{"id":55656,"date":"2025-06-23T09:50:10","date_gmt":"2025-06-23T13:50:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=55656"},"modified":"2025-06-23T09:50:11","modified_gmt":"2025-06-23T13:50:11","slug":"on-stage-extra-davy-knowles-comes-to-area-for-two-shows-this-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=55656","title":{"rendered":"On Stage Extra: Davy Knowles comes to area for two shows this week"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Denny Dyroff<\/strong>, Entertainment Editor, The Times<\/em><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n
\"\"

Davy Knowles<\/p><\/div>\n

The Isle of Man is a small island in the Irish Sea that is an independent country. It is a self-governing kingdom \u2013 a Crown dependency<\/a>\u00a0that belongs to neither the U.K. nor the European Union.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
The island nation covers 222 square miles and has a population of 84,523. It is also known as Manx nation.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
For such a small place, it has produced three interesting figures from the rock music world.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
First, there are the Bee Gees. If you don\u2019t know the Bee Gees, go watch \u201cSaturday Night Fever\u201d and then come back.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The Isle of Man is the birthplace of the Gibb Brothers \u2013 better known as the Bee Gees.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Then, there is Happy Jack \u2013 the title character of a hit single by The Who in 1966 (\u201cHappy Jack wasn’t tall, but he was a man, He lived in the sand at the Isle of Man.\u201d)<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
Most recently, there is Davy Knowles \u2013 highly acclaimed blues guitarist\/singer who has fared well both as a solo artist and as a group leader.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Knowles will visit the area for a pair of shows this week \u2013February 24 at World Caf\u00e9 Live (3025 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, www.worldcafelive.com<\/a>) and February 25 at Elkton Music Hall (107 North Street, Elkton, Maryland, www.elktonmusichall.com<\/a>).<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cThese shows are with my band,\u201d said Knowles, during a phone interview last week from his home in Chicago.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cI did a solo acoustic tour last year. It was fun. I had just done an acoustic album. It was a good challenge.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cNow, I\u2019m touring in support of my new album. It\u2019s a band album so I\u2019ll be touring as a trio with Todd Bower on bass and Mike Hansen on drums.\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Knowles\u2019 new album is \u201cThe Invisible Man.\u201d His fifth album under his own name, the LP was released in November 2024.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
His previous albums were \u201cThe Outsider\u201d (2014) and \u00a0\u201cThree Miles from Avalon\u201d (2016) and then, after a five-year gap, \u201cWhat Happens Next\u201d (2021) and \u201cIf I Should Wander\u201d (2023).<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cA five-year gap \u2013 that was a big gap,\u201d said Knowles. \u201cI felt like I didn\u2019t have the right material.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cThere was also a lot of life stuff. I lost my father. And I became a dad to three little girls who are two, four and seven.\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Now, after a break for the making of an acoustic album and an accompanying tour, Knowles has returned to the world of electric rock and blues.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cWe cut the new album in Chicago,\u201d said Knowles. \u201cWe recorded it at Stephen Shirk\u2019s studio (SHIRK studios). It\u2019s old school analog \u2013 70s way.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cWe did it mostly live with everyone in the same room. So much today is so polished, and we didn\u2019t want that. We wanted to go straight ahead. The whole thing was done in 10 days.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cA lot of it was done in two or three takes. We\u2019d record three or four rhythm tracks \u2013 bass, drum, guitar \u2013 and then do some overdubs. We\u2019d wait until a bit later to add any embellishments.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just a trio. I have the same guys with me on the road that were there in the studio. Todd, Mike and I have been playing together a long time \u2013 more than five years. Instrumentally, everyone is going in similar direction.\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Knowles\u2019 love of music goes back to his pre-teen days.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
