BACK DOOR SLAM recently kicked off a month long tour playing support slots with Rusted Root. The young blues-rock trio recently released their debut album, Roll Away, on June 26th.
Hailing from the United Kingdom’s Isle of Man—hardly a bastion for the blues—Back Door Slam is fronted by 20-year-old singer, songwriter and guitar prodigy Davy Knowles, and has already begun to develop a following in the U.S. via high profile performances at SXSW in Austin and the Beale Street Music Festival in Memphis. From the same Running Media Group management stable as multi-platinum Grammy nominee Corinne Bailey Rae, they recorded the album at the Isle of Man’s DAM Studios with RMG’s Dave Armstrong producing.
One of the season’s most compelling debuts, ROLL AWAY finds Back Door Slam displaying its powers of what has been described as "Back To The Future Blues" on a diverse program of tough rockers, moving ballads and cleanly executed blues. Highlights include the guitar-driven opener “Come Home,” the dark Albert King-styled “Heavy on My Mind,” rock-funk groover “Takes a Real Man,” and the album’s one cover song, the highly-charged “Outside Woman Blues.” “Too Good for Me” is a quiet, change-of-pace piece featuring mandolin and guitar; it is more folk than blues, more Bruce Springsteen than Stevie Ray Vaughan. “Stay” is a powerful paean to a fallen comrade (the band’s original rhythm guitarist, Brian Garvey, killed in an auto accident in 2004), while the title song, a reflective, largely acoustic track with Celtic overtones, deals with a young man’s love of his safe, idyllic home and his need to break away for the uncertainties of the world beyond.
Back Door Slam’s name comes from the Robert Cray blues classic, and Cray’s influence and that of other blues greats like Eric Clapton, John Mayall, Rory Gallagher, early Fleetwood
Mac plus the late Stevie Ray Vaughan imbues their intoxicating, guitar-driven sound. Knowles, who also writes most of the songs, first picked up the guitar at age 11 after hearing Dire Straits’ “Sultans of Swing” on his father’s cassette. Skipping the usual three-chord songbook approach to learning the instrument, he taught himself to play the classic song in its entirety and, in doing so, also discovered his destiny.
A 12-city tour with Pittsburgh jam-rockers Rusted Root commences on July 5, taking them to the following cities: July 5—Summerfest, Milwaukee; 7—Aggie Theatre, Fort Collins, CO; 8—Ogden Theatre, Denver; 9—Belly Up, Aspen; 11—Marquee Theatre, Tempe, AZ; 12—House of Blues, San Diego; 13—Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas; 14—House of Blues, Los Angeles; 16—The Depot, Salt Lake City; 17—Fox Theatre, Boulder; 19—Voodoo at Harrah’s, No. Kansas City; and 20—Old St. Pat's Church Block Party, Chicago. The trio follows the Rusted Root tour with more dates of their own throughout the summer—including the Mercury Lounge in New York City on July 26—culminating with a featured slot at the Austin City Limits Festival on September 15.
Hailing from the United Kingdom’s Isle of Man—hardly a bastion for the blues—Back Door Slam is fronted by 20-year-old singer, songwriter and guitar prodigy Davy Knowles, and has already begun to develop a following in the U.S. via high profile performances at SXSW in Austin and the Beale Street Music Festival in Memphis. From the same Running Media Group management stable as multi-platinum Grammy nominee Corinne Bailey Rae, they recorded the album at the Isle of Man’s DAM Studios with RMG’s Dave Armstrong producing.
One of the season’s most compelling debuts, ROLL AWAY finds Back Door Slam displaying its powers of what has been described as "Back To The Future Blues" on a diverse program of tough rockers, moving ballads and cleanly executed blues. Highlights include the guitar-driven opener “Come Home,” the dark Albert King-styled “Heavy on My Mind,” rock-funk groover “Takes a Real Man,” and the album’s one cover song, the highly-charged “Outside Woman Blues.” “Too Good for Me” is a quiet, change-of-pace piece featuring mandolin and guitar; it is more folk than blues, more Bruce Springsteen than Stevie Ray Vaughan. “Stay” is a powerful paean to a fallen comrade (the band’s original rhythm guitarist, Brian Garvey, killed in an auto accident in 2004), while the title song, a reflective, largely acoustic track with Celtic overtones, deals with a young man’s love of his safe, idyllic home and his need to break away for the uncertainties of the world beyond.
Back Door Slam’s name comes from the Robert Cray blues classic, and Cray’s influence and that of other blues greats like Eric Clapton, John Mayall, Rory Gallagher, early Fleetwood
Mac plus the late Stevie Ray Vaughan imbues their intoxicating, guitar-driven sound. Knowles, who also writes most of the songs, first picked up the guitar at age 11 after hearing Dire Straits’ “Sultans of Swing” on his father’s cassette. Skipping the usual three-chord songbook approach to learning the instrument, he taught himself to play the classic song in its entirety and, in doing so, also discovered his destiny.
A 12-city tour with Pittsburgh jam-rockers Rusted Root commences on July 5, taking them to the following cities: July 5—Summerfest, Milwaukee; 7—Aggie Theatre, Fort Collins, CO; 8—Ogden Theatre, Denver; 9—Belly Up, Aspen; 11—Marquee Theatre, Tempe, AZ; 12—House of Blues, San Diego; 13—Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas; 14—House of Blues, Los Angeles; 16—The Depot, Salt Lake City; 17—Fox Theatre, Boulder; 19—Voodoo at Harrah’s, No. Kansas City; and 20—Old St. Pat's Church Block Party, Chicago. The trio follows the Rusted Root tour with more dates of their own throughout the summer—including the Mercury Lounge in New York City on July 26—culminating with a featured slot at the Austin City Limits Festival on September 15.
