Danny Knicely
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Daniel Shane Knicely, known as Danny Knicely, (born 1975 in
Rockingham County, Virginia Rockingham County is a county (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 83,757. Its county seat is the Independent city (United States), independent city ...
) is an American
country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...
and bluegrass musician. In addition to singing, he plays guitar,
fiddle A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...
, and
mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...
. His album releases include: ''The Evenin' News, Chop, Shred & Split, Waltz for Aimee, The Melody Lingers, Roots and Branches'', and ''Murders, Drownings and Lost Loves'' (2006) — which he recorded with Will Lee. He is musical director for the Mountain Music Project, a nonprofit supporting traditional musicians around the world, and played a major role in the film“The Mountain Music Project” which documents a journey Tara Linhardt and he took through the
Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than list of h ...
of
Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...
and the mountains of Virginia exploring the connections between these two mountain cultures (and their music).


Early

Knicely's grandfather, A. O. Knicely – known as "A.O.K." – played old-time guitar, mandolin, and fiddle as leader of the Knicely Family Band from the 1930s on. His father, Glen Shelton Knicely (d. December 17, 2018), who was born August 11, 1940, in
Augusta County, Virginia Augusta County is a county in the Shenandoah Valley on the western edge of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The second-largest county of Virginia by total area, it completely surrounds the independent cities of Staunton and ...
, played bass and banjo in A.O.K.’s band – and led his own country and bluegrass band, Dominion Express. Knicely's mother created Heartland, a country and
gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...
band, and the Massanutten Mountain Cloggers. Knicely got his first instrument, a ukulele, when he was seven years old. His father tried tuned it as a mandolin and broke half the strings. When he was eight a cousin gave him a cassette taped from old Django Reinhardt 78s played on a windup Victrola, igniting a lifelong musical eclecticism. He played upright and electric bass in his middle school band, turning professional at 14 when he joined his mother's band as a bassist providing baritone vocal harmony. When Spike Stroop, a Virginia bluegrass fiddler, heard Danny he used him as rhythm guitarist for fiddle contests and festivals. It was at the Galax Old Fiddler's Convention that Will Lee, son of Ricky Lee who played lead guitar with the
Stanley Brothers The Stanley Brothers were an American bluegrass duo of singer-songwriters and musicians, made up of brothers Carter Stanley (August 27, 1925 – December 1, 1966) and Ralph Stanley (February 25, 1927 – June 23, 2016). Ralph and Carter perf ...
, first jammed with the 15-year-old phenom. Will lived for a while with the rest of his family on
Ralph Stanley Ralph Edmund Stanley (February 25, 1927 – June 23, 2016) was an American bluegrass artist, known for his distinctive singing and banjo playing. He began playing music in 1946, originally with his older brother Carter Stanley as part of The ...
’s farm on Smith Ridge in Virginia. Lee started bringing his guitarist, the
flatpicking Flatpicking (or simply picking) is the technique of striking the strings of a guitar with a pick (also called a plectrum) held between the thumb and one or two fingers. It can be contrasted to fingerstyle guitar, which is playing with indi ...
virtuoso
Larry Keel Larry Dwayne Keel (born November 25, 1968) is an American bluegrass musician from Southwest Virginia who has been performing since 1976. He was a founding member of Magraw Gap in 1990. He also performs with his wife, bassist Jenny Keel, in The L ...
, over on weekends to jam with his new find. This combo grew into Magraw Gap, a "high energy threesome playing wild, creative bluegrass arrangements that folded in licks from jazz, blues, rock ‘n’ roll, and even reggae." John Flower would join later. Group members called their style "spacegrass".


Music career


Magraw Gap

Magraw Gap – a bluegrass band including Knicely, Will Lee, John Flower, and Larry Keel – took first place at the
Telluride Bluegrass Festival Telluride Bluegrass Festival is an annual music festival in Telluride, Colorado hosted by Planet Bluegrass. Although traditionally the festival focuses on bluegrass music, it often features music from a variety of related genres. History The to ...
in 1995. The group inspired the formation of Walker's Run in
Lexington, Virginia Lexington is an Independent city (United States)#Virginia, independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 7,320. It is the county seat of Rockbridge County, Virg ...
, an act Knicely has performed with often.


