Edgy Southern Rock Duo Ida Mae Teams Up With Marcus King For A Groovy New Track

This week edgy UK/Nashville duo Ida Mae teams up with slick guitar player Marcus King for a truly one of a kind track.

Credit: Joe Hottinger

The musical innovators step from out of the typical country music box with the greasy new "When Eden Was My Girl"

Turpin recalls that the track was "written in a haze as we finished Click Click Domino. We wanted this song to be a simple, raw, deep groove… We wanted two lead protagonists, two voices male and female and for that to be echoed in my and Marcus’s lead guitar lines. Lyrically I was imagining Nick Cave writing his own, darker version of ‘I Can’t Quit You Babe’ by Otis Rush…with Jack White and JJ Cale chipping in a few words and licks here and there. Me and Marcus stood side by side in the basement of our Nashville home with two 5w Fender Champ amplifiers. We took two passes, what you hear from the dueling lead guitars is completely improvised on the spot. It’s always a huge honor and pleasure to make music with Marcus.”

The addition of King adds depth and excitement to the southern inspired track. The electrifying guitar riffs and groovy solos offer layers in music that sometimes get pushed aside. The raw vocals of the duo help to tell the timeless tale of love lost and all the somber emotion that heartbreak involves. Perhaps there is a fourth player in this tune. The guitar licks help to personify the emotion of this song, making the story almost jump through the speakers.

For nearly two straight years following the release of their critically acclaimed debut, Chasing Lights, Ida Mae lived on the road, crisscrossing the US from coast to coast as they performed hundreds of dates with everyone from Willie Nelson and Alison Krauss to Marcus King and Greta Van Fleet. While those shows were electrifying for the duo, it was what happened in between - the countless hours spent driving through small towns and big cities, past sprawling suburbs and forgotten ghost towns, across deserts and mountains and forests and prairies - that truly laid the creative groundwork for Click Click Domino and the music which came after.