Steve Knightley (born 1954) is an English singer, songwriter and acoustic musician. Since 1992 he has been one half of folk/roots duo Show of Hands along with Phil Beer. Knightley was named "Songwriter of the Nineties" by BBC Radio 6 Music in 2012.[1]
Steve Knightley
Steve Knightley performing at Harberton Village Hall, Devon, 20 May 2009
Background information
Born
(1954-04-30) 30 April 1954 (age 68) Southampton, England
Knightley was born in Southampton in 1954 of English, Irish and Scottish descent. His grandfathers were both soldiers. When he was five his family moved to Exeter. At thirteen the family moved again to nearby Exmouth. Apart from spells away in Coventry, Brighton, London and rural Dorset, he remains a resident of East Devon where he lives with his wife Clare, a local medical doctor, and their three children.[2]
Career
At fourteen Knightley began playing acoustic guitar at Exmouth Grammar School. It was there he met long-time friend and musical collaborator Paul Downes. Knightley was attracted to folk music after hearing his older step-brother's Joan Baez records. Together with Downes they began playing songs from the Penguin Book of English Folk Songs. They were also drawn to the repertoire of Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick after seeing them in concert at the Sidmouth Folk Festival. In 1970 they formed the trio 'Gawain' and, along with fiddler John 'Bat' Evans, were regulars on the thriving Devon folk scene for three years or so, meeting Phil Beer in the process. Downes then left for Brighton where he formed a professional partnership with Beer, touring for the next seven years.[2]
By now, Knightley had moved to Coventry, where he both studied Politics and History at the Lanchester Polytechnic and started and played at a thriving folk club. Downes and Beer were constant visitors to the City and began playing the songs that by now Knightley was beginning to pen.
He then completed a postgraduate certificate in education at Sussex University near Brighton. While attending the university, Knightley teamed up with double bass player Warwick Downes, and for two years the duo performed around the Brighton area.[2]
From 1979–85, Knightley lived in London, working as a supply teacher and performing regularly on the pub rock circuit with his three bands Short Stories, The Cheats and Total Strangers. On occasions Beer would stand in for absent band members, and Knightley returned the favour by playing bass (under the pseudonym "Gene Vogel") for the Arizona Smoke Revue, the group Beer was in at the time.[2]
Knightley left London in 1985 and moved to rural Dorset, where he opened a guest house. He also worked as a supply teacher at Beaminster School, and gave guitar lessons, most notably to PJ Harvey. The following year, Knightley met up again with Beer, who was then a member of the Albion Band. When Beer's commitments would allow, the two performed as a duo and began laying the groundwork for what would become the Show of Hands' first recordings.[2]
Beer left the Albion Band in 1991, and from then on the two appeared regularly as Show of Hands in pubs, clubs and bars. In 1992, the duo got together with a group of exiled Chilean musicians, and toured and released an album under the name Alianza. Knightley continued working at Beaminster as a part-time teacher of media studies, history and music until 1994, when he left to concentrate on his music career.[2]
In 2015, Knightley (alongside his fellow Show of Hands band members Phil Beer and Miranda Sykes), was awarded an honorary doctorate of music from the University of Plymouth,[3][4] to commemorate "great distinction in [their] professional lives".[5]
^ ab"Steve Knightley named "Songwriter of the Nineties" (BBC6 Music)". Worldmusic.co.uk.
