Thursday, Aug. 27, 2009
Pod Picks for August 27, 2009
This week the guest Pod Picks chair is occupied by up-and-coming blues/rock guitar whiz Davy Knowles (no relation to Beyonce) who ratchets up some rocking tracks you can download (legally, of course) to your iPod or other personal media device.
"Heartbreaker" by Free - Just an absolute rocking track. I've always been a massive Free fan, and the guitar player, Paul Kossoff, is massively underrated. Paul Rodgers delivers a brilliant vocal (as always) and the song is just the perfect blues/rock combination with a heavy guitar riff and a brilliant Hammond organ line. Love it.
"Dust Down a Country Road" by John Hiatt - I was in a band with a great songwriter on the Isle of Man named Barry Nelson and he introduced me to John Hiatt. Hiatt has an enormous amount of songs that I could recommend, but this one really sticks out to me. It has this beautiful chord progression that just seems to glide, and the lyrics tell a beautiful story. I've also been playing a lot more Mandolin recently, and the solo in this song is just wonderful.
"Sultans of Swing" by Dire Straits - The reason I play guitar, so thought I'd better put it in there! This song is just timeless, and Mark Knopfler's guitar playing is exquisite. There is something about his tone and touch that is undeniably his own, and it just spoke to me. I can't believe anyone DOESN'T have this song on their iPod.
-Davy Knowles and Backdoor Slam open for Chickenfoot on Saturday at the House of Blues in North Myrtle Beach. Check him out online at www.davyknowles.com.