When he was still just a child, Knowles was exposed to blues music through his family\u2019s music collection.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Hearing Dire Straits\u2019 \u201cSultans of Swing\u201d was crucial to his continually blossoming love affair with the guitar<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cI got my first guitar when I was 11 and I\u2019ve been playing live shows since I was 13,\u201d said Knowles.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Over the years, he has become a die-hard blues fan who has fed himself a diet of music by blues artists such as Albert King, Otis Rush and Muddy Waters \u2013 as well as British blues practitioners like Eric Clapton, Rory Gallagher and Jeff Beck.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Now, Knowles is a major player in the next generation of blues guitarists.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Video link for Davy Knowles \u2013 https:\/\/youtu.be\/zGXnHBf1_7s<\/a>.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The show at World Caf\u00e9 Live on June 24 will start at 8 p.m.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Tickets start at $25.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The show at Elkton Music Hall on June 25 will start at 8 p.m.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Tickets are $24.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Consider this \u2013 Knowles has been making music for 22 years. That definitely puts him in the \u201cveteran\u201d category.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Now consider this.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n
\"\"

Marshall Allen<\/p><\/div>\n

When Knowles started making music with Back Door Slam in 2003, Marshall Allen was already in his 63rd year as a professional musician.<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
I\u2019ll do the math for you.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Allen, who was born in spring 1924, just turned 101 on May 24 \u2013 and he\u2019s still playing several shows a month at venues around Philadelphia with his band.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Allen and guitarist DM HOTEP are the core members of Marshall Allen’s Ghost Horizons \u2013 a band that will headline an Ars Nova series show on June 23 at Solar Myth (1131 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, www.arsnovaworkshop.org<\/a>).<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Allen is an American\u00a0free jazz\u00a0and\u00a0avant-garde jazz\u00a0alto saxophone\u00a0player. He also performs on\u00a0flute,\u00a0oboe\u00a0and\u00a0piccolo. He is best known for his work with\u00a0Sun Ra, having recorded and performed mostly in this context since the late 1950s.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Since the 1950s, Allen has been a vital member of the Sun Ra Arkestra and its dauntless leader for the last 30 years.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Founded in 2022, Marshall Allen’s Ghost Horizons ensemble features Arkestra guitarist DM HOTEP alongside an all-star cast of rotating musicians including Immanuel Wilkins, Yo La Tengo\u2019s James McNew, James Brandon Lewis, The War on Drugs\u2019 Charlie Hall, Wolf Eyes, and more.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
DM HOTEP, whose birth name is David Middleton, has rehearsed, toured, and recorded as a member of the Sun Ra Arkestra, under the direction of Allen since 2000.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Internationally, he has performed alongside many seminal Arkestra members such as John Ore, Juni Booth, Charles Davis, Vincent Chancey, Julian Priester, and Billy Bang; and other internationally notable musicians that include Wayne Krantz (MC5), poet John Sinclair and Bernie Worrell.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
In 2018\/19, DM HOTEP served as music director and consultant for Philadelphia Jazz Project\u2019s Satellites Are Spinning concert series and is currently a participating member of Philadelphia\u2019s Arcana New Music Ensemble (beginning with resurgent performances of the works of Black avant-garde composer Julius Eastman).<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Right before the global pandemic, he began developed the guitar\/vocal electro\/jazz duo Jupiter Blue with wife (and Arkestra vocalist) Tara Middleton, which recorded and toured briefly before the pandemic and produced mixed media content during it. In addition, he teaches a course in improvisation strategies at the Curtis Institute of Music.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Locally, DM HOTEP performs most frequently with saxophonist Elliott Levin, and as coordinator\/performer with Allen\u2019s Ghost Horizon concert series for Ars Nova.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
In addition to lively shows, Allen and DM HOTEP have gifted fans with a new album \u201cMarshall Allen\u2019s Ghost Horizons: Live in Philadelphia,\u201d which was issued by Ars Nova Workshop and Otherly Love.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Recorded at Solar Myth in Philadelphia, the album includes tracks culled from a series of varying ad hoc lineups featuring Arkestra members along with William Parker, James Brandon Lewis, Eric Revis, Immanuel Wilkins and Chad Taylor \u2014 not to mention James<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
