Davy Knowles

blues rock

Davy Knowles is a blues-rock guitarist and singer, born April 30, 1987 in Port St Mary on the Isle of Man and now based in Chicago. He first drew attention with Back Door Slam, the band he formed on the island as a teenager; its debut album Roll Away, released in June 2007, reached number seven on Billboard's blues albums chart. The follow-up, Coming Up for Air (2009), was credited to Davy Knowles and Back Door Slam, produced by Peter Frampton, mixed by Bob Clearmountain and released on Blix Street Records; it reached number two on the blues chart. Frampton has described him as the gunslinger guitarist of his generation, and Joe Satriani has named him a favourite among modern blues players. Working under his own name since the band split in early 2009, Knowles has released The Outsider (2014), Three Miles from Avalon (2016), which reached number five on the blues albums chart, What Happens Next (2021) for Provogue Records, the folk-leaning If I Should Wander (2023) and The Invisible Man (2024), with the acoustic Delta blues set 1932 also in the catalogue. He toured with Satriani and Chickenfoot, opened for Jeff Beck in April 2009, played with the Rhythm Devils in 2010, and has shared stages with The Who, Joe Bonamassa and Lynyrd Skynyrd; between 2017 and 2018 he fronted Band of Friends, a Rory Gallagher project with Gallagher's own rhythm section, Gerry McAvoy and Ted McKenna. A documentary about him, Island Bound, screened at the Isle of Man Film Festival in 2014, and he was the first musician to perform live to the International Space Station from mission control in Houston. His playing draws on Rory Gallagher, Eric Clapton, Dire Straits and Robert Johnson alongside the Celtic music of his upbringing.

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