Will Knaak
Will Knaak on stage in 2019. Photo by Julia Simone Paul.
Will Knaak on stage in 2019. Photo by Julia Simone Paul.
Background information
Born (1984-09-23) September 23, 1984
Austin, Texas, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • guitarist
  • singer
  • songwriter
  • musician
Instrument(s)
Years active1996–current
Labels
  • Loungeside Records
  • WK
  • Big Duke Six
  • AcidBuffalo
  • Stepchild Records
  • Brando Records
Member ofParker McCollum Band
Formerly ofWade Bowen, Blue October
Websitewillknaak.com

William Carter Knaak (born September 23, 1984, Austin, Texas) is an American guitarist and singer-songwriter who has served as a sideman in several bands, released his own albums as a solo artist and frontman, and was the lead guitarist in the alternative rock band Blue October from 2018 to 2022.[1][2] He currently plays guitar and pedal steel in Parker McCollum's band.

Early life and musical start

Knaak was born and raised in Austin, Texas. His father played piano and fronted his own band Mad Knaak and the Revolution, and also briefly played keyboard in The 13th Floor Elevators.[3] His grandmother played violin, and his uncle was a guitar player. When Knaak was eleven, his mother died in a house fire.[4][5][6]

After this, Knaak isolated himself and played guitar for several hours every day, learning songs by his favorite bands such as Tripping Daisy, Nirvana, Soundgarden, and the Offspring.[3][6] Knaak's uncle introduced him to the music of Chuck Berry’s rock ‘n’ roll and country greats such as Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard, and Willie Nelson, contributing to Knaak's blend of alternative rock and country guitar playing style.

Knaak and his dad would often dine at the Broken Spoke restaurant in Austin, which hosted live music acts. After a performance at the Spoke, performer Guitar Lynn taught Knaak the blues scale on guitar and suggested he could use this knowledge to solo with blues bands on nearly any song. As a twelve-year-old, Knaak soon found himself sitting in at gigs with local players such as Charlie and Will Sexton, Doug Sahm, and Paul Ray of the Cobras.[3]

Aged 13, Knaak joined the kid band Redheaded Stepchild along with future Snarky Puppy guitarist Chris McQueen and other classmates.[7] The group played western swing covers, and even wrote some original songs, releasing the album Deep, Wide, & Forever in 1998. Knaak graduated from Natural Ear Music School in Austin where his teachers included the legendary fiddler Alvin Crow and Texas Music Hall of Famer Johnny X Reed who both promptly invited him to play as sideman at their gigs, and immersed him into the deep history of the Austin blues scene in addition to adding the influences of 50s R&B and surf rock to Knaak's playing.[8]

After a year of performing weekly concerts with Reed's band The Nortons, and Crow's group The Pleasant Valley Boys, at age sixteen Knaak was fronting his own band, Knaak Attack, with bassist Silas Parker and drummer Vincent Ambrosone.[9] Record producer David Dickinson caught one of their shows and offered to produce an album for the group, which they sold on CD-Rs at their concerts throughout their formative years.[3]

When Knaak was fifteen, the mayor of Austin, Kirk Watson, declared May 24, 2000 as Will Knaak Day, which culminated in Will headlining an outdoor concert in front of five thousand fans at Auditorium Shores.[10] He credits this as the day when he fully committed himself to pursuing a career in music and never looked back.[3]

Music career

Knaak recorded his first solo album The Only Open Road at Shine Studios in Dripping Springs, Texas with producer Jeff Plankenhorn, longtime guitarist in Bob Schneider’s band. The set was mixed and engineered by Justin Douglas and released on Loungeside Records in February 2016. Knaak's band for the album included drummer Brannen Temple and bassist Yoggie Musgrove.[11] Later in 2016 Knaak teamed up with a different group of players to record the EP Will Knaak & the Voodoo Exorcists which showcased a hard-edged sound heavily influenced by 90s grunge, The Joshua Tree era U2, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Lenny Kravitz, and Jimi Hendrix. Working with Lance Harvill as producer, the band consisted of Chris Gilbreath on rhythm guitar, Keith Long on bass, and Michael Ferguson on drums. In December 2016 Knaak's former teenage band The Knaak Attack played a reunion show and enjoyed the experience so much that they went into the studio and recorded an album, independently releasing it in May 2017. The group played a series of concerts that summer to promote the album.

