MUSIC NEWS - 22-year-old British guitar whiz DAVY KNOWLES & his band Back Door Slam
The new, COMING UP FOR AIR features 11 brand new studio recordings; comprised of nine DAVY KNOWLES compositions, a cover of George Harrison’s “Hear Me Lord” and a special bonus track: “Taste of Danger”; which is a duet with singer-songwriter Jonatha Brooke. Davy added “Taste of Danger” to his album for his fans after Brooke released the soulful and dynamic duet as a single on the Bad Dog Records label and added the track to her own album The Works, which originally had her solo version of the song. The duet version was re-recorded with Davy in early 2009.
Davy has described COMING UP FOR AIR as “the next step musically,” stating that he is “a better musician now, a better songwriter now so the songs are better and the playing is more fluid.” The album also represents a new musical platform for DAVY KNOWLES and BACK DOOR SLAM, following their debut album ROLL AWAY in 2007 and the departure of two Back Door Slam members in 2008. The new album was recorded in Los Angeles at Sage and Sound studio with Fritz Lewak (drums) and Kevin McCormick (bass), Jackson Browne’s rhythm section, and Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ Benmont Tench adding keyboard work. Davy says, “We cut all of the rhythm tracks all together in the same room…It was all tracked at the same time so you really get that live feel.”
While a bulk of the album was written by Davy, the new album also sees him teaming with some new co-writing partners, which is how he was originally introduced to Frampton. “We ended up writing a song together [“Keep On Searching”] and it just worked so well, straight away. There was obviously musical chemistry there, and eventually I roped him into producing the album.” Davy adds: “I have had many different influences. The beauty about writing with someone else is that you get their influences too, all of their past, all of their history…Sometimes they’ll steer you in a direction that you wouldn’t take by yourself, and that’s the beauty of it.”
Knowles produced the album’s two acoustic songs (“Amber’s Song” and “Saving Myself”), but the writing partnership with Frampton led to Peter signing on to produce, the first time he has produced an album outside of his own. Frampton also served as a musician on a number of album tracks. “With ‘Hear Me Lord,’ Peter came in and joined us on guitar and backing vocals. He had played acoustic on the original Harrison version all those years ago, which somehow made it seem even more special. On ‘Keep On Searching,’ and ‘You Can’t Take This Back’--the songs we wrote together--he came in and played too. It was great. It was a lot of fun. He is exciting to play with. He really gets into it and you feed off that.”
COMING UP FOR AIR kicks off with the title track, a song that shouldn’t be new to BDS fans as it has been a staple in their live show for a while. It’s followed by “Riverbed” which captures the emotion of a tragic train crash that happened near Mobile, AL. Davy explains that he “saw a documentary about it on the TV when I was in a hotel room somewhere. It was fascinating yet so tragic—a ‘wrong place-wrong time’ tragedy. There was a tugboat on the Mississippi River that got lost in the fog; there was a first mate that was inexperienced and they had basically gone up the wrong creek, had gotten lost and hit the pillar of a swing bridge as it crossed the river. The swing bridge hadn’t been anchored properly and it split the tracks. Then an express train came across it and plunged into the river and it was horrific. Six months after seeing this story I still had this in my head as something to write about.”
Another standout track is Davy’s cover of George Harrison
COMING UP FOR AIR Track Listing:
1 - Coming Up For Air
2 - Riverbed
3 - Mistakes
4 - Hear Me Lord
5 - Amber's Song
6 - Tear Down The Walls
7 - You Can't Take This Back
8 - Country Girl
9 - Keep On Searching
10 - Saving Myself
*11 - Taste of Danger
*bonus track w/Jonatha Brooke
DAVY KNOWLES and BACK DOOR SLAM 2009 Tour Dates:
| Sat | 5/16 | Annapolis, MD | Chesapeake Bay Blues Fest |
| *Sun | 5/17 | San Francisco, CA | The Fillmore |
| *Tue | 5/19 | Los Angeles, CA | The Roxy |
| *Fri | 5/22 | Chicago, IL | Park West |
| Sat | 6/6 | Atlanta, GA | Virginia Highlands (Dave FM radio show) |
| Sun | 6/7 | Chattanooga, TN | Riverbend Festival - Under the Bridge |
| Mon | 6/8 | Chattanooga, TN | Riverbend Festival - Bessie Smith Hall |
| Tue | 6/9 | Nashville, TN | 3rd & Lindsley |
| Thu | 6/11 | Nashville, TN | Exit Inn |
| Sat | 6/13 | Wilmington, NC | The Soapbox |
| Mon | 6/15 | Philadelphia, PA | World Café (Record Release Show) |
| Fri | 6/19 | Aurora, IL | Blues on the Fox Festival |
| Sat | 6/20 | Fort Wayne, IN | BBQ Ribfest - Headwaters Park |
| Sun | 6/21 | Columbus, OH | Basement |
| Tue | 6/23 | Indianapolis, IN | Birdy’s |
| Wed | 6/24 | Cincinnati, OH | Southgate House |
| Fri | 6/26 | Madison, WI | Majestic Theatre |
| Sun | 6/28 | Des Moines, IA | House of Bricks |
| Tue | 6/30 | Milwaukee, WI | Summerfest w/ Buddy Guy |
| Thu | 7/2 | Rothbury, MI | Rothbury Festival |
| Sat | 7/4 | Thunder Bay, ONT | Thunder Bay Bluesfest |
| Fri | 7/10 | Burlington, VT | Higher Ground |
| Sat | 7/11 | White Plains, NY | WXPK radio show |
| Fri | 7/17 | Steamboat, CO | Old Town Pub |
| Sat | 7/18 | Denver, CO | Mile High Music Festival |
| Sat | 8/1 | Prairie du Chien, WI | Prairie Dog Blues Festival |
| Thu | 8/6 | Bethlehem, PA | Musikfest |
| Sun | 8/9 | Chicago, IL | Lollapalooza |
| Fri | 8/14 | Alexandria, VA | Birchmere |
| Sat | 8/15 | Cockeysville, MD | Hot August Blues Festival |
| Sat | 8/29 | Paola, KS | Paola Roots Festival |
| Sat | 9/12 | Springfield, MO | Greater Ozarks Blues Festival |
| Fri | 9/18 | Fredericton, New Brunswick | Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival |
| * opening dates with Chickenfoot | |||
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