Sharon Knight is a

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

-based

neopagan Modern paganism, also known as contemporary paganism and neopaganism, spans a range of new religious movements variously influenced by the beliefs of pre-modern peoples across Europe, North Africa, and the Near East. Despite some common simila ...

composer, singer, and multi-instrumentalist known for writing, recording, and performing Celtic fusion

music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

she calls ''

Neofolk Neofolk, also known as apocalyptic folk, is a form of experimental music blending elements of folk and industrial music, which emerged in punk rock circles in the 1980s. Neofolk may either be solely acoustic or combine acoustic folk instrume ...

Romantique''.Interview in witches & pagans, Issue 26, April 2013, published by BBI Media, Forest Grove, OR (ISSN 1546-2838) She also records and performs harder edged music with

Middle Eastern The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

themes as the front-person of the pagan rock/

folk metal Folk metal is a fusion genre of heavy metal music and traditional folk music that developed in Europe during the 1990s. It is characterised by the widespread use of folk instruments and, to a lesser extent, traditional singing styles (for example ...

group Pandemonaeon. Knight is the co-owner of Trance Jam Records.

Biography

Sharon Elizabeth Knight was born on January 8, 1966, and raised in

Redwood City, California Redwood City is a city on the San Francisco Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay Area of Northern California, approximately south of San Francisco and northwest of San Jose, California, San Jose. The city's population was 84,292 accor ...

. She studied in the Feri tradition of

witchcraft Witchcraft is the use of Magic (supernatural), magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meanin ...

with Gabriel Carrillo. Knight has also studied

Thelema Thelema () is a Western esotericism, Western esoteric and occult social or spiritual philosophy and a new religious movement founded in the early 1900s by Aleister Crowley (1875–1947), an English writer, mystic, occultist, and ceremonial ma ...

and

Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism is a form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet, Bhutan and Mongolia. It also has a sizable number of adherents in the areas surrounding the Himalayas, including the Indian regions of Ladakh, Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, D ...

. In 1994, she married the German musician

Winter Winter is the coldest and darkest season of the year in temperate and polar climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Dif ...

, who has been her musical collaborator since.

Career

Knight's debut album, ''Incantation'', was released in 1996, followed by the self-titled ''Pandemonaeon'' debut (2001), ''Temple of Dreams-Live!'' (2003), and her second solo album, ''Song of the Sea'' (2004), featuring two duets with Shay Black of the Black Family. Two of Knight's songs from ''Song of the Sea'', "May Morning Dew" and "Song of the Sea", also appear on Sequoia Records' ''Celtic Lounge I'' (2006) and ''Celtic Lounge II'' (2007). The latter contains a music video for "Song of the Sea. Knight collaborated with electronica artist ''Hands Upon Black Earth'' on their 2004 and 2009 albums ''Hands Upon Black Earth and'' ''Translucent.'' Other collaborations include Knight’s work with pagan author T. Thorn Coyle (''Songs for the Waning Year: A Collection of Chants to Celebrate the Dark Time of the Year'', 2008; ''Songs for the Strengthening Sun: A Collection of Chants to Celebrate the Return of the Sun'', 2009). Her third Pandemonaeon album, ''Dangerous Beauty'', was released in 2010. In 2013 Knight released her third solo album, ''Neofolk Romantique'', another blend of original songs and Celtic traditionals. Knight and Winter have been touring nationally since 2010.

Genre and work

Knight's work often falls under the category of

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

new age New Age is a range of Spirituality, spiritual or Religion, religious practices and beliefs that rapidly grew in Western world, Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclecticism, eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise d ...

even though there are many more cross-cultural elements involved in her music. The same is true for her rock/folk metal band, Pandemonaeon, which due to its Middle Eastern and

Goth Goth or Goths may refer to: * Goths, a Germanic people Arts and entertainment * Gothic rock or goth, a style of rock music * Goth subculture, developed by fans of gothic rock * ''Goth'' (2003 film), an American horror film * ''Goth'' (2008 f ...

influence, she describes as "music for bellydancers in combat boots." In her Celtic work, Knight is most often compared to

Loreena McKennitt Loreena McKennitt (born February 17, 1957) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and composer who writes, records, and performs world music with Celtic music, Celtic and Middle Eastern music, Middle Eastern influences. McKenni ...

and

Stevie Nicks Stephanie Lynn Nicks (born May 26, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter, known for her work with the band Fleetwood Mac and as a solo artist. After starting her career as a duo with her then-boyfriend Lindsey Buckingham, releasing the album ...

, although her early musical influences are

Planxty Planxty were an Irish folk music band formed in January 1972, consisting initially of Christy Moore (vocals, acoustic guitar, bodhrán), Andy Irvine (vocals, mandolin, mandola, bouzouki, hurdy-gurdy, harmonica), Dónal Lunny (bouzouki, gu ...

Steeleye Span Steeleye Span are a British folk rock band formed in 1969 in England by Fairport Convention bass player Ashley Hutchings and established London folk club duo Tim Hart and Maddy Prior. The band were part of the 1970s British folk revival, ...

, Pentangle, and

Fairport Convention Fairport Convention are an English British folk rock, folk rock band, formed in 1967 by guitarists Richard Thompson (musician), Richard Thompson and Simon Nicol, bassist Ashley Hutchings and drummer Shaun Frater (with Frater replaced by Marti ...

Discography

*Flowinglass Music - First of May, ''For Earth and Her People'' (1986) *Morrigan Records - Various Artists, ''Fire & Stone: Pagan Rock Volume 1'' (1999) *Trance Jam Records Sharon Knight, ''Incantation'' (1996)
Pandemonaeon, ''Pandemonaeon'' (2001)
Pandemonaeon, ''Temple of Dreams - Live!'' (2003)
Sharon Knight, ''Siren Songs'' (2004)
Sharon Knight, ''Song of the Sea'' (2004)
Sharon Knight & T. Thorn Coyle, ''Songs for the Waning Year: A Collection of Chants to Celebrate the Dark Time of the Year'', (2008)
Sharon Knight & T. Thorn Coyle, ''Songs for the Strengthening Sun: A Collection of Chants to Celebrate the Return of the Sun'', (2009)
Pandemonaeon, ''Dangerous Beauty'' (2010)
Sharon Knight, ''Neofolk Romantique'' (2013)
Sharon Knight, ''Portals'' (2016) *Seqouia Records Various Artists, ''Celtic Lounge I'' (2006)
Various Artists, ''Celtic Lounge II'' (2007) *Cyberset Music - Hands Upon Black Earth, ''Hands Upon Black Earth'' (2004) *Hrair Tanielian - Raven, ''345-S'' (2008) *Asizazoon Music - Hands Upon Black Earth, ''Translucent'' (2009) *Banshee Records - Various Artists, ''The Best of Pagan Folk 2'' (2012)

Videos

''Song of the Sea'' (El Mundo Bueno Studios, 2007)
'' Stretched on Your Grave'' (El Mundo Bueno Studios, 2009)

Other

''Cry For the Forest'' (Earthfilms, 1998, a short film about Julia Butterfly's Luna tree-sit, soundtrack use)
''Dark Imaginations'' (Anaar, 2008, bellydance instructional DVD, soundtrack contribution)
''Beatific Vision'' (Sountru, 2008, feature film, DVD, soundtrack contribution)
''The Commune'' (Elisabeth Fies, 2009, feature film, DVD, soundtrack contribution)

References

External links

Official website

Pandemonaeon.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Knight, Sharon American modern pagans 1966 births Living people Feri Tradition 21st-century American composers American women singers Performers of modern pagan music 21st-century American women composers