Marcus King raises a little ‘Honky Tonk Hell’ on his new single. The fiery guitar player returns with a track that echoes Jerry Reed and JJ Cale. Stax-style horns punctuate the choruses, and a smouldering dobro plays throughout. King’s voice is in fine Southern form. And while the song sounds like a call to party, the lyrics belie a more serious message.
‘Honky Tonk Hell’ is an anthem for anyone out there like myself who has struggled with the permanence of sobriety – those who fear the thought they will never again howl at the moon,” King says, “This song for me serves as a reminder to take it all one day at a time.”
King and his band are touring the U.S. extensively for the remainder of 2025, with opening slots for Chris Stapleton, Cody Johnson and Eric Church.
Ed Donnelly is a multi-instrumentalist, recording engineer and record producer from Los Angeles. He has worked with Willie Nelson, Crowded House, Marc Cohn, Jools Holland, Matchbox Twenty, The Cult, BoyHaunt, Gladys Knight, Trent Summar and The West Coast Mob, Smashing Pumpkins, Del McCoury, OK Go, Exodus, Molly Leach, Tom Morello, O.A.R., Madness, The Crystal Method, DrunkHungry, Deadmau5, Zac Brown, CrysP Tyger, Bighead Todd and the Monsters, Jake Shimabukuro, Barenaked Ladies, Tsar, Killola and more. Donnelly regularly performs with Nathan Jacques as well as Little Silver Hearts and records with GhostsDream. Little known fact: He previously held Top Secret Security Clearance with the U.S. Department of State and Q Clearance from the Department of Energy.
He currently runs The Barber’s Basement Recording Studio in Highland Park and is a partner in The Atmos at Lemontree Studio.
