This past weekend, under a canopy of stars in the depths of the San Juan Mountains in Colorado, Marcus King stepped up to the microphone and tore into a rendition of the Marshall Tucker Band’s “Can’t You See” at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival.
“I’m gonna take a freight train, down at the station, Lord,” King howled, his voice echoing out into the box canyon. “I don’t care where it goes.”
By the time King came around to the chorus, Charlie Starr, lead singer and guitarist for Blackberry Smoke, joined him in a rock & roll duet for the ages.
Dubbed Toy Factory Project, the ensemble — which includes Oteil Burbridge, Josh Shilling, Billy Contreras, and original MTB drummer Paul T. Riddle — made their highly-anticipated debut at Telluride. A tribute to the late Toy Caldwell, singer-guitarist for Marshall Tucker Band (who died in 1993 at age 45), the showcase became one of the most memorable sets in the 52-year history of the Rocky Mountain festival.
“This is the gold standard,” King tells Rolling Stone. “This group of guys that was able to make it out of South Carolina.”
Formed in Spartanburg, South Carolina, Marshall Tucker Band is close to the heart of King, personally and professionally — the young rocker grew up down the road in Greenville. King’s dad, Marvin, was a longtime friend of the MTB, too.
“We’re really getting to crack these songs open and dissect them in a way that I hadn’t really [done] before,” King says of Toy Factory Project. “And also understanding the cultural impact that this band had on every artist I’ve looked up to.”
The day before their Telluride debut, the band was rehearsing on the far side of town at the Palm Theater. Nerves were in the air. Not only did the musicians want to correctly honor Caldwell, they also wanted to do justice to Riddle, who has been mulling over putting this group together for more than 13 years.
“We met when I was in high school [and] started playing together,” Riddle says of Caldwell. “He could play anything.”
Editor’s picks
“It was required [listening],” Starr says of the group’s influence on him. “When I was kid, we learned Allman Brothers songs, Skynyrd songs, and Tucker songs. Being a guitar player that played a Gibson, I gravitated towards Toy Caldwell naturally.”
Toward the end of “Fire on the Mountain,” Burbridge, who is also the bassist in the Grateful Dead off-shoot Dead & Company, transitioned the melody into the Dead’s own song titled “Fire on the Mountain” — a segue that evoked a wave of appreciation when it was unleashed on the main stage at Telluride.
Trending Stories
With dueling Gibson guitars, King and Starr created an avalanche of notes and subtle textures, with Burbridge inspiring fluid jams, and an ear-to-ear smile on Riddle’s face. Watch Toy Factory Project play “Hillbilly Band” and “Running Like the Wind” in this video from Nugs.
It’s a fair bet the Toy Factory Project will play again. Riddle can’t resist it. “It’s just pure joy,” he says. “It’s been overwhelming.”