^ abcdef"Steve Knightley Story". Showofhands.co.uk. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
^Porter, Hilary (9 January 2017). "Raising a Glass to Phil Beer Who Celebrates 44 Years of Folk Music with Hampshire Show". Daily Echo. Retrieved 15 October 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
^"Show Of Hands to receive honorary doctorates". Folking.com. 14 September 2015. Retrieved 15 October 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
^Shrewsbury Folk Festival official website, accessed 27 August 2013
External links
Show Of Hands Official Website
January 20, 2023
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This article has multiple issues Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page Learn how and when to remove these template messages This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification Please help by adding reliable sources Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately especially if potentially libelous or harmful Find sources Steve Knightley news newspapers books scholar JSTOR May 2010 Learn how and when to remove this template message A major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject It may require cleanup to comply with Wikipedia s content policies particularly neutral point of view Please discuss further on the talk page February 2018 Learn how and when to remove this template message This article may rely excessively on sources too closely associated with the subject potentially preventing the article from being verifiable and neutral Please help improve it by replacing them with more appropriate citations to reliable independent third party sources May 2019 Learn how and when to remove this template message Learn how and when to remove this template message Steve Knightley born 1954 is an English singer songwriter and acoustic musician Since 1992 he has been one half of folk roots duo Show of Hands along with Phil Beer Knightley was named Songwriter of the Nineties by BBC Radio 6 Music in 2012 1 Steve KnightleySteve Knightley performing at Harberton Village Hall Devon 20 May 2009Background informationBorn 1954 04 30 30 April 1954 age 68 Southampton EnglandGenresRoots music folk rock folk musicOccupation s Musician songwriter record producer Instrument s Vocals guitar mandocello cuatro mandolin tenor guitarYears active1990 present Contents 1 Personal life 2 Career 3 Other 4 Discography 4 1 Alianza 4 2 Show of Hands 5 References 6 External linksPersonal life EditKnightley was born in Southampton in 1954 of English Irish and Scottish descent His grandfathers were both soldiers When he was five his family moved to Exeter At thirteen the family moved again to nearby Exmouth Apart from spells away in Coventry Brighton London and rural Dorset he remains a resident of East Devon where he lives with his wife Clare a local medical doctor and their three children 2 Career EditAt fourteen Knightley began playing acoustic guitar at Exmouth Grammar School It was there he met long time friend and musical collaborator Paul Downes Knightley was attracted to folk music after hearing his older step brother s Joan Baez records Together with Downes they began playing songs from the Penguin Book of English Folk Songs They were also drawn to the repertoire of Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick after seeing them in concert at the Sidmouth Folk Festival In 1970 they formed the trio Gawain and along with fiddler John Bat Evans were regulars on the thriving Devon folk scene for three years or so meeting Phil Beer in the process Downes then left for Brighton where he formed a professional partnership with Beer touring for the next seven years 2 By now Knightley had moved to Coventry where he both studied Politics and History at the Lanchester Polytechnic and started and played at a thriving folk club Downes and Beer were constant visitors to the City and began playing the songs that by now Knightley was beginning to pen He then completed a postgraduate certificate in education at Sussex University near Brighton While attending the university Knightley teamed up with double bass player Warwick Downes and for two years the duo performed around the Brighton area 2 From 1979 85 Knightley lived in London working as a supply teacher and performing regularly on the pub rock circuit with his three bands Short Stories The Cheats and Total Strangers On occasions Beer would stand in for absent band members and Knightley returned the favour by playing bass under the pseudonym Gene Vogel for the Arizona Smoke Revue the group Beer was in at the time 2 Knightley left London in 1985 and moved to rural Dorset where he opened a guest house He also worked as a supply teacher at Beaminster School and gave guitar lessons most notably to PJ Harvey The following year Knightley met up again with Beer who was then a member of the Albion Band When Beer s commitments would allow the two performed as a duo and began laying the groundwork for what would become the Show of Hands first recordings 2 Beer left the Albion Band in 1991 and from then on the two appeared regularly as Show of Hands in pubs clubs and bars In 1992 the duo got together with a group of exiled Chilean musicians and toured and released an album under the name Alianza Knightley continued working at Beaminster as a part time teacher of media studies history and music until 1994 when he left to concentrate on his music career 2 In 2015 Knightley alongside his fellow Show of Hands band members Phil Beer and Miranda Sykes was awarded an honorary doctorate of music from the University of Plymouth 3 4 to commemorate great distinction in their professional lives 5 Other EditKnightley is Patron of Shrewsbury Folk Festival Sidmouth Folk Week St Ives Festival and the Village Pump folk festival 6 In 2012 he was named Songwriter of the Nineties by Tom Robinson for BBC Radio 6 Music 1 Discography EditTrack of Words 1999 Faith Folk and Anarchy with Martyn Joseph and Tom Robinson 2002 Western Approaches with Seth Lakeman and Jenna Witts 2004 Bridgerow Sessions with Martyn Joseph 2005 Cruel River 2007 Track of Words Retraced 2009 Live in Somerset 2011 Off the beaten track 2014 All at Sea 2016 Roadworks Songs and Stories Part II 2019 Alianza Edit Alianza 1992 Show of Hands Edit See Show of HandsReferences Edit a b Steve Knightley named Songwriter of the Nineties BBC6 Music Worldmusic co uk a b c d e f Steve Knightley Story Showofhands co uk Retrieved 9 May 2020 Porter Hilary 9 January 2017 Raising a Glass to Phil Beer Who Celebrates 44 Years of Folk Music with Hampshire Show Daily Echo Retrieved 15 October 2020 a href Template Cite news html title Template Cite news cite news a CS1 maint url status link University of Plymouth honorary doctorates University of Plymouth Press release Retrieved 15 October 2020 a href Template Cite press release html title Template Cite press release cite press release a CS1 maint url status link Show Of Hands to receive honorary doctorates Folking com 14 September 2015 Retrieved 15 October 2020 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint url status link Shrewsbury Folk Festival official website accessed 27 August 2013External links EditShow Of Hands Official Website Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Steve Knightley amp oldid 1125542080, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
