Davy Knowles Sings the Blues

Davy Knowles is cute. And British. And that's enough right there, but he also plays a mean guitar and sings the blues with a clean, clear voice that sounds like Sunday morning, line-dried laundry and the Bayou. All at once. Put him in front of his band, Back Door Slam, and Davy Knowles goes from young kid with a guitar to rock and roll star.

His voice is surprisingly strong, and the band is surprisingly tight. Their sound borrows from generations of musicians that came before them, but it's not derivative or weak. Rather, it's The Real Thing reincarnated. You can't listen to Davy Knowles - or watch him play - without thinking that he is being visited by rock gods of the past, or that this kid is very, very lucky.

Probably both.

If you've yet to see Davy Knowles, you will. He and his Back Door Slam are a mainstay on this summer's concert stage, where they're touring their studio album, Coming Up for Air. But, whether or not Knowles is in front of Back Door Slam is, sadly, irrelevant. He is the soul, the sound, and the show. Watch him and you'll see the past and the future standing up beside each other, trading licks.

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