Other groups

Other groups Knicely has performed with include: Danny Knicely with Wyatt Rice & Mark Schatz, The Melody Lingers On, The Mountain Music Project, Rex Mcgee's Kripple Krunk, Furnace Mountain, The Meaning of Buckdance, Ouros, Bluegrass & Beyond, and Purgatory Mountain. He also performed with John Flower in David Via and Corn Tornado and with Will Lee in Walker's Run. As session musician, producer, and arranger Knicely has recorded with such other act as Nate Leath, James Leva,
Keller Williams Keller Williams is an American singer, songwriter and musician who combines elements of bluegrass, folk, alternative rock, reggae, electronica/dance, jazz, funk, along with other assorted genres. He is often described as a 'one-man jam-band' ...
, Tim O'Brien,
Sarah Jarosz Sarah Ellen Jarosz ( ; born May 23, 1991) is an American singer-songwriter from Wimberley, Texas. Her debut studio album, '' Song Up in Her Head'', was released in 2009 on Sugar Hill Records
,
Bruce Molsky Bruce C. Molsky (born 1955, New York City) is an American fiddler, banjo player, guitarist, and singer. He primarily performs old-time music of the Appalachian region. Early years As a young man, Molsky first became interested in blues music, but ...
,
Tony Trischka Anthony Cattell Trischka (born January 16, 1949) is an American five-string banjo player. Sandra Brennan wrote of him in 2020: "One of the most influential modern banjoists, both in several forms of bluegrass music and occasionally in jazz and ...
, The Woodshedders, Rooster Ruley, Gary Ruley, and Chance McCoy of
Old Crow Medicine Show Old Crow Medicine Show is an Americana (music), Americana string band based in Nashville, Tennessee, that has been recording since 1998. They were inducted into the Grand Ole Opry on September 17, 2013. Their ninth album, ''Remedy (Old Crow Med ...
. Knicely, Will Lee, and John Flower – all original members of Magraw Gap – recorded ''The Evening News'' as a trio in 2017. The release features "originals, old favorites, ''
a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...
'' numbers, hot instrumentals, and tight harmony singing."


Venues

Knicely has performed at a number of music festivals, including:
MerleFest MerleFest is an annual "traditional plus" music festival held in Wilkesboro, North Carolina on the campus of Wilkes Community College. The festival, which is held the last weekend in April, was hosted by Grammy Award winner Doc Watson prior to ...
,
Telluride Bluegrass Festival Telluride Bluegrass Festival is an annual music festival in Telluride, Colorado hosted by Planet Bluegrass. Although traditionally the festival focuses on bluegrass music, it often features music from a variety of related genres. History The to ...
, Rockygrass, Smilefest, Delfest, FloydFest, and the
Grass Roots Festival Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in ...
. Prominent stages where he's performed include: the
Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, commonly known as the Kennedy Center, is the national cultural center of the United States, located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Opened on September 8, ...
,
Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5  ...
,
Strathmore Hall Strathmore is a cultural and artistic venue and institution in North Bethesda, Maryland, United States. Strathmore was founded in 1981 and consists of two venues: the Mansion and the Music Center. It is the home to hundreds of performances an ...
, The Prism Coffeehouse, Jefferson Theater (Charlottesville),
The Birchmere The Birchmere is a concert hall in Alexandria, Virginia, that features rock, blues, bluegrass, country, folk, jazz, ethnic, and comedic performers. Its main room seats 500 and provides dinner service, making for an intimate space, with tables on ...
,
House of Blues House of Blues is an American chain of live music concert halls and restaurants. It was founded by Isaac Tigrett, the co-founder of Hard Rock Cafe, and Dan Aykroyd, co-star of the 1980 film ''The Blues Brothers (film), The Blues Brothers''. The ...
(Los Angeles), The Fillmore Auditorium (San Francisco),
Nissan Pavilion Jiffy Lube Live (originally known as the Nissan Pavilion) near Gainesville, Virginia, is an outdoor amphitheater in suburban Prince William County, about 35 miles west of Washington, D.C. Owned and operated by Live Nation, the amphitheater ca ...
,
Station Inn The Station Inn is a concert venue in Nashville, Tennessee that hosts bluegrass music acts. Frommers wrote that it is "widely regarded as one of the best bluegrass venues around". The small nightclub has a reputation for being a simple building ...
,
Country Music Hall of Fame The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee, is one of the world's largest museums and research centers dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of American vernacular music. Chartered in 1964, the museum has amass ...
, and Opryland Theater.


