended up creating a piece of recorded music for our fans to hear. Our goal is always to be a vessel and allow the music to flow through us and tap into something that’s already there in the room.

But more than anything I’ve done before, this album felt like a real concerted effort to make music for myself, and for ourselves as a band, creating for the love of creating and being as honest as we possibly can. We put everything we had into making something that we love, and we have faith that the audience will feel that and love it too.”

The record will feature some notable collabs, including Billy Strings and Noah Cyrus, among others.

To celebrate the announcement of Darling Blue, the Marcus King Band dropped not only one but two new singles. Leading up to the announcement, King had previously announced the single “Here Today” featuring Kaitlin Butts and Jamey Johnson. Ever since King started playing this tune on the road, I was ready for its release, and the addition of Butts and Johnson takes this already rocking single up a notch.

King shared that the song penned by Lainey Wilson, Meg McRee, and him came together in a very natural way:

“The song came together in that organic way that happens when you’re just hanging out with friends instead of being on the clock.”

The honky tonk tune has a “Ramblin’ Man” feel as the trio sings about being a nomad, moving from place to place and never looking back on their tracks.

“I’m a ramblin’ desperado
Never lookin’ back’s my middle name
All the time I had I had to borrow
Here today
Gone tomorrow
Here today
Gone tomorrow”

In addition to “Here Today,” King released a second single, “Carry Me Home.” The song has a much softer feel as Marcus King serenades the Blue Ridge Mountains that he calls home. King shared that writing this love letter to this home felt like “the first song that poured out of me.”

The guitar riffs in this song remind me of The Beatles, creating an addictive melody that is paired with Marcus King’s silky vocals. You can hear how much the Carolinas mean to him as he sings the heartfelt lyrics.

“Never been to heaven
Appalachia have I seen
In my time of dying
Bury me beneath her trees

Carry me
Carry me home
Carry me home, Carolina”

If you’re anything like me, you’ll quickly find both of these songs on repeat. September 26th can’t get here soon enough.

Darling Blue Tracklist

1. On & On
2. Here Today feat. Jamey Johnson & Kaitlin Butts
3. Honky Tonk Hell
4. Heartlands
5. Die Alone
6. Somebody Else featuring Jesse Welles
7. Levi’s & Goodbyes
8. Carolina Honey
9. No Room For Blue
10. Blue Ridge Mountain Moon
11. Dirt (Nashville Version) feat. Billy Strings
12. The Shadows feat. Noah Cyrus
13. Pretty Petty
14. Carry Me Home

Marcus King Confirmed Tour Dates

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—Casey’s Center§
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
November 11-16—Los Angeles, CA—Blue Note LA

May 29—Panama City Beach, FL—Gulf Coast Jam

*with Angel White
†with Chris Stapleton
‡with Cody Johnson
§with Eric Church
**with Dwight YoakamThe post The Marcus King Band Announces New Album, ‘Darling Blue,’ Drops Two New Singles Including “Here Today” Featuring Jamey Johnson & Kaitlin Butts first appeared on Whiskey Riff.