Knaak on stage with Parker McCollum's band at The Fillmore Detroit in 2023.

In addition to his solo work, Knaak has been an in-demand sideman and session player in the Austin scene for a diverse array of artists.[12][6] He played national tours with acts such as Angela Peterson,[13] Johnny Solinger of Skid Row,[13] Parker McCollum, and Wade Bowen and Randy Rogers.[14]

Knaak joined Bowen's band for the tour in support of Bowen's 2014 self-titled album, which included an appearance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Knaak then played banjo and guitar on Bowen and Rogers' 2015 collaborative album Hold My Beer Vol. 1, which peaked at number 4 on the Billboard Country albums chart, and number 3 on Billboard's Independent Albums Chart.[15] He played on the album's supporting tour "Hold My Beer and Watch This!" and continued as a member of Bowen's band until 2018. Inspired by the birth of his daughter, and unable to tour during the COVID-19 pandemic, Knaak recorded a solo album Live in Lockdown Vol. 1 which he released via Bandcamp on June 23, 2020. On April 29, 2022 Knaak self-released a jazz-influenced minimalist instrumental album entitled Lonely Lo-Fi. In November 2022 Knaak launched a kickstarter campaign for his next solo album Dying Day which he described as a "gritty, soulful, bluesy, and roots-based".[16] The campaign raised over $20,000, double the initial goal. Knaak's goal was to record the album by June 2023 and release it before the end of 2023. As of August 2023, the recording sessions are complete, and the album will be mixed by Blue October's recording engineer Eric Holtz in mid 2023, in preparation for a late 2023 release.

In June–July 2022, Knaak toured as a sideman in Parker McCollum's band, which included several dates opening for Thomas Rhett.[17] Following the tour, he accepted an offer to be full-time guitarist in McCollum's band starting in December 2022.[18]

Through his extensive session work, Knaak befriended local producer and studio owner Matt Noveskey. When Noveskey's band Blue October found themselves in need of a guitarist in February 2018, Knaak jumped at the opportunity.[6] His first studio work with the band was on the song "King" for their ninth studio album I Hope You're Happy which reached number 28 on the Billboard 200 and number 3 on the Billboard Alternative Albums chart.[6] He also appeared in the music video for the single "Daylight".[19] He toured North America and Europe for Blue October's I Hope You’re Happy tour in 2018–2019, and his first album with the group, Live From Manchester was released in November 2019. In 2020 Knaak played lead guitar on Blue October's tenth album This is What I Live For and received co-writing credit for the song "Stay with Me". In a 2020 interview, Blue October frontman Justin Furstenfeld said Knaak is probably the most talented guitarist Blue October has ever had, calling him a "true professional guitarist".[20] Along with Noveskey and Blue October's drum technician Charley Seiss, Knaak is also a member of the Ryan Delahoussaye-fronted side project The Meeting Place, which played their first shows in August 2019. He also contributed guitar to Matt Noveskey's side project Icarus Bell, co-writing the band's debut single "Aces".[21][6]During the summer of 2022 Knaak toured with Blue October, opening for the Goo Goo Dolls on a three month run which saw the band playing premier amphitheaters across North America. Knaak contributed guitar to part 1 of Blue October's triple album Spinning the Truth Around, and co-wrote the music for two songs, "How Can You Love Me If You Don't Even Like Me?", and "The Kitchen Drawer". Knaak played guitar on the first leg of the album's supporting tour in late 2022. Knaak's final concert with Blue October was December 17, 2022, in San Antonio, Texas.

