On Friday, December 10, 2021, Delaware Friends of Folk will present the next event in their 2021-22 Old State House concert series, inside the Old State House on The Green in Dover. This is the eighth season in the series which is produced in cooperation with the Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs and First State Heritage Park and is supported by a generous grant from the Kent County Fund for the Arts. The one-hour performance will begin at 7:30 pm. The concert is free and open to the public but due to State Covid restrictions, admission will be by reservation only. Please call 302-992-8080 to reserve your seat. Face masks are required.
This month’s show features The Knotty G’s. This form shifting group is fronted by multi-instrumentalists Gill Knott (vocals, guitar, mandolin, and ukulele) and Chuck Knott (vocals, guitar, mandolin, bass, banjo, drums), supported by Ryan Kijanka (bass, double bass, piano, and guitar).
The Knotty G’s take soul-soaked mountain music to a special and reverent place. Gritty, funky, and genuine performances fuse with the band’s jovial, lighthearted nature inviting audiences to take part in the revelatory power of music while drumming up plenty of fun. Though The Knotty G’s are known to approach genres in unconventional ways, their goal is simple: to create music and an experience they feel is genuine.
Chuck Knott, a Wilmington native, started learning guitar from his father at age 9. Through the years he has shared a stage with strongholds in the music scene such as members of String Cheese Incident, David Bromberg, Robert Randolph, Marcus King, Ed McGee, Amy Helm and Byron Isaacs. He has also been an active part of the festival circuit and has performed at Bonnaroo, Philadelphia Folk Festival, Firefly, The Werkout, and Hookahville.
Gill’s training in performing began in the theatre, where she performed locally for several years and eventually sought education in, majoring in dance and minoring in theatre at The Academy of Visual and Performing Arts at The Morris County School of Technology in New Jersey. She is endorsed by Didomenico Guitars and regularly plays her custom mandolin, known for its unique sound and design.
Ryan Kijanka was born in Maine and spent his childhood in Connecticut. It was there he began his love of performing, teaching, and composing music. Ryan began playing bass and guitar and in rock bands at the age of 12, began teaching his sophomore year of high school and had his first composition performed by an orchestra senior year of high school. Upon obtaining his bachelor's degree in Music Education from Western Connecticut State University Ryan spent four years in Arizona on the Navajo Nation teaching high school music.
The pairing of Chuck and Gill could have been called magical from the start. They met in an entirely unplanned fashion while sitting in on a mutual friend, Laura Thurston's, set in Fairview, North Carolina. The pair realized their mutual love for the art and their similar goals stylistically as well as in performing and they set out to provide audiences with their favorite aspects of music combined with a jovial, lighthearted attitude that can sometimes be lost in performance. In 2019 The Knotty G’s released their first album, “One Small Glove”, which encompassed the Americana roots they have in their music and in true Knotty fashion, the joking flair that accompanies their performances. And while 2020’s turbulence certainly threw some curveballs, The Knotty G’s were able to parlay these seeming speed bumps into growing their following through online live-streams and taking the extra time to record their first full length studio album with Grammy Award winning producer Matt Williams.
The Old State House concert series is presented by Delaware Friends of Folk. These events are supported by a grant from the Kent County Fund for the Arts, an organization that aims to enhance the quality of life, educate, and broaden perspectives by supporting the arts and arts organizations in Kent County. Support is also provided by the First State Heritage Park, a partnership of State and City agencies under the leadership of Delaware State Parks and the Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs. Delaware Friends of Folk are partially supported by a grant from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts. The Division promotes Delaware arts events on www.DelawareScene.com.
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