Description
The Marcus King Band – Carolina Confessions – Indie Exclusive Orange Marble Vinyl Record
Limited Edition, Indie Exclusive Orange Marble
The Marcus King Band’s third studio album, Carolina Confessions, arrived on October 5, 2018, via Fantasy Records, marking a pivotal moment in the Greenville-based outfit’s ascent beyond regional blues circles. Recorded at the legendary RCA Studio A in Nashville under the keen ear of producer Dave Cobb—whose credits include work with Jason Isbell and Chris Stapleton—the album captures a young Marcus King honing his craft as both a songwriter and instrumentalist. King, then just twenty-two, penned nine of the ten tracks alone, with the exception of “How Long,” co-written alongside Dan Auerbach and Pat McLaughlin. The decision to record in Nashville’s storied studio imbued the sessions with a warm, resonant quality, allowing King’s expressive guitar and plaintive vocals to sit comfortably amid the spacious, analog-friendly acoustics
Carolina Confessions weaves together threads of blues, Southern rock, and soul, demonstrating King’s Southern Gothic sensibility while spotlighting his band’s tight interplay. Opener “Confessions” kicks off with gritty guitar licks and a groove that nods to both Delta blues and swamp rock. Songs like “Where I’m Headed” lean into propulsive, uptempo soul, whereas “Homesick” unfolds as a languid ballad underscored by organ swells and King’s yearning falsetto. The horns arrangements—courtesy of Dean Mitchell and Justin Johnson—add depth on tracks such as “Autumn Rains,” enriching the band’s core quartet of Stephen Campbell on bass, Jack Ryan on drums, and DeShawn Alexander on keyboards. Throughout the album’s forty-eight-minute runtime, the Marcus King Band balances raw, live-in-the-studio energy with Cobb’s tasteful production flourishes, ensuring each performance feels both immediate and meticulously crafted
Carolina Confessions garnered both critical acclaim and respectable commercial success, especially within genre-specific charts. In the United States, it climbed to number two on Billboard’s Top Blues Albums and Americana/Folk Albums charts, while also reaching number fifty-five on the Top Current Album Sales and number fifty-eight on the Top Album Sales chart. Internationally, it found audiences in Switzerland (peaking at number seventy-six), the Netherlands (number eighty-nine), Belgium’s Wallonia region (number one hundred twenty-six), and the United Kingdom’s Official Americana Albums chart (number eleven). The single “Homesick” resonated on adult alternative radio, peaking at number twenty-six on Billboard’s Adult Alternative Airplay chart. These milestones underscored the band’s ability to transcend blues-rock niches and connect with broader audiences, solidifying Carolina Confessions as a breakthrough that set the stage for Marcus King’s subsequent evolution as a solo artist
Brand new, never played and still in the factory plastic sealed
Track Listing
Confessions
Where I’m Headed
Homesick
8 A.M.
How Long
Remember
Side Door
Autumn Rains
Welcome ‘Round Here
Goodbye Carolina
