You know when you see a precocious band comprised of young musicians with chops, and all you want to do is grab them by their fresh faces and beg them to stay true to this moment for the rest of their careers? That’s how I felt when I caught Back Door Slam‘s rippin’ blues set at the Austin City Limits festival.
Guitarist Davy Knowles is legit, a talented shredder and singer that can, at his best, conjure up generous comparisons to a young Stevie Ray Vaughan. Knowles and his two bandmates — Adam Jones on bass and Ross Doyle on drums — aren’t necessarily Double Trouble level just yet, but they’re damn fine for a group of 20-year-olds that’ve been playing together for only about three years. Jones and Ross play the part of dexterous rhythm section for Knowles face-melting flash, and they’ve got the formula for power blues trio down.
Knowles is incredibly capable at leading this band, and the young Brit’s talent jumps right off the stage. His provocative, emotive playing and singing captivated the ACL audience, prompting much of the crowd to likely wonder how they hadn’t heard of someone so obviously beyond his years. But if you come across the Isle of Man band (Back Door Slam from the Isle of Man — that doesn’t lead to jokes, I’m sure), they’ll be smack dab in the middle of your radar for quite awhile.
The trio plays an 8:30 pm set at NYC’s Mercury Lounge on Tuesday night, and if you’ve got no concrete plans, I promise it’ll be much better than re-runs of Dharma & Greg, or whatever the devil it is you kids watch. To prove my point, take a listen to BDS from a show last summer — here’s Ain’t No City:
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- Related Video: Back Door Slam — Red House
- Related Video: Back Door Slam at the Beale St. Music Festival
One Response
Sounds like a good time…I’ll check that out.