Andrew McKnight: Enviro Engineer-turned-Songwriter profile picture

Andrew McKnight: Enviro Engineer-turned-Songwriter

Americana music, words & photos for thinking folk

About Me

If You Hate Clear Channel/WalMart....

Since permanently leaving his corporate environmental engineering career in 1996, singer, writer and guitarist Andrew McKnight 's musical journey has traced over a quarter million miles of blue highways and small towns across the country, crafting his cinematic vignettes of Americans and their landscapes in music, poetry and prose in between 125 performances each year and on four critically acclaimed CDs for the independent Falling Mountain Music record label.Andrew's latest CD Beyond Borders was a Finalist for the Independent Music Awards' 2005 Americana Album of the Year as well as a Nominee for the Washington Area Music Awards Best Contemporary Folk Recording. Beyond Borders includes his song "Good Things Matter", the winner of the Great American Song Contest (Acoustic/Folk category).Wherever Andrew takes the stage, audiences are at once spellbound and relaxed by his entertaining stories delivered with just the right touches of down home humor, causing one concertgoer to label him "equal parts Robert Frost, William Least Heat-Moon and Jeff Foxworthy!" Andrew's insightful lyrics, vocal richness and bluesy guitar licks have become distinctive trademarks. He has shared those attributes in a wide variety of performance settings, including the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, the Kennedy Center and the National Theatre in DC, Appalshop Theatre, Mountain Stage NewSong Festival, Chattanooga Riverbend Festival and Baltimore's Artscape Festival.When not on the road, Andrew teaches several guitar students in northwestern Virginia and does small acoustic recording projects for clients at his Mountain Song Studio. As part of his touring and performing schedule he also leads workshops on songwriting, guitar technique, various aspects of the acoustic music industry, and environmental issues. Andrew's poetry and prose have also earned accolades, and his writing has appeared in Americana Rhythm and Blue Ridge Country magazines.
Andrew enjoys an artist endorsement with Elixir Strings .
To learn more, to read Andrew's tour journals and poetry as well as hear more music and get on the monthly email list, please visit the website at Andrew McKnight dot net .
SCHOOLS - Andrew is indeed an alum of UMass Amherst (92, MS Environmental Engineering), Connecticut College (89, BA Chem) and Plainfield HS

For more good music you won't hear on the radio...


Please give a listen to the music of my Top Friends - I rotate them periodically to give you a chance to enjoy some other great independent music. The first few are some of my labelmates at Falling Mountain Music . These are all people that I know, have done shows with, and/or recorded with, and I really personally enjoy their music a lot - I hope you do too.

Thanks for Reading!

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 4/18/2006
Band Website: andrewmcknight.net
Band Members:
Influences:

Crosby Stills & Nash, James Taylor, Beatles. John Gorka, Shawn Colvin, good singers, lots of odd things from traditional oldtime mountain music, jazz and rock guitar, world music - we're always making gumbo over here from whatever ingredients happen to be fresh :)
Topically speaking - Appalachian culture, rural American history, people and their landscapes, rivers, matters of the spirit and of the heart. and a very short attention span, which keeps me moving from one style and topic to the next, wildly swinging from bluesy sounds, to contemporary acoustic pop, to oldtimey, to traditional sounds and storytelling.
If this sounds good to you, Andrew's four CDs are available at the click of a mouse from many places, including CDBaby.com or as downloads at the iTunes Music Store:Traveler (1995) Where This River Runs (1998) Turning Pages (2001)Beyond Borders (2005)
Sounds Like: What Others Have Said: Jim Croce, John Gorka, Richard Shindell, Arlo Guthrie, Tim O'Brien, Kenny Loggins, Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull) Streaming MP3s from AndrewMcKnight.net A sampling of the many sounds of Andrew McKnight
Don't forget to stop the MySpace Flash Player here
"How High the Mountain"
bluegrass, from Beyond Borders

"Company Town"
about mountaintop removal; Appalachian, from Turning Pages

"Do You Hear Them?"
spoken word/poetry, from Beyond Borders

"Good Things Matter"
Winner, 2005 Great American Song Contest (Acoustic/Folk); adult contemporary, from Beyond Borders

