Daniel Knox's reputation for darkly distorting traditional American popular song styles has inspired collaborations with some of the world's most prestigious artists; he was hand-picked by David Lynch to provide live musical accompaniment while the legendary director read out verses of his own poetry; a collaboration that also led Knox to play a prestigious show at London's Barbican, sharing the bill with the likes of Rufus Wainwright, Damon Albarn and The Handsome Family. He ultimately toured with the latter; and the show also made a fan of Jarvis Cocker, who invited this self-effacing Chicago resident to contribute distinctive backing vocals to his acclaimed solo album Further Complications.
Knox's own work is startlingly unique and evocative. His new, self-titled album invites listeners into a twisted world of time travel, abandoned shopping centres and a childhood spent growing up in a slowly-fading middle America. Comprising ten original songs, all inspired by shadowy memories of his hometown of Springfield, Illinois, the album features Knox's powerful and unique baritone companied by backing vocals from The Handsome Family's Brett Sparks and vibraphone by Thor Harris (Bill Callahan, Swans, Shearwater), and all backed by a large ensemble of brass, strings, woodwinds, choir and synthesizers. Think Scott Walker, think Tom Waits... but, most of all, think a dark, beautiful and unique album that could only have been made by one of the music world's most enigmatic drifters. Knox is an avowed night-time wanderer, a nocturnal explorer of Chicago's in-between places and in-between hours, and admits learning to play the piano by wandering into hotel lobbies in the small hours of the morning. Join him at The Waiting Room for what promises to be one of the most atmospheric and evocative shows we've ever had the pleasure to stage.
"With a sound that's as powerfully heartbreaking as it is playfully sinister... Knox possesses a ferocious talent that lures you deep into his twisted but fascinating world" - BLACKBOOK
And entirely appropriate support comes from Teesside's own lo-fi drifters Dressed Like Wolves, performing a specially stripped-back set. Frontman Rick Dobbing has made evocative mystery almost his stock-in-trade... the fragile
vocals, the half-glimpsed photos and the obscurist album titles (new album In The End We All Just Walk Off Into The Sea In The Eyes Of The Ones We Left Behind follows hot on the footsteps of Heaven Is Just Memories of a Place I Used To Know and Sometimes You've Got to Stop Caving and Melt) all make for a spellbinding and beguiling experience. Swamped in swirls of ageing Casio keyboard, cornets and accordions, this is the sepia-tinted sound of lost childhoods and murky, late-sleeping daydreams.
"Crackling, half-whispered vocals and the buzz and creaks of an old chord organ... Perfect purveyors of lo-fi folk pop" - NARC Magazine
Have a listen...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQPxGcz_gXo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0ej50JK2LM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIw83CF-kU0
Tickets only £8 from...
http://thewaitingroom.uk/events/daniel-knox-dressed-like-wolves/
COMING UP:
Sun 7th Feb: The Shooting Of + Trev Gibb
Sun 21st Feb: The 150 Friends Club + Samantha Durnan
Sun 6th Mar: Louis Barabbas + Ridley Woof
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