Back Door Slam is a

blues rock Blues rock is a fusion music genre, genre and form of rock music, rock and blues music that relies on the chords/scales and instrumental improvisation of blues. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electri ...

band started by Davy Knowles on the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

in 2003–04. The band got its name from a

Robert Cray Robert William Cray (born August 1, 1953) is an American blues guitarist and singer. He has led his own band and won five Grammy Awards. Early life Robert Cray was born on August 1, 1953, in Columbus, Georgia, while his father was stationed at ...

song of the same name. Originally a four-piece, with Castle Rushen High School friends Jamie Armstrong (

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

), 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 ...

s) and Brian Garvey (

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

), 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'', released as ''Roll Away'' in North America and in Japan, is a puzzle-platform video game developed by Game Design Sweden AB and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation. Sony's subsidiary Psygnosis released ...

''. 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 Corinne Jacqueline Bailey Rae (; née Bailey; born 26 February 1979) is a British singer and songwriter. She is best known for her 2006 single "Put Your Records On". Bailey Rae was named the number-one predicted breakthrough act of 2006 in an a ...

, 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 (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

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 Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this proces ...

on their album ''

Disraeli Gears ''Disraeli Gears'' is the second studio album by the British rock band Cream. It was produced by Felix Pappalardi and released on Reaction Records. The album features the singles " Strange Brew" and "Sunshine of Your Love". The original 11-tr ...

''). 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 Rusted Root is an American worldbeat rock band formed in 1990 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania by singer-guitarist Michael Glabicki, bassist Patrick Norman and percussionist Liz Berlin. The band got its start as the house band playing a weekly gig in ...

REO Speedwagon REO Speedwagon (originally stylized as R.E.O. Speedwagon), or simply REO, was an American Rock music, rock band from Champaign, Illinois. Formed in 1967, the band cultivated a following during the 1970s and achieved significant commercial suc ...

Styx In Greek mythology, Styx (; ; lit. "Shuddering"), also called the River Styx, is a goddess and one of the rivers of the Greek Underworld. Her parents were the Titans Oceanus and Tethys, and she was the wife of the Titan Pallas and the moth ...

Eric Burdon Eric Victor Burdon (born 11 May 1941) is an English singer and songwriter. He was previously the lead vocalist of the rhythm and blues, R&B and Rock music, rock band The Animals and the funk band War (band), War. He is regarded as one of the Br ...

Kid Rock Robert James Ritchie (born January 17, 1971), known professionally as Kid Rock, is an American musician, singer, rapper, and songwriter. After establishing himself in the Music of Detroit#Hip-hop, Detroit hip-hop scene, he broke through into m ...

, and

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

with hundreds of gigs and festivals (

Lollapalooza Lollapalooza () is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991, with Chicago becoming its permanent location beginning in 2005. Music genres i ...

Download Festival Download Festival is a rock festival created by Andy Copping, held annually at the Donington Park motorsport circuit in Leicestershire, England (since 2003); in Paris, France (since 2016); at Parramatta Park, Sydney (since 2019); Flemington ...

, Wakarusa, Austin City Limits Festival and

Bonnaroo Bonnaroo (or Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival) is an American annual four-day music festival developed and founded by Superfly Presents and AC Entertainment. Bonnaroo has taken place at what is now Great Stage Park, a 700-acre (280 ha) far ...

). A live album was released of their performance at Bonnaroo. The band also toured with longtime jamband favorites

Gov't Mule Gov't Mule (pronounced "Government Mule") is an American Southern rock jam band, formed in 1994 by guitarist Warren Haynes, bassist Allen Woody (both of The Allman Brothers Band at the time) and drummer Matt Abts (whom Haynes had worked with in ...

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 (24 June 1944 – 10 January 2023) was an English musician. He rose to prominence as the guitarist of the rock band the Yardbirds, and afterwards founded and fronted the Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice. In 1975, ...

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-American guitarist, singer, and songwriter who rose to prominence as a member of the rock bands the Herd and Humble Pie. Later in his career, Frampton found significant success as a s ...

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

Benmont Tench Benjamin Montmorency "Benmont" Tench III (born September 7, 1953) is an American musician and singer, and a founding member of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Early years Tench was born in Gainesville, Florida, the second child of Benjamin M ...

(keys), Mauricio Fritz Lewak (drums) and Kevin McCormick (bass), which was released in June 2009. He is now on the road as Davy Knowles and Back Door Slam, with PK (bass), Steven Barci (drums) and Ty Bailie (keys). They opened for Chickenfoot in August/Sept 2009. In June 2009, Chickenfoot guitarist

Joe Satriani Joseph Satriani (born July 15, 1956)Prato, Greg"Joe Satriani – Music Biography, Credits and Discography". ''AllMusic''. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved May 28, 2014. is an American rock music, rock guitarist, composer, and songwriter. Early in hi ...

described Davy as his "new favourite modern-day bluesman" in a Playlist article in ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

''. ''The Outsider'', Knowle's solo album, was released in March 2015.

Discography

* ''

'' (2007) * '' Back Door Slam - EP'' (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