Discography

Year Artist Title
1998 RedHeaded Stepchild Deep, Wide, & Forever
2004 Alvin Crow White Trash Opera
2006 Melissa Sellers Deep South Austin[22]
2009 The Statesboro Revue A Different Kind of Light
2009 Wes Hayden Full Circle[23]
2010 Jon Wolfe It All Happened in a Honky Tonk[24]
2015 Randy Rogers and Wade Bowen Hold My Beer Vol. 1[15]
2015 Royal Southern Brotherhood Don't Look Back: The Muscle Shoals Sessions
2015 Pauline Reese Just Getting Started
2016 Will Knaak The Only Open Road
2016 Will Knaak & the Voodoo Exorcists Will Knaak & the Voodoo Exorcists
2017 Knaak Attack Knaak Attack
2018 Blue October I Hope You're Happy
2019 Blue October King
2019 Jake Lloyd MoonLit Mornings
2019 Blue October Live From Manchester
2020 Will Knaak Live in Lockdown Vol. 1
2020 Blue October This Is What I Live For
2020 Lia Catallo In My Fantasies
2022 Will Knaak Lonely Lofi
2022 Blue October Spinning the Truth Around (Part I)
2022 Durawa One Human Race
2023 Will Knaak Dying Day

References

  1. ↑ MacKenzie Wilson (2019). "Blue October Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
  2. ↑ Ed Condran (April 23, 2019). "Blue October frontman is making the most of second chances, and he's happy". The News & Observer. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Johnny Goudie (April 2, 2013). "How Did I Get Here?, Episode 159" (Podcast). Retrieved January 28, 2020.
  4. ↑ Claire Osborn (October 7, 1996). "Residential cooking fires too often prove deadly" (Newspaper). Austin, Texas: Austin American-Statesman. pp. B1, B5. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  5. ↑ Claire Osborn (February 2, 1997). "Fiery heroics to be honored" (Newspaper). Austin, Texas: Austin American-Statesman. p. B6. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Fredette, Art (July 1, 2021). "Will Knaak Talks: Blue October, Ernie Durawa and Guitar as a Way of Life". radioradiox.com.
  7. ↑ Mike Murphy (June 22, 2005). "Natural Ear Music School Celebrates 15th Anniversary!". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
  8. ↑ Margaret Moser (June 3, 2005). "School's Out Forever These kids are coming for your gigs". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
  9. ↑ Margaret Moser (August 22, 2003). "The Kids Are All Right How I Spent My Summer: Band Camp". The Austin Chronicle.
  10. ↑ "24th Annual Free Concert Series" (Newspaper). Austin, Texas: Austin American-Statesman. April 27, 2000. p. 19. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  11. ↑ Johnny Goudie (September 9, 2014). "How Did I Get Here?, Episode 310" (Podcast). Retrieved January 28, 2020.
  12. ↑ "Austin360 On The Record: David Halley, Mélat, B. Harold Benton". Austin American-Statesman. December 6, 2016. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  13. 1 2 Margaret Moser (October 24, 2008). "Where Are They Now?". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
  14. ↑ Caroline Poole (April 20, 2015). "Wade Bowen Artist Feature". National Country Review. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
  15. 1 2 "Hold My Beer, Vol. 1 credits". Allmusic. 2015. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
  16. ↑ @willknaak (November 11, 2022). "Will Knaak: Dying Day" – via Instagram.
  17. ↑ @blueoctoberband (August 24, 2022). "Today we want to take the time to congratulate @willknaak" – via Instagram.
  18. ↑ @blueoctoberband (August 24, 2022). "Today we want to take the time to congratulate @willknaak" – via Instagram.
  19. ↑ Blue October – Daylight (Official Video) (digital video). Fischer, Texas. November 2, 2018.
  20. ↑ April Savoie (December 15, 2020). "Blue October a Furstenfeld Family Affair – The Full Interview". 519 Magazine.
  21. ↑ "Texas Hard Rock Duo ICARUS BELL Release Debut Single 'Aces'". www.einnews.com. December 6, 2020. Retrieved December 7, 2020.
  22. ↑ "Melissa Sellers Deep South Austin credits". Allmusic. 2006. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
  23. ↑ "Wes Hayden Full Circle credits". Allmusic. 2009. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
  24. ↑ "Jon Wolfe It All Happened in a Honky Tonk credits". Allmusic. 2010. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
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