"Rust on My Halo"
a cappella gospel, from Beyond Borders

"June Apple"
instrumental traditional oldtime, from Beyond Borders

"The Road to Appomattox"
folk story song, from Turning Pages

Essays and Poetry from AndrewMcKnight.net

Andrew's Poetry , including "A Circle of Four Women" for his daughter Madeleine Rose
"A Road Warrior's Journal" , Andrew's travelogues in words and imagesTwo-lane desert road photo ©Andrew McKnight
Record Label: Falling Mountain Music www.fallingmountain.com
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

May E-Zine - To the West, and the Band

IN THIS ISSUE:1. Upcoming Shows at a Glance - West Coast Tour2. News Clippings, Reviews and Articles3. More New Things at the Website4. Name the New Band!5. Short Shorts6. Thanks to You7. Essay from A...
Posted by Andrew McKnight: Enviro Engineer-turned-Songwriter on Wed, 30 Apr 2008 07:14:00 PST

April E-Zine

IN THIS ISSUE: 1. Upcoming Shows at a Glance 2. Watch the Kennedy Center concert 3. More New Things at the Website 4. Earth Day Celebrations 5. New CD Now Available at iTunes 6. No. Virginia - Lisa Ta...
Posted by Andrew McKnight: Enviro Engineer-turned-Songwriter on Tue, 01 Apr 2008 03:44:00 PST

See the whole Kennedy Center concert anytime

You can see the full hour-long concert at the prestigious John F. Kennedy Center in Washington DC, recorded live in front of a standing room only crowd on March 25th, 2008, available anytime at their ...
Posted by Andrew McKnight: Enviro Engineer-turned-Songwriter on Fri, 28 Mar 2008 09:30:00 PST

March E-Zine and Essay "40 Years and a Mule"

ANDREW McKNIGHT MARCH E-ZINE: CONTENTS1. Upcoming Shows at a Glance2. "Something Worth Standing For" Updates3. CD Release Concerts4. Message From Andrew - "40 Years and a Mule"Concert details, latest ...
Posted by Andrew McKnight: Enviro Engineer-turned-Songwriter on Fri, 07 Mar 2008 08:30:00 PST

Happy New Year and The New CD Arrives

ANDREW McKNIGHT JANUARY E-ZINE: CONTENTS1. Upcoming Shows at a Glance2. Houston - Host a House Concert Jan. 23, Get 2 artists for 1 show3. Taking CD Preorders, Shipping by Feb. 14. Sale on All CDs wit...
Posted by Andrew McKnight: Enviro Engineer-turned-Songwriter on Wed, 09 Jan 2008 04:42:00 PST

16 Days of Christmas...

    or whatever winter/solstice holiday you celebrate, it is the season of giving and gratitude.So in my gratitude for you being a friend here in MySpace, or for your support for my lif...
Posted by Andrew McKnight: Enviro Engineer-turned-Songwriter on Sat, 08 Dec 2007 08:47:00 PST

About the Music (as it should be!)

Sometimes it's hard to figure out what someone's music is all about from their MySpace Player, so in case you want to know more.....In December we're giving you 16 Days of Christmas :) Each day we'll ...
Posted by Andrew McKnight: Enviro Engineer-turned-Songwriter on Wed, 05 Dec 2007 10:59:00 PST

Holiday Greetings and December Concerts

ANDREW McKNIGHT DECEMBER E-ZINE: CONTENTS1. Upcoming Shows at a Glance2. CD Update - Almost Home Now3. New at the Website....4. ...and Much More in the Coming Days5. $8 a CD?6. Message From Andrew: "E...
Posted by Andrew McKnight: Enviro Engineer-turned-Songwriter on Wed, 05 Dec 2007 10:00:00 PST

November E-Zine & New CD Previews

NOVEMBER E-ZINE: CONTENTS1. Upcoming Shows at a Glance2. News and Recording Update3. ONLY HERE: More Previews of New CD4. Message From Andrew5. Detailed Concert Calendar________________________ 1. UPC...
Posted by Andrew McKnight: Enviro Engineer-turned-Songwriter on Fri, 09 Nov 2007 08:37:00 PST

October E-Zine

Thank you for reading, and for sharing this E-Zine with others. -----------------------------------------ANDREW McKNIGHT E-ZINE: TABLE OF CONTENTS1. Upcoming Shows at a Glance2. New at the Website3. O...
Posted by Andrew McKnight: Enviro Engineer-turned-Songwriter on Mon, 15 Oct 2007 12:20:00 PST