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“I was drinking a lot and forgot that I bought it. The folks at Carter Vintage called me and were like, ‘You gonna come get this guitar?’” Marcus King on the vintage guitar he accidentally bought while drunk
He's also been playing some impressive vintage guitars of his own recently, one of which he actually forget he bought...
“I've been playing a ’66 Esquire,” he told Guitar World. “I was drinking a lot and forgot that I bought it. The folks at Carter Vintage called me and were like, ‘You gonna come get this guitar?’ It's probably the only good thing that ever came from my drinking."
King also admits that, “When I'm at home, I don't like to touch the guitar” – preferring instead to play the piano, pedal steel, fiddle, banjo, ukulele... basically, anything but the guitar.
Marcus King, The Marcus King Band - Heartlands - YouTube
“The guitar is something that I'm so familiar with,” he says of his philosophy, matter-of-factly. “It's like riding a bike or speaking the English language. If I moved abroad and only spoke Spanish for six months, it's not like I will forget how to speak English.
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“Guitar is so deeply rooted in me. I like to play different instruments, and it helps my playing when I go back to the guitar. I read Victor Wooten's book [The Music Lesson], and he harped on the importance of being a musician, not a bass player, and I have always been influenced by that idea. It’s a holy experience to be able to sit at a guitar and say exactly what I have on my mind.”
Janelle is a staff writer at GuitarWorld.com. After a long stint in classical music, Janelle discovered the joys of playing guitar in dingy venues at the age of 13 and has never looked back. Janelle has written extensively about the intersection of music and technology and how it is shaping the future of the music industry, and has a special interest in shining a spotlight on traditionally underrepresented artists and global guitar sounds. She also had the pleasure of interviewing Melissa Auf der Maur, Yvette Young, Danielle Haim, Fanny, and Karan Katiyar from Bloodywood, among others. When she's not writing, you'll find her creating layers of delicious audio lasagna with her Anglo-Maltese, art-rock band ĠENN.
