Davy Knowles

What Happens Next Provogue Records

Renowned Americana guitarist finds stylistic crossroads

While Davy Knowles is known for blues/ Americana stylings, What Happens Next sees him lean towards R&B and soul, ranging from Small Faces through to The Black Keys via Otis Redding and The White Stripes. It’s a rich brew of influences that has produced songs that are very much vocal-led as opposed to busting with guitar solos. That said, Knowles’ breadth of guitar tones is quite something here: from gnarly Fuzz Face distortion right through to classic clean amp shimmers. Opening stomper Light Of The Moon – 60s psychedelic ambience meets Queens Of The Stone Age riffing – is a great earworm. Roll Me has a tasty 60s-meets-Mark-Ronson blend of soul stylings with great vocals and a reverb-rich guitar performance. Get Lucky (no, not that song) weaves elements of The Zombies with a Bruno Mars groove. All in all, this is a refreshing embrace of old and new genres, and definitely worth checking out. [JS]

Standout track: Light Of The Moon

For fans of: John Mellencamp, David Grissom