Mountain Music Project

Knicely serves as musical director for the Mountain Music Project, a nonprofit organization supporting traditional musicians around the world. The feature-length film"The Mountain Music Project" documents a journey Tara Linhardt and he – both Loudoun County-based performers of bluegrass and old-time Appalachian music based (musically) in Taylorstown who have worked together for two decades – took through the
Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than list of h ...
of
Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...
and the mountains of Virginia as they explore the connections between these two mountain cultures. The idea for The Mountain Music Project originated with Linhardt in college when she spent a study year in Nepal. In 2002, she and Knicely traveled back to Nepal, where she was able to reconnect with some people she knew from years ago. In
Kathmandu Kathmandu () is the capital and largest city of Nepal, situated in the central part of the country within the Kathmandu Valley. As per the 2021 Nepal census, it has a population of 845,767 residing in 105,649 households, with approximately 4 mi ...
– after meeting Buddhiman Gandharba, a member of the Gandharba musician caste – Knicely noticed during an impromptu jam session the "striking similarities" between some of the Nepalese songs and those of Appalachia. As Linhardt recalls: Knicely and Linhardt teamed with producer Jacob Penchansky in 2006 and began filming the documentary and recording related music. They traveled through Virginia to record songs and stories of traditional Appalachian musicians. The film juxtaposes clips of the Gandharba and Appalachian people "making music and talking about their lives and traditions," highlighting their "parallel traditions". The film won best independent documentary at the Carolina Film and Video Festival, best film at the International Folk Music Film Festival in Nepal, and the Sierra Nevada Award at the Mountain Film Festival.


Style and sound

As when he was with Magraw Gap, Knicely is known for playing high-energy "wild, creative bluegrass arrangements" that integrate "licks from jazz, blues, rock ‘n’ roll, and even reggae." He offers "cutting tenor" vocals on arrangements.


Distinctions and awards

* Magraw Gap – including Knicely, Will Lee, John Flower, and Larry Keel – took first place at the 1995
Telluride Bluegrass Festival Telluride Bluegrass Festival is an annual music festival in Telluride, Colorado hosted by Planet Bluegrass. Although traditionally the festival focuses on bluegrass music, it often features music from a variety of related genres. History The to ...
. * He participated in performances dubbed "Africa Meets Appalachia", blending his musical styles with those of Cheick Hamala, a master of a traditional Malian instrument known as " ngoni", reprised as "From Mali to Appalachia" at The Floyd Country Store in
Floyd, Virginia Floyd is a town in Floyd County, Virginia, United States. The population was 448 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the county seat of Floyd County. The Town of Floyd was originally named Jacksonville as the surrounding county w ...
, in 2021. * Knicely collaborated with musicians in a dozen countries across several continents including
U.S. State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs ...
tours in
Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...
,
Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...
, and
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
. * His documentary film "The Mountain Music Project" has won best independent documentary at the Carolina Film and Video Festival, best film at the International Folk Music Film Festival in
Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...
, and the Sierra Nevada Award at
Mountainfilm Mountainfilm is a documentary film festival that showcases nonfiction stories about environmental, cultural, climbing, political and social justice issues in Telluride, Colorado. It has been held every Memorial Day weekend since 1979. In 2000, Mo ...
in
Telluride, Colorado Telluride is the county seat and most populous town of San Miguel County, Colorado, San Miguel County in the southwestern portion of the U.S. state of Colorado. The town is a former silver mining camp on the San Miguel River (Colorado), San M ...
. * Knicely placed 10th in Bluegrass Fiddle at the 2022 Old Fiddler Convention in
Galax, Virginia Galax is an independent city in the southwestern part of the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 6,720. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Galax with neighboring Carroll County for statisti ...
.


Discography

* ''Murders, Drownings and Lost Loves'' (2006) * ''Roots and Branches (2007)'' * ''The Melody Lingers (2010)'' * ''Waltz for Aimee (2014)'' * ''The Evenin' News'' (2017) * ''Chop, Shred & Split (2015)''


Instruments

Knicely plays a vintage
Martin Martin may refer to: Places Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Europe * Martin, Croatia, a village * Martin, Slovakia, a city * Martín del Río, Aragón, Spain * M ...
D-18 guitar, which he showcased at a September 7, 2014, CD release concert. He prefers a Peluso P-84 microphone.


See also

* Old time fiddle *
Old-time music Old-time music is a genre of North American folk music. It developed along with various North American folk dances, such as square dancing, contra dance, clogging, and buck dancing. It is played on acoustic instruments, generally centering ...


References


External links

*
The Mountain Music Project
{{DEFAULTSORT:Knicely, Danny 1955 births American country guitarists American male guitarists American country singer-songwriters American fiddlers American folk musicians Living people Bluegrass musicians from Virginia Country musicians from Virginia Singer-songwriters from Virginia American bluegrass mandolinists Guitarists from Virginia Mapleshade Records albums 20th-century American guitarists People from Rockingham County, Virginia 21st-century American violinists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians Mapleshade Records artists American male singer-songwriters