 | |
List Price: $16.99 | | Label: Blix Street
Salesrank: 2394
Released: June 16, 2009 |
| Our Price: $11.92 |
| Used Price: $8.92 |
|
| Media: Audio CD |
|
Coming Up for Air Track Listing:
1. Coming Up For Air
2. Riverbed
3. Mistakes
4. Hear Me Lord
5. Amber s Song
6. Tear Down the Walls
7. You Can t Take This Back
8. Country Girl
9. Keep On Searchin
10. Saving Myself
11. (Bonus) Taste of Danger
Editorial Review:
After a brief break from two years of non-stop touring, Davy Knowles and Back Door Slam is back with a new album produced by Peter Frampton and mixed by Bob Clearmountain. Coming Up For Air, a smorgasbord of rockers and acoustic ballads, includes Davy s and Peter s dueling guitar solos on George Harrison s anthem, Hear Me Lord, and an extraordinary bonus track duet with Jonatha Brooke of her Taste of Danger. The album is built around nine Davy originals (two co-written with Peter Frampton). Highlights include rockers Tear Down The Walls and Riverbed and the soulful Can t Take This Back. After a three week solo stint opening for Jeff Beck in April, Davy and the band are hitting the road again in support of this album.
Coming Up for Air Reviews:
Davy Knowles is the real deal 
2009-12-08 - Every once in a while you get the privilege of witnessing greatness in its early stages - Michael Jordan dropping 63 points on the Celtics in his first playoff series, Tiger Woods winning the Masters by 12 strokes at age 22, Roger Federer capturing the first of five straight Wimbledon titles.
For the 150 or so people at The Loft in Atlanta last night, greatness in early bloom was on stage in the slight frame of guitar wunderkind Davy Knowles. Those lucky folks listened to Knowles and his band Back Door Slam blow through an amazing 90-minute set in a venue as intimate as your basement.
For the uninitiated, Knowles is a 22-year-old guitar slinger from the Isle of Man, a tiny island in the Irish Sea between England and Ireland. Knowles, who released his second album ("Coming Up For Air") earlier this year, has spent most of the last 12 months on the road, opening for Jeff Beck and Chickenfoot; sharing the stage with Peter Frampton and Gov't Mule; and headlining gigs in small venues.
For someone who says he was inspired to pick up a guitar at the age of 11 after he heard Dire Straits' "Sultan of Swing" in his father's car, Knowles has come a long way. He appears to be next in line in the pantheon of great rock/blues guitarists. Comparisons to legends like Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Buddy Guy are often premature and unfair to young players, but sometimes they're unavoidable.
It's not just that he's a masterful guitar player, a deeply soulful singer, an emerging songwriter and an engaging performer. It's that he does it at such a tender age.
Knowles' music seems to flow from deep within his soul, sweating through his pores, dancing out his fingertips and blaring through the speakers. Knowles plays with the genuine gravitas of a veteran bluesman. He seems to have an encyclopedic knowledge of great rock and blues tunes - or just really good taste - and he knows how to please an audience.
How does someone who looks barely old enough to shave understand the pain of lost love and yearning? I don't know, but it comes out in his music.
Whether he plays original songs like "Riverbed," "Come Home," or "Tear Down The Walls," or digs deep with covers of Neil Young's "Cortez the Killer" and CSN's "Almost Cut My Hair," this guy just gets it. He understands that music was meant to move us, to make us cry, to send shivers up our spines and to make us feel something.
A polite, humble guy who seems genuinely thrilled to have what he calls "the best job in the world," Knowles is someone you gladly pay hard-earned dollars to hear play.
If you haven't heard his music or seen him play live, treat yourself and check out Knowles and Back Door Slam; you won't regret it. If you have seen him perform, I don't have to convince you; you'll be back.
The oft-quoted line penned by Jon Landau - "I have seen rock `n' roll future, and its name is Bruce Springsteen" - seems a bit much in this case, but I do think I've seen a future star in the rock guitar world. In a music industry dominated by overproduced fluff, bland country bands and no-talent rappers, Davy Knowles is the real deal - a guitar hero with a soulful voice and an ear for great music. Sometimes that's more than enough.
And for 150 people at The Loft, it was greatness in full bloom.
american idol viewers 
2009-10-26 - if you enjoy watching american idol this cd is not for you. davy knowles mixes throaty vocals with great guitar licks to create bluesy rock songs. music with substance that appeals to musicians and people who enjoy music from a not so distant past is what is on this cd. if you like the flavor of the day which is usually represented by a glossy video that almost undoubtedly will be picked up by Pepsi, Ford, or Revlon;dont buy this cd. thank god there are artists out there still making good music and davy knowles is one of them!
Better Live Than in the Studio 
2009-09-26 - I was introduced to DK/BDS as they opened for Chickenfoot and was blown away. Opening acts are rarely that good, but Davy and BDS were really good live and impressed a crowd that didn't really know much if anything about them. After they played, I couldn't wait to buy their latest CD "Coming Up for Air". I was blown away by the live performance, but underwhelmed by the CD because it just doesn't capture the energy and creativeness of this band on stage. Coming Up for Air, Riverbed and Keep on Searchin' are good, but Tear Down the Walls is really good and comes closest to replicating what Davy does on stage. I skip past songs like Amber's Song, Saving Myself and Taste of Danger. I haven't heard the first CD, but I can't wait to get my hands on it. I like this CD, but I can't wait to hear the band again live.
Versatility
2009-09-19 - Davy is a prodigy - one of the few around these days. Coming Up For Air showcases that talent and also underscores his versatility. He is a tremendous blues player, but it seems he won't be pigeonholed. There are other aspects to his personality that are beginning to surface in his playing. Personally, I was very gratified to hear other elements at play in this work. Keep us guessing, Davy. I hope you never become predictable.
Hard to Meet Expectations
2009-09-05 - Unfortunately Davy Knowles (and the original Back Door Slam) set the bar way high on the first CD. That makes it really hard to meet the expectations of fans, and I think this CD shows that.
While, from a Producer/Manager perspective, I'm sure the result is seen as well done - it expands the repertoire of the band, showing greater skill in other techniques/styles etc, from the pure blues guitar fan perspective this one does fall short of the mark. It doesn't live up to the great stuff you see on YouTube that he's done (i.e great work with Govt Mule). However, working with Peter Frampton as Producer, it makes sense that he would be advocating to expand style - and become more available to a wider audience.
However, that approach can't help but disappoint the band's loyal fans. With a new band behind him, you have to wonder what the backstory was and if it had to do with moving away from their roots.
A wiser move may have been to expand the base by including blues legends, or bringing in more funk/ragtime/acoustic sensibilities a bit. This does take a slight pop bend to it.
I'm not saying I don't like the CD, it's just that I like the first one A LOT more. If you're a fan of the first, you may have to adjust expectations to get this second one - although the track "Tear Down the Walls" excels just as the first CD did.
