Back Door Slam is the name of the

blues rock Blues rock is a fusion music genre that combines elements of blues and rock music. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electric blues and rock (electric guitar, electric bass guitar, and drums, sometimes w ...

band started by Davy Knowles on the Isle of Man in 2003–04. The band got its name from a Robert Cray song of the same name. Originally a four-piece, with

Castle Rushen High School Castle Rushen High School is a co-educational secondary state school located in Castletown on the Isle of Man for pupils from the south of the island and from the nearby Parish the Calf of Man. Isle of Man school system The Isle of Man has six ...

friends Jamie Armstrong ( bass guitar), Ross Doyle (

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...

s) and Brian Garvey (

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

), the band was torn apart in 2004 when Garvey was killed in a car accident along with their close friend Richie Brookes. Deciding to carry on in Garvey's memory, Knowles, Armstrong, and Doyle reformed the band, with Knowles writing the emotional tribute to his friend & former bandmate, ''Stay'', which was later to appear on an EP and on their debut album ''

Roll Away ''Kula World'' (''Roll Away'' in North America and in Japan) is a 3D platform puzzle video game developed by Game Design Sweden AB for the Sony PlayStation, which places the player in control of a Kula beach ball. The main objective of the g ...

''. The trio recorded two EPs togethers, and played hundreds of gigs on their native Isle of Man before moving to London to live with Knowles's manager, Bob Miller ( Corinne Bailey Rae, Christine Collister). After a handful of gigs in the UK, Armstrong decided to pursue a career in music production and left the band to go to University. In 2007, with a spot secured at the

SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...

Festival in Texas, Knowles and Doyle recruited former schoolmate Adam Jones to replace Jamie on bass. Jones joined Back Door Slam for what turned out to be two extensive tours of the US lasting until January 2009.

Career

Debut album

The band in this classic lineup, with Ross Doyle on Drums and Adam Jones on Bass released their debut album ''

'' on 18 June 2007 in the Isle of Man, with a 1 July release date in North America. The 10 song disc (plus 1 bonus track) includes live favourites "Come Home" and "Too Late", along with evocative love song "Too Good For Me", newie "It'll All Come Around" and the one cover - 1920s blues rocker " Outside Woman Blues" (originally by Blind Joe Reynolds but most famously covered by Cream on their album '' Disraeli Gears''). The album was produced by Dave Armstrong of Running Media/DAM Productions.

Tour

Following their performance a
SXSW 2007
the band then played 310 dates in support of their album ''Roll Away''. The tour included support slots with Rusted Root,

REO Speedwagon REO Speedwagon (originally stylized as R.E.O. Speedwagon) is an American rock band from Champaign, Illinois. Formed in 1967, the band cultivated a following during the 1970s and achieved significant commercial success throughout the 1980s. The ...

Styx In Greek mythology, Styx (; grc, Στύξ ) is a river that forms the boundary between Earth (Gaia) and the Underworld. The rivers Acheron, Cocytus, Lethe, Phlegethon, and Styx all converge at the centre of the underworld on a great marsh, whic ...

, Eric Burdon,

Kid Rock Robert James Ritchie (born January 17, 1971), known professionally as Kid Rock (also known as Bobby Shazam), is an American singer, songwriter and rapper. His style alternates between rock, hip hop, country, and metal. A self-taught musician, ...

, and

Lynyrd Skynyrd Lynyrd Skynyrd ( ) is an American rock music, rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida. The group originally formed as My Backyard in 1964 and comprised Ronnie Van Zant (lead vocalist), Gary Rossington (guitar), Allen Collins (guitar), Larry Ju ...

with hundreds of gigs and festivals (

Lollapalooza Lollapalooza (Lolla) is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991 but several years later made Chicago the permanent location for the annual music festival. Musi ...

Download Festival Download Festival is a British-created rock festival created by Terrance Gough, held annually at the Donington Park motorsport circuit in Leicestershire, England (since 2003); in Paris, France (since 2016); at Parramatta Park, Sydney (since 201 ...

Wakarusa Wakarusa can refer to several things in the United States: * Wakarusa, Indiana * Wakarusa, Kansas * The Wakarusa River, a tributary of the Kansas River * The Wakarusa War, part of the Bleeding Kansas violence before the American Civil War * Wakarus ...

, Austin City Limits Festival and Bonnaroo). A live album was released of their performance at Bonnaroo. The band also toured with longtime jamband favorites Gov't Mule.

Breakup

On 27 January 2009, a letter was posted on Back Door Slam's website, announcing that the band had "broken up" and its members were pursuing different musical endeavors.

Davy Knowles and Back Door Slam

Knowles joined

Jeff Beck Geoffrey Arnold Beck (born 24 June 1944) is an English rock guitarist. He rose to prominence with the Yardbirds and after fronted the Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice. In 1975, he switched to a mainly instrumental style, with a focus ...

as solo opening act for dates of his US Tour early 2009. He then recorded a new album, '' Coming Up For Air'', with

Peter Frampton Peter Kenneth Frampton (born 22 April 1950) is an English musician and songwriter who was a member of the rock bands Humble Pie and the Herd. As a solo artist, he has released several albums, including his major breakthrough album, the live ...

as co-Producer, (and also adding guitar, backing vocals & co-writing two songs), along with Benmont Tench (keys),

Mauricio Fritz Lewak Mauricio may refer to: *Mauricio (given name) *Maurício José da Silveira Júnior (born 1988), Brazilian footballer known by the mononym Maurício *Maurício (footballer) Maurício is the Portuguese variant of Mauricio (given name). The diminutive ...

(drums) and Kevin McCormick (bass), which was released in June 2009. He is now on the road as

Davy Knowles and Back Door Slam Davy may refer to: * Davy (given name) * Davy (surname) * Davy lamp, a type of safety lamp with its flame encased inside a mesh screen * Davy, West Virginia, United States, a town * Davy Sound, Greenland * Davy (crater), a crater on the moon * ''D ...

, with PK (bass), Steven Barci (drums) and Ty Bailie (keys). They opened for

Chickenfoot Chickenfoot is an American hard rock supergroup formed in 2008. The group consists of vocalist Sammy Hagar (ex-Van Halen and - Montrose), bassist Michael Anthony (also ex-Van Halen), guitarist Joe Satriani, and drummer Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili ...

in August/Sept 2009. In June 2009, Chickenfoot guitarist Joe Satriani described Davy as his "new favourite modern-day bluesman" in a Playlist article in '' The Sunday Times''. ''The Outsider'', Knowle's solo album, was released in March 2015.

Discography

* ''

'' (2007) * ''

Back Door Slam - EP The human back, also called the dorsum, is the large posterior area of the human body, rising from the top of the buttocks to the back of the neck. It is the surface of the body opposite from the chest and the abdomen. The vertebral column r ...

'' (2008) * ''Back Door Slam: Live from Bonnaroo'' (2009) * '' Coming Up For Air'' (2009)

External links

Back Door Slam's MySpace

Davy Knowles & Back Door Slam Official Web Page

{{Authority control British musical trios British blues musical groups Manx musical groups