The Modern Sounds of the Knitters
The legendary country side project of the punk band X makes a rare appearance The Knitters play Brixton on May 13. Myth has it that the Knitters were among the first bands, back in the 1930s, to make the transition from being a simple hillbilly string band to what would later be more formally known as bluegrass music. The band’s lead singer, John Doe, says that he and his mates were never much fixated on finding a name to call their music. “Some folks might say our music has always been what you call ‘eclectic,’” Doe said. “Well, OK. As A.P. Carter used to say to me when we’d go song-hunting in the Clinch Mountains, ‘Buddy, it’s all music, y’know.’” Myth also has it that the band’s “electric period” was influenced by its presence at one of the seminal moments in rock n’ roll history. Bassist Ray Bartel acknowledges as much. “We were never what you’d call ‘purists,’ though,” Bartel said. “We were playing the Newport Folk Festival in ’65, and Alan Lomax and Pete Seeger were all in a huff backstage when Bob Dylan appeared there with an electrified band. But we listened to it, and we thought, ‘You know, that boy might just be on to something!’” There is generally a least a kernel of…
Read this story on easyreadernews.com