No. 71: Davy Knowles And Back Door Slam

I should probably preface by saying that the picture you see to the right is not representative of Back Door Slam these days. Nope, currently it's Davy Knowles and Back Door Slam. Up until around January 27th, 2009, Back Door Slam consisted of Davy Knowles on guitar, Adam Jones on bass, and Ross Doyle on drums. The band hails from The Isle of Man, a small island off the coast of the U.K. and apparently went through some sort of tumultuous breakup early in the year, which resulted in the spawning of the moniker used today. Sure, Davy Knowles is still there, but who his backing players are, is tough to say.... His website doesn't really go out of its way to point these people out. One gets the feeling Davy wants to make sure he's the focus of this new incarnation, and just wants studio musicians with him on the road. But enough about the revolving door that is Back Door Slam... Let's talk about the music.

Davy Knowles appears to be one of those young virtuoso guitarists in the vein of Derek Trucks and John Mayer that seem to pop up every few years. At 21 he's already made a name for himself on the blues/rock circuit, opening for the likes of Lynrd Skynrd, Buddy Guy, Kid Rock, The Who, and Gov't Mule. Davy and his band just released Coming Up For Air, which just so happens to be produced by one Mr. Peter Frampton. Make no mistake, Davy can play the shit out of a guitar.... However, his songs seem to stoop to run of the mill lyricism in songs like "Riverbed" where Davy howls: " I can remember a night oh so well/ Where the moon shone down on a Mississippi River swell.." Far be it from me to define the realm of blues mysticism, but for a youngster from the U.K. to be throwing out blues cliches about New Orleans and steam trains, makes a guy from the South, like me, feel a little patronized. There are some standout tracks such as "Amber's Song" which features some nice harmonies and mandolin (Another weapon Davy seems to be a master of) in the choruses, along with "Taste Of Danger", a duet with American folk singer/songwriter Jonatha Brooke. Why "Taste Of Danger" is more or less a bonus track here is a mystery to me as it proves to be one of the lynchpins of this album.

Overall, I have to take issue with Mr. Frampton's producing effort. Davy's got a sprawling bluesy voice that is hardly given justice on the album. It seems his voice is over produced and canned..... A vital mistake when recording a blues record, as the right imperfections can lead to a more solid product. Who knows? It's possible this band can really let it rip live, but here it just sounds like a Los Lonely Boys' knockoff. If I get a minute I might pop over to see what the all the fuss is at Lolla, but I most likely won't stick around for very long unless what I hear really blows me away. On the title track, Davy says "I'm coming up for air, but there's nothing there." Somehow Davy doesn't seem far off...

Davy Knowles And Back Door Slam's Myspace

Official Site

*NOTE: This post was meant for Thursday the 28th, but Blogger confused me.