McNew from longtime Sun Ra boosters Yo La Tengo, as well as experimental noise duo Wolf Eyes and more.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The album was released May 23 on Otherly Love Records.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been playing with Marshall a long time,\u201d said DM HOTEP, during a phone interview last week from his home in Philadelphia. \u201cWe\u2019ve had Ghost Horizons together for about three years.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cThe new album songs from our live shows at Solar Myth last November. We\u2019ve played there many times.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cThe album has 16 tracks recorded at our live shows there. We had 12-15 shows for material to choose. There is so much great stuff that was recorded.\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cMarshall Allen\u2019s Ghost Horizons: Live in Philadelphia\u201d was released digitally \u2013 and on vinyl as a double live LP.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cWe had to take into consideration the album format \u2013 what pieces would fit on a 20-minute side,\u201d said DM HOTEP, who has worked with<\/div>\n
DJ Spooky, avant-garde multi-instrumentalists William Parker and Kali Fasteau, Ron Miles, Tuvan throat-singing ensemble Alash and legendary Tuvan musician Kongar-ol Ondar (star of the Oscar award-winning documentary Genghis Blues).<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cThe album was a collaboration between Beau Gordon, who recorded and mixed it, and Stephen Buono and Yuri Seung, who were the producers. Everything was well-recorded at Solar Myth.\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
DM HOTEP and Allen have a strong connection with Solar Myth.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cMarshall and I were staying in Philadelphia while the Sun Ra Arkestra was touring in Europe,\u201d said DM HOTEP, who has played with Irreversible Entanglements, Shabaka Hutchings, afro-futurist multidisciplinary artist Rashaad Newsome and Solange Knowles<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cThe doctors told Marshall that he couldn\u2019t fly anymore \u2013 that it would be too dangerous to his health. It really depressed him because he had been touring since the 1980s.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cHe said to me \u2013 I can\u2019t tour anymore so you and the band have to carry on without me. I didn\u2019t want that because Marshall still has a vital creative capacity.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cI contacted Mark Christman (Founder and Artistic Director, Ars Nova Workshop). I told him about Marshall\u2019s situation and that I wondered if he had any Ars Nova shows that Marshall could be featured in. He said \u2013 why don\u2019t we just put on a show featuring Marshall Allen?<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t know who the musicians would be \u2013 but I came up with some. The concert was a huge success. It sold out.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cThen, Mark said he wanted to do it on a monthly basis. It was great because Marshall got a chance to perform \u2013 and to make some money.<\/div>\n
I came up with the name Ghost Horizon. To keep it interesting, we don\u2019t use the same musicians every month.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cAt this point, there is no \u2018regular band\u2019 for the shows. It\u2019s a different happening every month.\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
This month\u2019s Ghost Horizons features a rare convergence of genre-defying improvisers — including Allen \u2014 alto saxophone, EVI, keyboard, and DM HOTEP \u2014 electric guitar.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Legendary guitarist and producer Arto Lindsay (DNA, Lounge Lizards, John Zorn) brings his singular history of Tropicalia, noise, and Avant-punk. The ensemble also features Melvin Gibbs (Ronald Shannon Jackson, Rollins Band, Sonny Sharrock; and Mikel Patrick Avery, best known for his work in Natural Information Society.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Video link for Marshall Allen\u2019s Ghost Horizons — https:\/\/youtu.be\/xWL9Bh0YlnU<\/a>.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The show at Solar Myth on June 23 will start at 8 p.m.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Tickets are $40 at the door.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times The Isle of Man is a small island in the Irish Sea that is an independent country. It is a self-governing kingdom \u2013 a Crown dependency\u00a0that belongs to neither the U.K. nor the European Union. The island nation covers 222 square miles and has a population of 84,523. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":55654,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8457],"tags":[8729,7426,16085],"class_list":["post-55656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-d-arts-entertainment","tag-davy-knowles","tag-featured","tag-marshall-allen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=55656"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55656\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55657,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55656\/revisions\/55657"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/55654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=55656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=55656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=55656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}