The Southern blues guitar champion talks his touring routines, custom gear, working with Rick Rubin, and the medicine of music.
Marcus King has already been through the wringer, but he’s on the come-up. His hotly anticipated third LP, Mood Swings, drops this Friday, April 5, and on this episode of Wong Notes, the earnest, honest 28-year old South Carolinian goes deep on his career with Cory Wong.
The two shredders open by swapping notes on how touring has changed post-pandemic. Costs are way up, but they’re managing to make it work. King reveals to Wong that on his upcoming tour, he’s wrangled a few sizeable, must-have creature comforts into the trailers—tune in to find out what King brings on the road.
King walks us through his custom amp and cabinet setups, detailing why he prefers 10" speakers to 12", how he became friends with Orange Amplifiers founder Cliff Cooper, and the family history that led to his signature Gibson Marcus King 1962 ES-345, complete with sideways vibrola.
He and Wong get down to the nitty-gritty, too. Marcus talks about pressure to conform to certain genre communities, his struggles with self-medicating, and how sometimes, music feels like the only medicine we’ve got on hand.
Joe Satriani and Steve Vai release new music together for the first time in nearly five decades of friendship.
Teaming up with Satch and Vai on the track are Eric Caudieux on keyboards, who also served as co-producer the song, with the rhythmic backbone provided by Matt Chamberlain on drums and Matt Bissonette on bass. A music video, directed by Z.Z. Satriani, takes this concept one step further with a whimsical look imagining what the beginning of that friendship might have looked and sounded like way back in the 70’s. The video will also premiere on March 29 at 9:00am PT/12pm ET.
JOE SATRIANI & STEVE VAI ' The Sea Of Emotion, Pt.1' - Official Video
Of the inspiration behind the new song, Satriani commented, “When Steve and I decided the time had finally come for us to collaborate on an album I immediately thought of our humble beginnings, where we came from, and our teenage rock ’n’ roll hopes and dreams. To anybody else it may look like just a field, part of the sprawling Carle Place Public School complex, but for some of us, back in the early ’70’s, when the sun went down and the moon came up, it became "The Sea of Emotion”.
We would hang out there late at night and share our deepest thoughts with each other. For me and my closest friends, it was a magical place, this field right outside the back of the Rushmore gym. The memories we shared at that location so long ago became the inspiration for a musical journey in three parts. Each part of the song has little reminders of what we were so into musically back then, including a chord sequence that Steve and I would sometimes jam over during guitar lessons.
Vai echoes the sentiment about their hometown, “This song, and its additional 2 parts, are inspired by a giant field outside the High School of the town Joe and I grew up in. As young teenagers, we would sit overlooking this magnificent field and wax on generously for hours about the meaning of life and many other deep, rich discussions, so we deemed this field, “The Sea of Emotion”. 50 years later, it has been memorialized in melody and groove.
Connecting with Joe on this track, and the other music we are working on, is perhaps the most rewarding musical collaboration I’ve ever engaged in. Although we’ve toured and recorded jams together through the decades, for this music we are intimately bringing together our melodic impulses and playing techniques and creating something that is bigger than the sum of its parts.”
Fans will be able to experience this new music live when “The Satch-Vai Tour” launches on March 22 in Orlando, FL. The tour will continue on, hitting Atlanta, Boston, New York, DC, Detroit, Minneapolis and more before winding up in Santa Rosa, CA on May 12 with 38 shows in total. This tour also marks the first time that the long-time friends have joined together as a duo-bill.
Satch and Vai’s musical careers have been intertwined since their very early days. Satriani served as Vai’s guitar teacher during their teenage years on Long Island, New York. Their connection has continued to evolve over the years, even sharing record labels, starting at Relativity Records in the late 80’s, to both calling Sony/Epic Records home for a significant portion of the 90’s. Together, they have also frequently teamed up with a third guitarist on multiple occasions throughout the span of 29 years, participating in the semi-annual G3 Tours, both in the U.S. and abroad.
For more information, please visit satriani.com.
The Satch-Vai Tour itinerary
March 29 North Charleston, SC North Charleston Performing Arts Center
March 30 Durham, NC Durham Performing Arts Center
April 2 Charlotte, NC Belk Theater
April 3 Richmond, VA Dominion Energy Center
April 5 Boston, MA Orpheum Theatre Boston
April 6 New York, NY Beacon Theatre
April 7 Waterbury, CT Waterbury Palace Theater
April 8 Red Bank, NJ Count Basie Center for the Arts
April 10 Collingswood, NJ Scottish Rite Auditorium
April 11 Washington, DC Warner Theatre DC
April 13 Northfield, OH MGM Northfield Park
April 14 Rochester, NY Kodak Center Theater
April 16 Detroit, MI Fisher Theatre
April 18 Chicago, IL Chicago Theatre
April 19 Cincinnati, OH Andrew J. Brady Icon Music Center
April 20 Fort Wayne, IN Embassy Theatre
April 21 Indianapolis, IN Murat Theatre
April 23 Milwaukee, WI Riverside Theater
April 24 Minneapolis, MN State Theatre
April 25 Des Moines, IA Des Moines Civic Center
April 26 Springfield, MO Gillioz Theatre
April 28 La Vista, NE The Astro
April 29 Salina, KS The Stiefel Theatre
April 30 St. Louis, MO The Factory
May 1 Kansas City, MO Uptown Theater
May 3 Austin, TX ACL Live at The Moody Theater
May 4 Dallas, TX Music Hall at Fair Park
May 5 Houston, TX 713 Music Hall
May 7 Denver, CO Paramount Theatre (SOLD OUT)
May 8 Salt Lake City, UT Delta Hall at Eccles Theater
May 10 Valley Center, CA Harrah’s Resort Southern California – The Events Center
May 11 Wheatland, CA Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
May 12 Santa Rosa, CA Luther Burbank Center for the Arts
Dunlop worked closely with the Metallica bassist to develop a set of strings to complement his signature sound and playing style with extra power and flexibility.
The resulting Robert Trujillo Bass Strings are designed to serve up a clear and articulate top end, a solid midrange punch to cut through a wall of guitars, and more than enough focused bottom to knock you on your backside.
Robert likes his tapered, but not everyone has their bass configured for that style—so these strings are designed specifically for non-tapered setups using the exact same formulas. They’re available in Nickel Wound and Stainless Steel in four-and five-string sets.
“Always trust your ears, attitude, and fingers,” Robert says. “These strings are the perfect balance of power, tone, and resonance on wood.”
- Designed using the same formulas as Robert Trujillo's own custom tapered strings
- Made specifically for non-tapered setups
- Clear & articulate top end
- Solid midrange punch
- Focused bottom to knock you on your backside
Dunlop Robert Trujillo Bass Strings are available now at $30 (four-string sets) and $35 (five-string sets) from your favorite retailer.
For more information, please visit jimdunlop.com.