Roots singer-songwriter and guitarist Davy Knowles has just released a lyric video for “Roll Me,” the second single off his Provogue debut, ‘What Happens Next,’ out October 22nd. “Roll Me is a song that my producer Eric Corne had written and brought to me,” Knowles recalls. “I as soon as I heard it, I related to it and knew I wanted to record it. It’s a song about loss, something we have both had our fair share of experience with. Musically, I loved the soul feel he had, a genre I have been such a massive fan of for so long, but haven’t dipped my toes into on record. It was great to push myself out of my comfort zone and I couldn’t be more pleased with how it turned out.”
On the aptly-titled new album, Knowles boldly steps forward with timeless and cohesive songwriting; sleek modern production; and a lyrical, play-for-the-song guitar approach informed from soul, folk, rock, and blues. The 12-song album is just as influenced by The Black Keys, Fantastic Negrito, Gary Clark Jr., as it is Muddy Waters, Junior Kimbrough, and R.L. Burnside. It is a cohesive body of work rather than a collection of disparate songs. “When it came time to record this album, it was all about supporting the songs as opposed to ‘how quickly I can get to the guitar solo’,” the Isle of Man-born, Chicago-based artist says laughing. “I’m not a purist, and the way for roots music to stay relevant is to adapt and progress.”
Produced by Eric Corne (John Mayall, Joe Walsh, Joe Bonamassa), ‘What Happens Next’ something of a departure from Knowles’s fired-up and reverent take on blues and Americana, featuring poetic songwriting and soulfully emotive vocals that steal the show. The 12-song body of work offers forth a peaks-and-valleys album experience winding through brawny riffs, jazzy blues balladry, and vintage soul before concluding with one of Knowles’s most personal songs released to date. Throughout it all, his guitar playing is brilliantly understated, his rhythm work is deft and dynamic. The album bursts open with, “Light Of The Moon,” a swaggering riff-rocker replete with vibey 1960s organ flourishes, hooky minor-tinged refrains, and impassioned soul-drenched vocals. Here, Davy’s lead breaks drip sustain, vibrato, and sublime bluesy melodicism.
Knowles first burst onto the scene at the age of 20 with his band Back Door Slam, garnering rave reviews, making national US television appearances (Jimmy Kimmel Live, Good Morning America), earning extensive triple-A radio airplay, and achieving two Top 5 Billboard Blues charting albums. Since then he has been solo, and he independently released two more studio albums, 2014’s The Outsider and 2016’s Three Miles From Avalon, which also hit the Top 5 on the Billboard Blues chart. He’s earned plum endorsements from D’Addario strings, PRS guitars, Bludotone amps, and Celestion speakers, became the first musician in history to play live directly to the International Space Station from Mission Control in Houston, and held his own sharing the stage with such heavyweight artists as The Who, Jeff Beck, Gov’t Mule, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Kid Rock, Joe Bonamassa, Sonny Landreth, Peter Frampton, Joe Satriani, and Sammy Hagar, among many others.
Despite the songs on ‘What Happens Next’ featuring concise lead guitar playing, fans of Knowles’s fleet-fingered lead style fear not for the blues-rock fire still burns inside him. Knowles says: “This album taught me about restraint in terms of guitar playing. I had to reign it in to let the songs breathe, but I am looking forward to reimagining them and stretching out when we play live.”
Stay tuned for additional updates.
‘What Happens Next’ by Davy Knowles
1.Light of the Moon
2.Heartbreak Or Nothing
3.Roll Me
4. Get Lucky
5. Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
6. One & the Same
7. Solid Ground
8. River
9. Side Show
10.Hell to Pay
11.Wake Me Up When The Nightmare Is Over
13.If I Ever Meet My Maker
