ANDREW MCKNIGHT: Where This River Runs

Andrew McKnight

Where This River Runs

© 1998 Falling Mountain Music (791022072525)

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Energetic Shenandoah contemporary rural singer/songwriter with diverse "mountain gumbo" of styles, rich vocals, and standout guitar; "positive, upbeat, magnetic"

notes

Environmental engineer-turned-songwriter Andrew McKnight is a high energy crowd pleaser for audiences nationwide, from intimate unplugged house concerts to large stages such as the New Artist showcases at the Falcon Ridge, Kerrville and Napa Valley Folk Festivals.

A modern-day manifestation of the traditional pioneer folk artist, this Shenandoah Valley songwriter, guitarist and poet's rurally-based music reflects an oral history built on the past while firmly rooted in the present. Andrew frames his stories and observations in a diverse southern " 'mountain gumbo' brand of music that mixes folk, blues and bluegrass in one appealing and energetic sound" (Norwich Bulletin).

Andrew's wry insights, vocal richness and bluesy guitar licks have become distinctive trademarks. "His ability to write songs left me with visions of Staines, Mallett, and Gorka, and I found Andrew McKnight to be one of the most exciting new contemporary talents to come along in years." (Tidewater Friends of Folk Music).

Andrew's environmental background and advocacy for the preservation of rural and historic America often color his characters' personal relationships with their changing landscape, such as the Appalachian lament of a dying "Company Town" to mountaintop mining or the struggle with sprawl faced by "A Town Called Progress". "There are musicians who sing about the environment, and environmentalists who play music, but rarely are talent and passion combined the way that Andrew McKnight unites them." (Appalachian Voice). He is featured in a pictorial coffee table book entitled "SAVING THE BAY: People Working for the Future of the Chesapeake Bay" for his strong environmental ethic and his unique ability to impact listeners through musical storytelling.

Andrew tours nationally as a full-time performer, with his resume including performances at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, the Kennedy Center, Appalshop Theatre, the Appalachian Arts Festival and Baltimore's blockbuster Artscape 2000 minus 1 Festival as well as listening rooms, festivals, concert halls and coffeehouses across the US. Andrew is also one third of the exciting Appalachian roots music trio Dang Varmints! (http://www.shenandoahacoustics.com/dv ), whose energetic and eclectic blend of original folk, oldtime, blues, bluegrass and Celtic music, 3-part harmonies and great stories have delighted audiences around the mid-Atlantic states. In addition to a heavy national touring schedule, he occasionally leads workshops on songwriting, various aspects of the acoustic music industry, and environmental issues.

reviews

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  • far from being just another songsmith with an acoustic guitar
    author: Journal Newspapers, Fairfax VA

    While Andrew McKnight is no stranger to the coffeehouse circuit, he is far from being just another songsmith with an acoustic guitar, writing stories that can vividly evoke the beauty of nature or the the relentlessness of history. His latest CD, Where This River Runs, draws heavily from his love of Appalachia in both its sounds and its places A perfect example is "Shenandoah Moon", a pretty ballad that tells the story of a couple who weathered the Depression and World War II with their love intact. McKnight also acknowledges the fact that better days are long gone in "A Town Called Progress" in which he bemoans the damage done by strip malls and condos. While McKnight is a fine guitarist and singer, the songs on Where This River Runs get a boost from a fair number of hands besides his. Tom Prasada-Rao and Terri Allard contribute nice harmonies, and Jeff Arey's mandolin lends an authentic tone to a number of songs.

  • brings a distinctive and powerful new voice to the mountains
    author: Appalachian Voices (review by Chris Bolgiano)

    There are musicians who sing about the environment, and environmentalists who play music, but rarely are talent and passion combined the way that Andrew McKnight unites them. Where This River Runs is only McKnight's second recording, but it sounds like he's been making music forever. Though still a young musician barely into his mid-thirties, he offers a very polished product. He writes, arranges, sings and plays guitar to his own songs, with backup vocals and instrumentals from his wife Karin and a number of well-established musicians including Les Thompson, formerly of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. The fourteen cuts here give a taste of McKnight's versatility of styles and subjects, but more than half of the songs reflect the influence of Appalachian stories and music from the region that has been his home for some years now. McKnight's ability to evoke any kind of landscape by matching words with rhythm is evident in "Big Sky Town" with its endless "prairie wind and rolling thunderheads". But he delves beneath the surface to empathize with the people who live in the landscapes he loves. "Shenandoah Moon" tells a story of hardships endured through a love "like corn in July heat, each taste so sweet". "A Town Called Progress" captures the bitter paradox of rural development where "if it smells like progress, well, that's just the smoke of our dreams". In "Bargeman", McKnight describes a life on the Ohio that is "much like this river, all pent up but mostly calm" to give a flashing glimpse into dreams stymied by toil and circumstance. His interest in Appalachian musical traditions is fully articulated in "Fiddle Tunes From the Hills of Home", while the bluesy rocking style of "Chemical Voodoo", which perfectly conveys the lurking danger of a polluted swamp, demonstrates the enormous range of his musical grasp. Yet he is equally capable of a personal poetry of love and longing, as in "I Can't Understand the Moon", which showcases his expressive voice. Most poignant of all, to my mind, is "The Other Way", in which McKnight embodies the sadness and loss that are so fundamental to Appalachian history in the death of a river from a paper mill. As his first CD Traveler indicates, McKnight makes his living on the road, travelling almost continually away from his Virginia home to perform and to teach workshops. With his multifaceted talents as musician, writer, performer and teacher, McKnight brings a distinctive and powerful new voice to the mountains.

  • Highly listenable and capable of evoking an array of moods
    author: Crossroads (review by Jonathan Colcord

    If you were previously a fan of Andrew McKnight, this recording just might make you a devotee. McKnight explores many different styles and themes throughout this CD, and it is a win over his previous album in many ways. Highly listenable and capable of evoking an array of moods, McKnight’s songs tell stories old and new -- love songs, environmental themes, and history. Leading off with the short instrumental piece "A Prairie Wind", he slides straight into "Big Sky Town", a song about pursuing your dreams against the metaphor of the gold rush days. McKnight’s guitar playing is fabulous as is his vocal delivery -- usually friendly and occasionally spooky. In fact he may at times remind you of Jack Hardy with a warble to his voice such as in the final line of the song, "I'm moving forward, pushed or pulled well, I don't know -- am I soaring like the hawk, or steady like the crow," or with the environmentally-tinged "The Other Way"; "I take deep regret into my twilight years, what unknown demons face the ones I hold so dear, bury me along these banks in our Appalachian way, in the hope this stinking river will flow pure again someday." Other great moments on the CD are songs such as the introspective "Bargeman" -- "I am a simple bargeman, I work this Ohio, but I've never really let my engines run." "Chemical Voodoo", "Hoop Dreams", and "This Old Dominion" are all just great songs. McKnight even evokes a Celtic feel with the title cut "Where This River Runs". Although the story is purely on his home turf, some whistles will take you far away. The cast of characters include Tom Prasada-Rao, Terri Allard, Susan Graham White, and even Bruce Molsky.

  • Some of the best storytelling backed by incredible musicianship
    author: Victory Review (review by Nicky De)

    Some of the best storytelling backed by incredible musicianship, McKnight accompanies his poetic life-notes with just the right style of music; like drinking the right wine with dinner, he’ll never fail to please, whether it’s contemporary, folk, blues or Celtic. Pick your favorite poet or balladeer and McKnight will equal them with an Appalachian soul. He will tell the stories, play the tunes, inform and delight you with tributes to history and family universally belonging to us all. This river could run through any and all of our lives.

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